3 of 11

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 5

that mishap, I shortened one of my longer runs from 22 miles to 11 a few days after the strain, but then made up the mileage by evenly adding it to runs over the following week, "paying back the bank," so to speak. In the last few weeks leading up to the run, I paid extra attention to the road ahead of me to minimize the chance of a sprained ankle, twisted knee or anything that could occur with an unexpected stumble.

CLOTHING AND PERIPHERALS: Early in my training, I discovered specialized clothing was necessary - the cotton sweatshirts with which I began were soon gone as their sweat-absorbing properties were extremely undesirable on several fronts; all were replaced by lightweight, breathable garments to the benefit of all concerned. I also improved the quality of my running socks with padded, lightweight varieties.

Having music to listen to while running was essential throughout. I started my process with a pair of "old school" radio headphones that led to decent, but tiring broadcasts of local FM stations, along with a fairly bulky headset. Over Christmas, I was gratefully given a Nano Ipod system that I quickly made my own, needing to supplement it with the stability necessary to survive long runs and eventually the marathon itself. This included acquiring a Belkin arm strap to house the Ipod and Panasonic headphones that wrapped around my ears, along with the near 1000 songs that needed to be acquired and loaded to allow a "shuffle" selection to never become repetitive.

As an aside, I give tremendous credit to the Austin Marathon organizers for making the USOC's alleged ban of headphones during marathons a non-issue, by making no mention of it at any time, other than the necessary verbiage in the program for their own legal protection. The stated reasons of "safety" and "competitive advantage" are ridiculous as no elite runner will ever use or need them and if the user cannot monitor the settings so as to still be able to hear the outside world, that individual should be excluded from the race on general principles.

The other training regimen that you will need to learn is the consumption of Energy Gels, essentially "power bars," reduced to liquid form that can be consumed on the run and that are ingested into your system quickly, more on that below.

THE FINAL WEEK AND DAY: By the time your last week begins, your training mileage is tapering down, essential for having your best showing on the day of the race. Generally speaking, I avoided all unusual foods

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Marathon training program for beginners?
We want to hear your view. Write now!