Coaching runners in the last ten years has taught me that a successful marathon experience isnt about a wonderful pill or plan. I have given the same exact training plan to 10 runners and witnessed ten totally different effects. Its not so much about what you need to do to train as the way you deal with the impact of training on your life, body, and mind. Rather than talking of mileage per week, its more important to discuss the principles of marathon training – what I will refer to here as the Key Six Phases of the marathon lifecyle.
Phase One: Commit
Its one important thing to put a race on the bucket list, its another to choose a race and drop the cash on an entry fee. Signing up will give you something to show for your friends and family; its a meeting that one could mark as a milestone on the personal calendar. No one knows, perhaps you might convince some of your crazy pals to register along with you!
Phase Two: Connect
Now that you are officially in in the race, its the perfect time to begin to build a little community which will support and keep you going on the way to your finish line. Even if you have your own pre-existing team ready, here are some activities to do if you were to start from scratch. Choose a local running shop where you could have a seat and talk (even if briefly) with a fellow runner about the right running shoe suitable for you. This shop will most likely have the important information for the local run.
Phase Three: Conspire
Together with your event locked in and a team to run with at least part of the time, now you can turn your focus to your marathon training program. Selecting the appropriate method has less to do with the program itself, and more to do with youso always place yourself first when making your final decision.
Phase Four: Consistency
Whatever plan you do end up picking, your main objective is get follow it as closely as you possibly can. The ideal training plans are Easy To Do, in this there are no super-hard sessions or tough to comprehend guidance. The supreme goal of any marathon plan is to help you get prepared to manage the rigors of 26.2 miles – and the best way for doing that is to get you running as frequently as possible for as long as you can handle during that time.
Phase Five: Doubt
Nobody is ever absolutely prepared for race day. Talk to anyone on the starting line on race weekend and youll hear a lot of wonderful stories of eliminating obstacles like injury, scheduling, health, etc. Its just a part of what we do as runners; do your best to stay focused and dont be afraid to ask for support from the networks you’ve built in early periods of the training.
Phase Six: Conserve
Once you are in a running groove, youll realize that running is actually effortless. You enjoy it, its empowering and its changing what you are. So if 40 miles a week is goodthen 60 or 80 should be better, right? If the 20-miler is good, a 24-miler has to be better, right? Incorrect!
Keep in mind our mantra of Consistency above; getting aggressive with all or part of your training is a really serious roll of the dice. The gamble might work for some, but they’re frequently within the minority, and its simply not worth it this early in your running profession.