Ways to Prepare For Your First Marathon
You have probably heard that running a marathon is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. Although running the whole marathon requires a lot of physical abilities, only a few runners train their mental skills, as well.
Bear in mind that running such a long race will exhaust your body and mind, and can increase the risk of injury, so it is recommended to find the best quality gear that fits your body perfectly, but make sure to test it before the race day. It is never wise to buy new shoes that you never used before for your marathon because you won’t know if they are going to suit you well. If you are interested in learning more about how your gear affects your physical performance, you can find more resources here.
So now that we covered the first step, here are some more tips on how to be prepared to run your first marathon.
Have a plan
To prepare for your race, you have to start early enough to have time to build up your stamina and endurance, but also to be ready for the unforeseen events that will cause you to skip your run.
Another thing you will need to have before starting your training is a proper marathon training plan. There are many sites where you can find the fully described marathon training plans for beginners, so you can try out a couple of programs and decide which one fits you the best. These plans are made by experts and have been proven to work (of course, it all depends on which source you get the program), so you have to follow it religiously.
Mix it up!
When you examine your plan of choice closely, it may not be as you expected it. You probably thought that you are going to be running half marathons every day, but that is not the case. If you are a complete beginner to running, you may notice that all marathon preparations start with low-intensity runs, and the mileage gradually increases by the week. But you may also see different kinds of runs in your plan, as well, like sprints. Although tempo runs are crucial for running a marathon, high-intensity short runs are just as beneficial. They build up your endurance and your core strength, plus increase your overall running pace. So do not skip the sprints!
Diet is just as important as exercise
It is not really wise to eat junk food while training for a marathon. It is widely known that our diets impact our athletic performance, just like our exercise plans.
A healthy diet is the road to success when it comes to any form of physical exercise. You will be able to see the progress you make once you ditch the junk foods and the processed sugars.
It is important to eat as much as whole foods as you can, like fruits, veggies, and healthy fats. Carbohydrates are crucial for runners. Our runs are fueled mostly by the carbohydrate from our diets, so make sure to get those bananas and sweet potatoes (and other sources of healthy carbs) in your diet as soon as possible.
Another important thing to learn before your race is something most runners do not even think about – and that is fueling while running.
When you are running such enormous distances, it is absolutely vital to get enough nutrients and water in your run. Practice fueling your runs once you start running longer distances, because starving and dehydrating your muscles really impacts your ability to finish the race.
But the most important thing to remember is to have fun and enjoy every minute of your runs!
