How To Run A Marathon Video

Running a marathon could be the biggest accomplishment of your life but it take a lot of exercise. Here are some workout tips in this marathon video.

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Eat three hours before race
High carbohydrates, low fiber
Wean yourself off of coffee
Acclimate yourself to getting up early
Don't panic, stick to plan

About this Author

Dave has been an endurance athlete for over twenty years and is a swimmer , runner and cyclist that has finished the Iron Man triathlon. Additionally he has represented the US at the world championship. He coaches in Newport and has seen his team win the district title. He has a great passion for racing, training and coaching.

DAVE CAMPBELL: My name is Dave Campbell, and I want to talk to you about how to run a marathon. The night before a marathon, you should have an early dinner and eat well, but not overeat or stuff yourself, and eat familiar foods, a little bit of protein, a little bit of fat, but emphasize high-carbohydrate foods with a low fiber content. Get a good night's rest. And the morning of the race, you are going to want--you will probably end up getting up between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. so you can have your morning breakfast three hours before the race start. You will need to kind of acclimate yourself to that sort of a wake-up time in the days leading up to the race. Ease yourself into that pattern so it is not such a shock to get up so early the morning of the race. Your morning meal should, again, be familiar foods consumed with lots of fluid with an emphasis on high-carbohydrate, low-fiber foods. If you use coffee, consider weaning yourself off the week before the race, and that way this very effective performance-enhancing drug will have the most benefit and the least side effects on race day. You want to arrive to the race site at least an hour before the start and make sure and use the bathroom. The caffeine will help with that, too. And dress warmly so you can conserve your energy. Make sure you have on what you need to race in underneath to minimize the hassles of changing and allow for the fact that the day is going to get warmer as you go, so it is okay to be a little bit cool when the race starts. Before the event, you want to do about 12 minutes of easy jogging to open up your capillaries and get your muscles warm. Then go through your active stretches to loosen up your hips, and then probably do about 3 X 100 meters strides progressively, a little faster, a little faster and then go to line warm. During the event itself, you want to run as consistent a pacing strategy as you can and stick to your fueling and hydrating strategies that you've practiced in your training. You really want to exercise some self-control at the beginning of the race. You will be feeling fresh and frisky after you taper, so start at a real controlled pace because it's going to be a long day. On the topic of a long day, throughout the event don't panic if things start to not go your way. It's a long race. Try to be--stick to your plan as much as possible. Be flexible in your thinking and ready to adapt to whatever the conditions give you. And most of all, have fun.

How to Run a Marathon Video

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