Beginner's Guide to Running a Marathon

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

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Build mileage slowly
Heart of training is weekly long run
Run three-five more times in the week
Try cross training
Two quality pairs of shoes
Practicing fueling, drinking strategies

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: Hi. I'm Dave Campbell, and I want to talk to you about a beginner's guide to running a marathon. The first rule of thumb is to build your mileage slowly. The heart of marathon training is the weekly long run. So your weekly long run should start at about five minutes longer than your current longest run is and you should add about 10 minutes per week, and this run should be done easily at about 70% of maximum heart rate. Again, you need to run three to five more times during the week, but these runs can be shorter. Many of them can be faster and none of them to exceed an hour to an hour and a half in length. Consider some cross-training with weights, cycling or swimming. Another key point, you need two good pairs of shoes that were fitted to you by a good quality running store taking into account your needs. And your weekly mileage shouldn't exceed 50 miles per week. And with those two pair of shoes then you can rotate them each run so you give them two days to recover their cushion. Build your training volume on your run for about three weeks. Then on the fourth week, drop the volume by 25%. Your longest run should be about 20 miles or three and a half hours depending on your pace. You need to log three to six of these in order to have the confidence and the endurance to complete your first marathon. On these runs, practice your fueling strategies and your drinking strategies so that you have a routine and products that you are comfortable using. On the remaining days of the week, you will need to run some shorter faster runs. And as the race gets closer, do some more intensity work to keep yourself sharp. About three weeks out from your goal race, you will do your last long run and you will reduce the volume of your workouts by 25% in each week as the event approaches. Keep the intensity high. And by the time race day arrives, you should be fresh and bursting with energy and ready to complete your first marathon.

Beginner's Guide to Running a Marathon Video

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