Training Tips for the Blue Ridge Marathon
With over 6000 ft. of elevation change in the full marathon course we thought it would be good to share some running/training tips.
Tip #1 – Keys to Running Downhill Efficiently
Please share your running tips in the comment section below!
My tip for training for this sort of elevation change is to start early in your training program with weekly short uphill/downhill practice. Start the first week with something short for your current training ability. For example, if you from a flat area, then maybe a quarter mile up and down. If you are from a hiller section, then maybe half a mile. You want to gradually adjust your body to the demands of not only the uphill, but the downhill. Many people think running down is easy since you just allow gravity to work, but your quads do a great deal of braking to slow you as you descend and it can really ruin a run if you aren’t prepared.
On days when your legs feel pounded or the weather is a barrier to running outside, try deep water running. I did half my training miles for this year’s Boston in the YMCA pool. The water has 12X the resistance of air, it’s completely impact-free and very effective!
Wear a “jogging belt” to get started, it will help you work on your form. After you feel comfortable, do the deep water running w/ no flotation belt for an excellent cardio workout. Trust me, it may look funny to the lap swimmers, but it works!
My training tip comes from my experience of training for a marathon and using a training plan but making a mistake. I concentrated on running the miles that were in the training plan but not paying attention to the pace. We all run lots of long slow distance runs for marathon training. My tip is to build strength by doing tempo runs or speed work on a track at least once a week. This strength training will help you complete the marathon. Start out slow if you are not used to speed work and run four 400m intervals at a 10k pace with a slow, slow recovery 400m after each hard one. Good luck and enjoy!
Get to know the course. I ran the Charlottesville half marathon in 2004 and drove the course beforehand. I knew there was a hill at the turnaround. My training routes reflected that and helped beat my goal time. I also ran a ton of hill repeats. These were short workouts, but I was useless afterwards. When race day came, I had no problem with the hills.
Incorporate hillwork into your regular runs with plyometrics–springing or bounding up the hills with exaggerated knee lift instead of just running slowly up can give legs a good workout. And you don’t have to do a dedicated “hill workout”.
Huge thanks and kudos to RoanokeOutside.com.
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Happy Hydrating to all!
10 Training Tips for Beginning Marathoners from Fitness Depot – http://ow.ly/lwxy