17/03/2025
💥Half & Full Marathon Prep💥
With the spring half and full marathons just getting underway here are a few basic ASM tips to consider as you head towards your big event……
Tapering:
-This should begin at approx 3 weeks/ 21 days before your event date
-Tapering can often be the scariest part of marathon training as many people worry that less distance, time and pace will leave them with a “loss of fitness”. In reality its quite the opposite the reduced training and increased rest/ recovery during this phase aids your body to reach peak performance on event day.
“A 2003 review of 50 studies on tapering published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows that levels of muscle glycogen, enzymes, antioxidants, and hormones—all depleted by high mileage—return to optimal ranges during a taper. Tapering also repairs muscle damage that occurs during sustained training. If that isn’t enough, immune function and muscle strength improve as well, which reduces the odds you’ll catch a cold or get injured just before the race. The subjects who tapered in these studies improved performance by 3 percent on average. That works out to five to 10 minutes in a marathon”.
Final Week Prep:
- Long runs ❌ - No No No!
Your hard training is now done and dusted and there are no speed or endurance gains to be made this week!
- Short runs ✅ - Yes!
Keeping your runs around the two mile mark in the next few days will help to keep the legs turning over, but more importantly help you to manage the excitement and anticipation of such big events.
- Carbohydrate Loading 🍝
Approximately 3 days before the race you should be around 75% - 95% of your calorie intake coming from carbohydrates. Remember pasta can make many people feel bloated, tired and heavy, so alternatives such as bananas, oranges, white rice, grapes, vegetables including potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes and whole grains also provide a high level of carbohydrate.
- Hydration🧊
From 24 to 48 hours pre event keeping the hydration levels in the body high is key to performance. This can be done by monitoring your urine, which apart from your first wee of the day should be a pale straw colour when hydrated.
Good luck everyone and most of all enjoy it, it’s meant to be fun 😃🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♂️
