Option 1. Hurry up and go on
Yes, yes, nothing new. But just listen to how much you can improve your results! I myself do not like to stretch the pleasure, and the desire to achieve everything and quickly often takes precedence over caution. I’m lucky for the time being, and the only unpleasant consequences are hellish braking.
Some of my friends are not so lucky. Variants of punishment for such impatience can be a lot: starting with microtraumas, ending with fractures. Therefore, here is an example from the life of a man who was able to achieve amazing results through patience and perseverance. And soon will achieve even more!
So, get acquainted: Craig Beesley from Canada. Craig started running two years ago and at that time he could run only for 30 seconds, and then went to a step and walked 4.5 minutes. Then he ran again for 30 seconds. He repeated this cycle eight times, which in total was 40 minutes. He tried not to miss and trained three times a week.
30 weeks later, Beazley managed to escape without stopping 30 minutes and completed his first half marathon in 2 hours and 12 minutes. He decided to continue studying and training even in winter at minus temperatures. In May, he was already able to run for 2 hours and 45 minutes without stopping and make six approaches of 400 meters per hour and 45 minutes. Ahead of him is the first marathon.
Option 2. Bart Jaso’s method
This variant of training was used by Bart Jasso, manager of Runner’s World Race. It is to run 800 meters at the speed with which you plan to run your first marathon. That is, if you want to run it in 4 hours 30 minutes, try to run 800 meters in 4 minutes 30 seconds. About this training was written about 10 years ago, and since this method has a lot of fans.
Doug Underwood is one of the many fans of this technique. He has been running for only three years and has already run two marathons in 3 hours 55 minutes and 3 hours 53 minutes. After that, he really wanted to participate in the Boston Marathon and decided to seriously approach his training. His method was based on the Yass method.
To get to the Boston Marathon, you need to meet at 3:30. Therefore Underwood decided to train until he ran 800 meters in 3 minutes 30 seconds, and combine 10 approaches in one run, inserting between jogging segments jogging for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
As a result, Underwood ran Baton Rouge Beach Marathon in 3 hours 30 minutes 54 seconds. That was enough to get to the Boston Marathon.
Option 3. Long and slow running
Megan Arbogast ran marathons for five years already, and her best result is 2 hours 58 minutes. All would be well, but there is one problem: during preparations for the marathon, she brought herself to exhaustion.
And since 1998, she began to train on a program that was developed by Warren Finke, a well-known coach from Portland. Finke believes that a marathon runner should concentrate on an easy race that will help achieve the required endurance level without injury every few months. He believes that many runners train too much, are injured and then never reach their upper limit.
The Finke program is based on training, which is built on effort. He believes that if the runner runs at a speed that is 80% of his standard pace, he will achieve better results than if he runs at a speed that is 90%. Only 10% of the difference helps to avoid injuries and achieve the desired results.
And this program helped me a lot. Two years after the start of training on this system, she improved her personal result to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Option 4. Record each workout
When you run a marathon for 25 years and you have a degree in physiology, you know a few interesting things about training. Bill Pierce, chairman of the Department of Health at Ferman University, has developed a program that works perfectly. At 53, Pierce runs a marathon in 3 hours 10 minutes – it’s not much slower than 20 years ago, when he ran his first marathon.
The secret is that Pierce runs three days a week, but these days he trains for wear. For the remaining four days, he just rests: he does not run at all, but can arrange a power training or play tennis.
Pierce makes a work plan for each workout, which indicates speed and distance. In one day he runs a long distance at a slow pace. The second day runs intervals, and the third arranges a tempo workout. It works with more intensity than others recommend, but due to the alternation of training, the risk of injury is reduced. This training plan was ideal for Pierce, and he has been practicing it for many years.
Option 5. Practice plyometrics
Plyometrics (English plyometrics) – a sports technique that uses the shock method. In the modern sense – jumping training. Plyometrics is used by athletes to improve athletic performance, which requires speed, speed and power. Plyometrics is sometimes used in fitness and is one of the main elements of parkour training. Plyometric exercises use explosive, rapid movements for the development of muscle strength and speed. These exercises help the muscles develop the greatest effort in the shortest possible period of time.
Dina Drossin is on the list of America’s best women runners for all time. She once asked Wetherford, the trainer of the US Olympic Committee’s Training Center in Chula Vista, California, to develop a special program that would allow her to develop endurance and improve speed.
Weatherford said that he did not have to work with long distance runners, but he will try. In the end, he returned with two ideas that worked perfectly. Weatherford and Drossin began with the strengthening of the hull and continued with explosive plyometrics for the feet, focusing on the basics and preferring quality to quantity.
Drossin performed various types of jumps and after these trainings the London marathon ran with its new personal (and American) record – 2 hours 21 minutes 16 seconds. And it’s 5 minutes faster than her result before this marathon.
Option 6. Long tempo workouts
Military Patrick Noble ran his first marathon in 1986 for 3 hours and 15 minutes, feeling like a hero. Noble decided not to stop there and ran 50 marathons, never breaking his barrier in 3 hours. But 52 times he managed to jump above his head: he ran a marathon in 2 hours 58 minutes 23 seconds. Patrick believes that he was helped by his special approach to training – running at a fast pace for long distances.
The standard approach to tempo training assumes that you run from 20 to 40 minutes at a speed that is 10-20 seconds slower than your 10K pace. Noble raised himself a bar to 60 minutes. As a result, it was this that helped him to overcome the barrier on the 52nd marathon. At least, he thinks so.
Variant 7. Run fast and long
This option does not work for everyone and is the opposite of option number 3. Meet: Scott Strand, a fan of fast running for long distances. Recently, he was able to improve the result of his marathon for 4 minutes: his time was 2 hours 16 minutes 52 seconds.
During his training he ran from 18 to 23 miles. And the last 9-14 miles he ran at a marathon pace and even faster.
Heavy training at a fast pace for long distances brought Khalid Khanouchi, the world record holder in the marathon, into fashion. And if earlier it was considered important to stay on your feet for 2-3 hours, now many prefer to take a high tempo and run as fast as possible, at the end of the race.
You can try all seven ways and in the end choose one or more. The main thing is that they really help you, not harm.
Be careful, watch your inner feelings carefully, and you will be able to run your first marathon or improve the results during the next one.
