Actually, this list could apply to any sort of training that you are doing for a race of any distance. Be it your first 5k or your 10th marathon. The real key here, is that this is a list of things that should be avoided if you want to finish the race and meet your goals. Follow these rules and you will avoid getting injured or worse.
Image via Wikipedia1. Avoid over training. One of the worse things that you can do, is to over train. Overtraining opens you up to getting stress injuries from over exerting your mucles and joints. When the training regimen calls for a rest day, take a rest day. You need to have a rest day to allow your muscles time to heal and recover from the training.
2. Avoid skipping training sessions. If you are supposed to run 5 miles, but only run 4.5, that’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal, when you are supposed to run 5 times a week, but only run 3 on a repeated basis. It’s possible that you have a good reason for missing runs. There could be issues with the weather or your health or some other scheduling issue. If you skip too many sessions, you may need to rethink your goals and perhaps shoot for the half marathon instead of the full distance. There’s always next year, and there’s always another race that you can attend.
3. Avoid eating junk food. Seriously, there’s a reason it’s called junk food. You need to pay attention not only to what you feed and fuel your body when you eat, but also pay attention to what you drink. You can be the most diligent person when it comes to eating, yet be completely blind sided by what you drink. Have you ever skipped eating a candy bar because it has 10 grams of sugar, but then grabbed a cup of coffee and put 15 grams of sugar in it? Have you ever wondered how much sugar gets into your diet by way of the things that you drink? Grape flavored vitamin water has 33 grams of sugar in it, did you know that?
4. Avoid not keeping track of your progress. This is a real kicker. You need to keep track of your progress. On those days that you don’t feel like running, you can look back at your log and see the progress that you’ve made. How you started off barely being able to run 500 feet, and now you’re about to head out the door for a 6 mile run. I find looking back over my logs to be inspiring. I always want to beat my old times and better my old milestones. Who else better to compete against than yourself?
5. Avoid eating heavy foods the night before your race. I learned this lesson the hard way. After overcoming injury and scheduling conflicts galore, I was finally “ready” to run my second marathon. The night before the race, I decided to go out and have some barbecued pork ribs. I just couldn’t wait until after the race to have those ribs. Well, sometihng was wrong with the ribs or something else that I ate that night. I got food poisoning and missed the race altogether.
6. Avoid not stretching. You have to stretch. Muscle and joint flexibility is tantamount to having good running form as well as being able to walk home, instead of waddling home after the race.
7. Avoid ignoring your core. You have to work on your core muscles. Your running posture is held up by your core abdominal muscles. If your core is weak, you’re more likely to tire earlier. However, don’t think that you have to do endless crunches to strengthen your core. You can try pilates, yoga, rock climbing, mountain biking, etc. All of those cross training exercises can help you strengthen your core.
8. Avoid not showing up. I don’t just mean this figuratively. Bring your “A” game to the race. Show up mentally to the race, not just physically. Make sure that you’re ready to go. It’s OK to be nervous, it’s OK to be scared of the distance. It’s not OK to not show up.
9. Avoid not listening to your body. Aches and pains are your body’s way of telling you that something is not quite right. It’s possible that some aches and pains are induced by your nervous energy and can be ignored, but not all aches and pains can be written off. Listen to your body, if it tells you “stop, not so fast” then you should listen to it.
These are my 9 things to avoid if you plan on completing a marathon. I’ve learned all of these things the hard way. There was a year in which I broke just about all of these steps. Actually, I think there has not been a season in which I did not break one rule. You can have a successful season and still break these rules, but you’re experience will be much better if you avoid these mistakes.
