Marathon Training

If you are planning to run a marathon in the fall of 2009, the Second Wind Running Club's Marathon Training Group could be a great complement to your training schedule. The club is sponsoring organized long runs featuring courses with marked miles. Participants must be paid-up members of Second Wind – there is no additional fee – this is a benefit of your Second Wind Membership. Each run will start promptly at 7:00 a.m. Second Wind will provide maps, water and Gatorade.

The target marathon training is the Indianapolis Marathon on October 17th, but there are several other fall marathons and ultra-marathons. If you are training for a marathon other than one on the weekend of the target race, you can run with the training group and add or subtract a few miles as your schedule dictates. Below you’ll find the dates, locations, and planned mileage for each run.

Second Wind Running Club is taking the fun on the road to Indianapolis! Join us October 16th and 17th as we travel by motorcoach to the 14th Annual Community Health Network Indianapolis Marathon and Half Marathon. This transportation package includes: Travel to/from Indianapolis with travel to the Packet Pick-Up, Host Hotel, Pasta Dinner and the Race. The cost of your seat on the motorcoach will be no more than $50 (the cost will decrease if we are able to fill the 47 spots!) The package includes transportation and an endless amount of fun. You will be responsible to register for the race (early entry by August 1st is $50 for the marathon and $40 for the half), to purchase pasta dinner tickets ($12) and to make your reservation at the Hilton Hotel - host hotel for the event ($109 1-4 people in the room). You must be a minimum of 21 years of age to participate in this trip. E-mail Nancy McCarty to reserve your space.

Date	Distance	Maps	Starting point
Sunday, Jul 12	12 miles	12 mile map	Prairie School, Urbana
Sunday, July 26	14 miles	14 mile map	Hessel Park, Champaign
Sunday, August 9	16 miles	16 mile map	White Heath
Sunday, August 23	18 miles	18 mile map	Lake of the Woods, Mahomet
Saturday, September 5	20 miles	20 mile map	Prairie School, Urbana
Sunday, September 20	20 miles	20 mile map	Prairie School, Urbana
Sunday, October 4	14 miles	14 mile map	Hessel Park, Champaign
Saturday, October 17	26.2 miles		Indianapolis Marathon

All runs begin at 7:00 a.m. – any questions email Nancy McCarty at stanruns@hotmail.com.

General Physical Condition: Before beginning any training regimen, you should have established a ‘base’ distance that you run every week. Opinions vary on the appropriate base. Some experts say you should be running a minimum of 20 miles a week. Through the course of your training, this may increase to the range of 40-50 mile per week depending on what kind of runner you are. You should be in good health and have had a recent medical examination (the usual caveat and good advice in any event).

Hydration: It is surprisingly easy to let yourself become dehydrated during a long run. For any distance over ten miles, we recommend pre-placement of water or a sports drink every 3-6 miles. Drink early, even if you are not thirsty. You need to be especially careful during your training phase. You may want to buy a water bottle carrier to wear during the long runs. These are available at most running or hiking stores. We also recommend that you find out what sports drink will be offered at the marathon you intend to run. Also find out the distance between aid stations at your race. During your training runs, practice taking fluids of the same type and at the same interval as offered at your race. Many runners find sports drinks to be too strong and alternate water and sports drinks. For first time and less experienced runners, it is recommended that you walk through aid stations to ensure that you get enough fluids.

Nutrition: During training, your diet will have a significant effect on how you feel and perform during a run. Naturally, you should eat a healthy and balanced diet. National Research Council guidelines recommend that less than 30% of calories in your diet should come from fat. Equally as important, AVOID FATTY FOODS BEFORE A LONG RUN! Fat ingested within about 12 hours before a run will digest slowly, make you feel lethargic during the run, and can cause other gastrointestinal distress (Okay, in English, you will need to dart into the corn fields frequently during the run). Carbohydrates are your friends. Pasta seems to be the favorite (avoid the Alfredo sauce). For those of you that know about ‘Carbohydrate Loading,’ research has shown that it does work, but that the nutritional depletion phase can do more harms than good. Eating during your run can have a beneficial effect on your performance. Favorites include energy bars and gels. Don’t try this for the first time on Marathon day, however!

Training Tips from Lore of Running by Timothy Noakes

Long runs done every other week are more than sufficient for marathon training. Any more than this will tear your body down interfere with the recovery time needed between long runs, and invite injuries.
Get plenty of sleep on a regular schedule. Rest is very important in a marathon-training program.
On shoes: Never do any long distance training in shoes with more than 500 miles on them. REPLACE THEM. Never race in shoes with less than 50 miles on them. In your marathon, it is recommended to not wear shoes with over 100 miles on them. Get fitted for shoes by an expert, telling them about your training goals.
Blisters are not your friend. Buy a good pair of wicking socks. Another runner’s secret is to liberally smear Vaseline or Body Glide on your feet before a run. By the end of the run, you won’t even know it was there and you’ll be blister free.
Lubricate your body for the long runs and the marathon race. Use Vaseline or ointment. The areas to lubricate are the armpits, nipples, inner thighs, crotch area, and the feet.