FitMethod

Last March I completed my first marathon. While training for it I kept a blog in which I talked about my training. I found the entire experience to be both mentally and physically challenging, very time-consuming and grueling…and I LOVED it! The feeling that I had during the last 50 meters is indescribable and made the whole experience worth it. Therefore, a month and a half after crossing the finish line I registered for my second marathon. I have learned a great deal from my first marathon, from the importance of taking care of your running shoes to making sure to take pepto bismol to prevent an upset stomach during the race. I think the most important thing that I walked away knowing, though, would be the importance of proper cross training. Training with weights in the gym, in addition to my training runs, allowed me to run the race in optimum physical condition and prevented me from injuring myself.

All too often we hear about people who sustained injuries during their first marathons. And usually, thats because they did not properly prepare for the marathon. The biggest mistake that a runner can do is to ignore strength training. The body is chain, and the different muscle groups are links in that chain. By ignoring a link and allowing it to become weak, the whole chain suffers. That’s why its important for runners to properly take care of their bodies; if they want to achieve their optimum performance level, they need to ensure that every muscle group in their body is in good shape. Strength training guarantess optimum performance: it strengthens muscles and the joins around them. There is the misconception that simply running is enough of a workout, especially for the legs. Proper strength training can not only prevent injury, but it can increase performance. It can make a runner faster and improve their muscular endurance. There is also no danger of “bulking up”, because marathon training requires such a great expenditure of calories, that there are not enough calories left to result in muscle buildup.

So whats a good workout for a marathon runner? One that includes the entire body, is intense, and done for time. For instance:
5 sets done for time of
500 meters row,
30 squats to overhead ball throws,
15 pullups,
20 pushups.
That means that the workout is done as fast as possible. The muscles are trained to become faster, stronger, and with more enduring. The workout is very cardiovascular and thus is very beneficial to the marathon runner.

All of the effort that I put in the gym while preparing for my first marathon paid off. I walked away injury free and felt good enough immediately after the race to chug a beer with a friend of mine. I am hoping that other runners will take my advice and adopt a proper resistance training routine to their marathon training.