You may not train at the pre-marathon level forever, but you can maintain the stamina you’ll develop
If running a marathon was on the cards for you this year or you’re planning to participate in the upcoming Step Together series, chances are you kept up your training. Here are some tips to tweak your training and maintain your stamina. If you have just completed our most recent walk-run event, these tips will help you too!
Do something fun… or nothing at all
If you’re completely spent from training (or finally competing) many seasoned runners recommend taking two weeks off to recuperate before throwing yourself back into it. Many athletes take a rest period from training and opt to get sports massages. Rest is essential to recovery, so if you take some time to get extra shut eye, you won’t lose any of your hard work and your body will thank you. During this time, try walking and gentle swimming to keep you moving but not exerting any stress on your muscles.
Review
This is a chance look back over your training and pick out some of the weak spots – do you wish you’d done a bit more strength training or improved your speed? Now you have the chance to do that. You’ve been given the opportunity to fine tune your training for when the event actually takes place, or if you’re already planning your next one.
Stop the pressure
You’ve more than likely spent the last several weeks focused on training for this race that you feel a bit stale and burned out. Rather than running for distance, try running for time. Try a new route. Run without your watch. Take the pressure off the end goal of completing a marathon.
Add in some fun elements
Tailor your maintenance program to include activities you enjoy. Apart from maintaining your endurance with regular, moderate-paced runs, now is the time to reintroduce yoga, strength training or HIIT workouts. You’ll work your muscles and joints to help avoid future injury and your body will receive overall conditioning that it wouldn’t otherwise get if you were just focused on the running.
Adapt and overcome
If another lockdown occurs where you cannot go outside to run, you’ll need to adapt your training accordingly. Treadmills only offer so much in the way of a solution, so relying on them entirely isn’t wise. Instead, look at different ways that you can exercise from home, whether you DIY your own equipment or you join our Baytak Nadeek coaches for a virtual workout.
Training for a marathon is an intense, short-term endeavor but once it’s over that doesn’t mean your conditioning has to fall by the wayside. Treat your body with care, keep it moving, and who knows?
Maybe marathons will become a regular fixture on your event calendar!
Healthy Living is a frequently updated content section brought to you by the Saudi Sports for All Federation. In the spirit of supporting our #HealthyActiveCommunity, we’re sharing tips around wellness, physical activity and more!
