With the likes of Wokingham and Reading half marathons, not to forget Brighton and of course London marathons fast approaching, anyone running in these events will no doubt have already started preparing for what lies ahead.
Most race participants will be following a training programme suitable to the race distance. (If you’re not, these can be downloaded from marathon related websites). Whilst these programmes will typically incorporate a steady increase in mileage leading up to the event, its quite normal that they will also allow for active rest weeks and of course a tapering period of a week or so prior to the event, in order to help the athletes body recover from all the training prior to the main event.
In addition to following a training programme, any athlete training for an event (especially one based on endurance) can assist their overall event preparation by implementing the following key elements, which in turn may also help minimise the risk of injury during training and during the event itself.
Clothing and Equipment
All clothing and footwear should have been tried and tested. You don’t want any rubbing or chaffing from new items. Windproofs and waterproofs (in case of inclement weather) need to be known to be effective for their specific purpose without unduly effecting body temperature. Compression clothing (socks, tights, calf guards, etc.) should also have been tried and tested, both whilst training and or perhaps post activity to help with recovery. Read more on compression.
Footwear
Trainers come in a variety of colours, shapes and prescriptions, and whilst they often feel great straight out of the box, how they perform and whether they are the correct prescription for, not just your technique and feet, but the rest of your body can very often be a reason why a variety of injuries may occur.
Consequently any time or money spent having an analysis of your gait or footwear can often offer valuable insight into making sure that your footwear is correct and that the risk for injury is minimised.
That said, we also tend to forget that whilst shoes come as a pair, our feet (not dissimilar to our left and right eyes) can often benefit from different attention in order to help facilitate a better symmetry. Including a custom-made orthotic for any individual with an imbalance between left and right can often help the overall outcome. Read more on custom orthotics.
Thereafter, it’s about making sure that the footwear you choose to run in is nicely broken in, without being overly worn out on the day of the event.
Fuelling (Fluids & Nutrition)
If you’re planning on using any nutritional supplements during these events, then ideally these should be tested during your training runs, but definitely prior to the event itself. Otherwise consequences such as crashing, rejection and tummy troubles might be suffered.
Basically speaking, any nutritional supplements taken during training should endeavour to replicate the actual event as closely as possible – including down to which brand of supplements you choose to use vs whichever brand might be sponsoring the event itself (and therefore handed out at refueling stations) as switching between brands during training and the event itself has also been known to cause some athletes issues.
Stretching
Stretching is possibly one of the easiest components for individuals to perform, and yet appears is so often overlooked. Routinely incorporating some stretches to your training sessions and weekly program can often help to reduce tight muscles from becoming overly stressed, and allow for greater freedom of movement, before any restrictions are thus imposed upon the body. Whilst it nice to incorporate some gentle stretches during any warm up, it’s currently considered more favourable to incorporate your main stretching component post activity.
Muscle Activations
Muscles activations are still a largely unknown technique. However by adding some quick muscle activations to your warm-up, you have the ability to stimulate the muscles used during running into action and boost your power! Read more about Muscle Activations.
Sports Massage
The benefits of having some regular deep tissue sports massage cannot be understated. Massage can be used to help your body recover from all those hard fought training sessions and prepare more readily for your next training session or the event itself. Read more about Sports Massage.
That said, if you’ve already started to notice a few niggles which haven’t settled with the application of some stretching, rest or massage etc, it may prove beneficial to visit to your local specialist and have your gait analyzed / receive some more specific advice regarding your overall symptoms and how they might be being influenced.
With some expert planning, and a little bit of luck, fingers crossed that anyone entering their first half or full marathon will enjoy both the physical and social experience the event has to offer, and that those returning to there chosen event for another year, will hopefully finish problem free… and with a Personal Best 