December 8, 2024
Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Races

Another marathon? Are you ready for the open road?

“Another marathon?

Have you asked yourself that question with dread?  I’ve ‘been there, done that’ and know very well that lots of things  affect your motivation to train for another marathon. Maybe you didn’t have a great run and feel unhappy with your results.  Maybe you had a great race but are fatigued or burned out because you either rested too long or not long enough.

If any of these situations sound familiar, you’re not alone. You should expect to have anti-climatic feelings after running a marathon, whether you ran your best race or slowest. Many people, even elite athletes, go through these feelings. With the right approach, you will soon be back out on your runs, feeling excited and motivated.

First however, before training for another marathon, you need to properly recover from your last race. Remember, you completed 26.2 miles!  You trained hard for months. That in itself is a great accomplishment. The length of your recovery depends primarily on how long it took you to complete your marathon. A good rule of thumb is to take a week of recovery for every hour it took you to complete your marathon.  So if your marathon took 4 hours plan on a 4 week recovery phase. During recovery you should minimize the volume and intensity of your training to allow your body and mind to recover.  Here are 7 tips to get you back on the open road:

  1. Train with a friend or with a group. Don’t worry about pace.  Take the time to talk during the run
  2. Change your regular running route. The change of scenery will do you good and will reduce your inclination to compare your new running times with your previous ones
  3. Add cross training for your easy workout days. Try swimming or cycling. Changing your training builds different muscle groups and improves your overall fitness
  4. Write down your short and long term goals. Review them every day
  5. Celebrate your wins. Put a smiley face beside the goals you have accomplished. It is great to look at, especially when the smiles continue to grow in numbers.
  6. Get your spouse to drop you off a given distance and then run home. Running point-to-point is an excellent goal-oriented approach to training
  7. Race in shorter distances like 10k races. This will give you more experience in preparing for competitions and improve your speed.

Take the time and remember why you started running in the first place.  It’s supposed to e fun enjoy If you have any stories you’d like to share we’d love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment.  We’ll see you in Negril for the Reggae Marathon this December.

Until next time…

Reggae Marathon RunninGuy

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