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How to Prepare to Run a Marathon
If
you've ever run a marathon, or even been a spectator,
you'll appreciate the motivation and commitment involved.
If you're not prepared when it comes to race day you
can expect many hours of suffering and struggle!
It doesn't have to be that way, of course, if you put
in the required training over several months. This requires
commitment and motivation, and a belief that the accumulation
of all those training miles will help you to reach your
goal-- whether this is time-oriented, or the equally
valid desire to get round.
So
what is meant exactly by motivation and commitment?
Motivation is the desire to achieve something unusual
that gives you the incentive to do things that other
people are not prepared to do. Not many people are prepared
to train week in, week out so that they can stand at
the start of a marathon and say to themselves, "yes,
I am ready and I couldn't have done anything more."
You
can always do something more, but even the elite athletes
feel that way. Every athlete has their challenges --
whether it's getting the children ready for school,
or an Achilles injury. It's how we overcome these challenges
that make us stronger, and mean we can stand on the
start line with a quiet confidence.
If
you're working full time you might have to get up every
day at five a.m. to fit your training in, and this will
take commitment, motivation and determination. It won't
help if after a few weeks you revert to your former
habits, and get up half an hour before you have to leave
for work.
Whether
it is getting up early, or beginning a fitness program
your motivation and commitment needs to last over the
long term to have an affect. In training for a marathon
it will not help running for ten miles every two weeks,
and doing no exercise in between. Your body will have
forgotten what it has to do by the time you run again!
It is better to run three or more times a week with
one longer run on the weekend, and you will be in better
shape.
These
small, regular runs will add up to success over time,
but they are far easier to do when you have a target
to aim at. This can be a time you want to run, or the
desire to complete the 26 mile race. Either way if you
know what you want to achieve you will be more likely
to do the things you need to do. Having a target concentrates
the mind, and increases your motivation.
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