Gavin running London

There is almost no end to the training you can do, so you need to have a plan that fits in with your lifestyle whilst still preparing you for the marathon challenge. Below there are some must do's and some advice on how to develop your training further.

Must do's...

• Build up gradually. The more running you can do in preparation for a marathon the better, but you can't do it all at once. Start with something you are comfortable with, then stretch yourself further each week.
• Longest run. Aim to get a really long training run in four or five week before the marathon, this will hopefully be at least three hours. Sounds hard, but you'll be grateful on the big day.
• Buy some trainers. You're going to be doing a fair bit of running, so be kind to your feet with some new shoes for training. Worn out trainers increase the likelihood of getting injured.

• Train with a group. To make the whole experience enjoyable, nothing beats training with other people.
• Run some interval sessions. Runs with a mixture of faster paced training and slower pace (or rest) get you fitter quicker. If you've already got some base fitness and want improve your race times, these are a must. When training for a marathon these should be quite long bursts at faster than your usual pace, but not absolutely belting. Come along to one of our training sessions to find out more.
• Run some practice races. There are low key road races all over the country every weekend. Racing a 10k, a half marathon or even some cross-country gives you some experience of what a race day's like. It's also a good test of how your training is going.
• Long runs. You should try to get a number of these in, but they're hard work, so don't go mad. A really well prepared runner will have their longest five runs adding up to a little over 100 miles.
• Structure your week. You need to mix hard training (long runs, fast runs or intervals) with rest and shorter, slow runs to allow recovery. A good principle to stick to is always follow a hard day by an easy day. Read some training plans; magazines such as Runners World will published fairly detailed training schedules. These are good to read and adapt to your own routine. They'll suggest some interval training, so come along and do it with the club!
• Stretches. It's a good idea to spend 5-10 minutes doing some stretches after a run.
• Eat well. You're going to be doing a fair bit of running, so make sure you eat well. In particular, after a longer or harder run you should try to eat something containing carbohydrates fairly soon after the run.
• Taper. Your most important training is over a fortnight before the marathon. Wind down the amount of running you do in the two weeks preceeding the marathon and you'll be raring to go come race day.
• It's all madness. But that's OK...

Urban meets Mizuki Noguchi