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So you’ve done it again, you’ve set yourself a fitness target (to run a half marathon) and a
completion date (the race itself) and you’re ready to get going.
But Do You Really Know
How To Train For A Half Marathon?
It isn’t simply a case of
donning your old pair of running shoes and setting off for a 10 miler.
Once you decide you’d like to get up to half
marathon distances, you need to adopt an entirely different
attitude.
Running a 5k or a 10k at a
push could be done (although not recommended) without any plan or strategy. But if your aim is
to run a half marathon then there are a number of things you need to get
right first.
Running
Shoes
If you have any old pairs of running shoes that
you’ve had for years, bin them!
You’re going to need some good
footwear that is specific to your running style and gives you the right type of
support and cushioning. Buying a good pair of running shoes from a specialist running store
must be your first task. This should be your biggest expense when buying your running kit
along with a couple of pairs of specialist running socks.
Plan Your
Success
Sit down with a pen and paper and start
writing...
List the days when you’ll be able to train and the
days when you’ll be able to rest. Write down a range of specific, time framed goals and
targets to aim for which are realistic and can be broken down in to smaller chunks. For
example, at the end of the first weeks training I will be able to run for 5 minutes without
stopping etc.
Start
Slowly
If you’ve done the planning part right, then you
should have a steady progression right from starting your training all the way through to
actually running the race. You shouldn’t need to attempt any very long runs to begin with,
getting to this point should be a continual and gentle
progression.
If you want to know more about training for a
half marathon, then my new half marathon running guide ‘Half Marathon Training For
Beginners' is an excellent choice...
You’ll find it a great resource to help you
plan your training but also it's a fantastic reference guide for the times when you
need inspiration and new ideas to make your workouts more interesting.
If you think
you’d be a better runner if you knew...
-
What to eat and
when
-
How, why and
when to train so you get fitter, stronger and more confident
-
What to do
to avoid picking up niggling injuries
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How to build up to
race day distance in the shortest amount of time
Then you
need ‘Half Marathon Training for Beginners’ – A half marathon training
schedule which gets you results – FAST.
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