Thousands of first-time racers will take to the starting line Sunday at this year’s Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Virginia. If you would like to take on the challenge, one day, a running coach and MCM veteran has advice on how to prepare for your first 26.2-mile race.
The first thing you want to do is slowly start notching up the miles you run per week.
“Don’t even worry about training yet,” said Jill Brasky, former vice president of training at D.C. Road Runners. “If you’re running 10 miles a week, run 11 the next week and run 12 the week after that, adding an extra mile.”
Build up the miles you run per week by about 10% each week until you can run about 20 miles in a week.
“What you don’t want to do, of course, is jump into the training cycle without building a base because you are going to get injured,” she said. “I’ve seen it too many times to count.”
A big mistake first-time runners make is starting off all their runs too fast.
“You don’t want to run fast, run really easy, so that you can have full conversations out loud and speak in paragraphs,” said Brasky, adding that it may even take a few miles before your body even warms up.
Ultimately, Brasky said runners should try to have negative splits, meaning your last mile of the run is faster than all your previous miles.
“It’s hard to do, but once you’ve trained yourself to do it, making that first mile the slowest instead of the fastest will help train your body,” Brasky said.
Once you have your base down, finding coaching or a running group may be your best option.
“One of the things that makes it so much fun is it’s learning how to do something new with a bunch of other people who are also learning how to do something,” Brasky said.
Organizations such as D.C. Road Runners have dedicated groups for beginner and intermediate running, which generally trend a little slower than veteran runners. Brasky said the support during harder runs is unmatched in this type of environment.
Brasky ran her first 26.2 miles at the Marine Corps Marathon in 2018. Her biggest advice for training outright for distance is to make sure you hit a long run each week.
“The most important run in any training cycle is the long run,” she said. “That’s the one if you have to give something up during the week, you do. If you do your long runs, you’ll be fine.”
Those long runs train athletes to stay on their legs for significant amounts time, around 90 to 100 minutes at first, Brasky said.
Eventually most runners will take on a mammoth 20-mile run before they hit the racecourse.
The 49th Annual Marine Corps Marathon will start just before 8 a.m. Sunday.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
