How to Prepare for a Marathon

Marathon is becoming one of the most popular sports in America; according to the 2007 USA Marathon Report, there were more than 403,000 runners who made it to the finish line.

When it comes to running a marathon, you just don’t do it on impulse. It takes a lot of preparation like training, equipment and other important aspects of the sport. Now, I am going to show you how you can thoroughly prepare for a marathon.

Your equipment
You’d need the right set of marathon apparel and running gear to keep you comfortable throughout the entire race while keeping you safe from injuries.

- Running shoes: You need running shoes that have soft soles (branded shoes call it as an air sole or gel sole) to help keep your feet comfortable during the run. It’s also very important to note that running with brand new shoes is not a good idea because it will cause blisters and it may hinder you from finishing the race.
- Personalized running shirts: Running shirts are made of material that won’t absorb sweat like nylon; avoid shirts that are made from cotton. Coolmax clothes are also ideal running shirts when it comes to marathon.

Training and practicing
Months before the actual marathon, your body needs to be in peak physical and mental condition; which means you need to step your training and practice runs to another level if you want to finish a marathon.
- Weight lifting: On your non-running days, it’s ideal to go to the gym and lift some weights. This will help build muscle endurance as well as keep you in great condition.
- Practice runs: For practice runs, it’s ideal to wear your customized running shirts and running shoes; think of it as a dress rehearsal. This will help boost your confidence as well as your enthusiasm in finishing the race.
- Diet: Runners tend to burn a lot of calories during the race; which is why some people tend to go on a high calorie diet which allows them to store healthy carbohydrates. Once your healthy carbohydrates are depleted, your body will burn fats for energy; this doesn’t entail you to go on a high fat diet. Food like wheat bread, pasta and rice are great sources of healthy carbohydrates while fish, beef and chicken are ideal sources of protein to help keep your muscles healthy.

Other important preparations
- Visit the doctor: Weeks before running the marathon, you should check with your doctor and determine if you’re in excellent condition to run. Prevention is better than cure; having yourself checked out by the doctor is very important because he or she might be able to detect physical ailments like torn or strained muscles, ankles and so on.
- Proper sleep: You need to get adequate amounts of sleep the night before the marathon. This basically means that you can’t stay up late at night if you want to survive or even finish the race.

With the right amount of preparation, you can make it to the finish line.

The Facts behind a Triathlon

Source: http://leehuang.blogspot.com/2010/04/urban-triathlon.html

What is a triathlon?
A triathlon is a major sporting event that combines 3 activities in one race; running, biking and swimming. To date, there are 5 variations on the length of the triathlon:



• Sprint - 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
• Super Sprint - 400m swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run
• Olympic - 1500m, swim 40km bike, 10km run
• Half Ironman - 1.9m swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run
• Ironman - 3.8m swim, 180km bike, 42.2km (marathon) run

How does one prepare for a triathlon?
A triathlon is not a walk in the park, nor is it something that you can do out of impulse. A triathlete trains for months before an upcoming event and improving his or her physical condition, including cardiovascular strength, mental and even physical strength. A triathlete also needs to consume the right amount of food months and a day before the race.

Since there are 3 parts of a triathlon, the athlete must train in running, biking and swimming. Because there are variations to the length of the triathlon, your training requirements will also vary; a sprint type of triathlon will require you to run 3.1 miles, swim ½ mile and then bike for 12.4 miles.

What are the equipments needed?
You only need a handful of trigear, or triathlon equipment, for a triathlon event. You’d need basic marathon apparel like customized running shirts, 2 to 3 pairs of running shoes, cycling shorts, swimming apparel and biking gear.

There’s no big secret in winning a triathlon; it’s a race where the last man or woman standing wins. If you feel like you want to challenge yourself, then you can join a triathlon event in your state or area; just make sure you train properly so you won’t put yourself in harm’s way.