How Not to Train for a Marathon

Recently marathon running has experienced an influx of individuals training to complete the 26.2 mile distance. More marathons with bigger venues, the opportunity to raise money for charities, and a general if-Oprah-can-do-it-I-can-do-it attitude have all contributed to this increase.

There are hundreds of marathon training tips, books, and schedules that offer advice on everything from the kind of shoes to wear to the number of miles you should run in a week. What many of these resources lack, however, is a list of things to avoid doing while training for a marathon.

I have compiled a list of several mistakes I made while training for my first marathon or two, and have created a list of how NOT to train for a marathon. You can fail to adhere to one or all of these points and still run a marathon. But, if your goal is to run injury-free and have a good marathon experience, you will find these tips useful.

1-Do not run a marathon if you have been running for less than a year. It takes a long time to build the muscle and stamina needed to successfully run a marathon without being injured afterwards.

2-Do not ignore any injury. The chances of your making your injury worse are greater if you choose not to take adequate time off to heal. More experienced runners do not suffer from as great a number of severe injuries as newer runners, mostly because experience teaches you that rest is best.

3-Do not set a time goal. It is fine to have it in the back of your mind that you would like to run your race in less than four hours, but to aim for qualifying for the Boston Marathon your first time out may be a little lofty and set you up for disappointment.

4-Do not go into your long runs unprepared. Running for hours takes a lot of hydration and nutrition on the fly. You need to learn what types of fuel you can eat and how often you need to eat them while you run BEFORE the actual race.