With the Brooklyn Half in the rear-view mirror, people’s minds start to focus on one of two things: summer racing or their fall marathon.
We are a little more than 3 days beyond the race (and 4-5 months away from most fall marathons) and I’ve already had several folks inquire about fall marathon training plans. While I appreciate the enthusiasm, take a step back, celebrate last weekend’s success and enjoy springtime running in NYC!
Part of taking a step back also includes non-running things:
- How are your recovering? Have you actually stretched out since the race? Consider scheduling a massage or some active recovery with our team sponsors!
- How old are your sneakers? Has the winter worn them out? Is it time for a new pair? Check out Brooklyn Running Co to pick up a fresh new pair of kicks and ensure size and fit are correct
If a fall marathon is your goal, here are a few suggestions for early season prep:
- Take advantage of these cooler springtime temperatures to focus on increasing the long run distance. Based on your current total weekly mileage, the long run should be 25-30% of the total week. For example, someone running 40 miles per week should feature a weekend long run of 10-12 miles. As the weather gets warmer, the body will be accustomed to the distance; it’s doing it in the heat which will be the struggle
- When it comes to interval workouts, let me be a little blunt: no workout completed in June and July will make you a better marathoner in October or November. Fact. Sure, it’s important to use them to build a base for future, longer workouts but don’t panic if they don’t go well/ miss one to have drinks with friends/ etc.
- Similarly, don’t be afraid to skip workouts for couple weeks to take a mental and physical break from the grind. When running workouts, feel to keep them no faster than HMP to enhance recovery
If most of your racing this year has been longer distances (NYC Half, Boston Marathon, NJ Marathon, Brooklyn Half, etc.), take this opportunity to try something new and consider some shorter race distances or even racing on the track
Those with summer races on their mind, the distances are typically short (5k, 4-miles, 5-miles, 10) and you may even have a few favorites from years past. If you’ve never trained for shorter races you may be wondering how does one go about training for these shorter distances? We’ll discuss that in next week’s post but, for now, enjoy the beautiful running weather, get back to basics and have fun!
Happy Summer!
The DWRT Coaches (Cassie, Megan, Scott and 40)