RUN CLUB BLOG: MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM

This week marks the start of many runners training program that spans the next 16 weeks all the way until the Melbourne Marathon festival. 16 weeks is normally the amount of time dedicated to a training program to allow for an adequate and progressive build up in load to avoid the risk of injuries and allow the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal adaptations to occur to ensure you are primed and ready to go come race day. Physio and overzealous runner Sam has shared the first two weeks of his training program template that he is using to train for the Melbourne Marathon in October (see below).

This will depend on the distance that you are planning to run, your baseline level of fitness and how experienced you are at running the desired distance. The factors that you want to consider are: frequency, intensity/type of session, progression.

Frequency: the aim should be to do 3-4 runs a week with the remaining days being split between rest days and cross training. It is important to rest to allow your muscles to recover and ensure you don’t overload them which can lead to injury and derail your progress. Additionally, it is good to engage in other activities that won’t impact greatly on your ability to consistently run, such as doing some gym work, swimming, cycling etc. This helps keep variety in your weekly exercise and maintain other forms of fitness.

Intensity: You don’t want every run to be 100% effort, as this will lead to early burnout. Your weekly runs should involve

• Easy run: this should be at a comfortable pace where you can speak in short sentences and is your longest run to build endurance
• Interval/Hard run: this is to build up speed, only cover short distance and this is where you can push hard
• Moderate runs: this is in between the two above, and can be roughly around the pace that you want to race in. The distance should be approximately half the distance of your Easy run.

Progression: when building up your running program, the tendency for novice runners is doing too much too quickly, this will ultimately lead to either burnout or potential injury if you haven’t allowed time for your muscles to adapt to the load you are undertaking. A good rule of thumb is to increase by no more than 10% each week and gradually progress to test your capacity with the option to scale back if you don’t respond well.

There is a lot more nuance when it comes to training for a race or just running in general! If you are interested in starting your journey or returning from/managing an injury then book an assessment to get a tailored program from one of our Physio team.

Join Hartwell Physio Run Club HERE.

Your local Camberwell Physio.