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Marathon

Coopah How To: Prepare For Marathon Training

Jordan Foster

17/09/2024

If you are reading this blog, I am going to assume that like me, you are planning to run the 2025 TCS London Marathon. And perhaps also like me, now that we are in December you may have had that slight panic that marathon training is officially going to kick off very soon.

Now some of you may have already started your training, and if this is your first marathon or you just personally prefer a longer training block, then that may be the best thing for you. But for a lot of us, we will be officially starting our 16 week plan at the start of January.

So what does that mean for the next few weeks? Well, I want you to think of December as your Warm Up.

To sum up, everything you do over the next month will be geared towards getting you ready to start training properly in January. And the good news is, I am going to be on this journey with you. And I will be sharing how I am going to be getting myself ready; physically, mentally and practically, for the start of my plan.

BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION

What’s the most important factor when building a house? The bricks? The cement? The roof? Whilst these are all important, first of all you need to make sure that what you’re building on can actually hold the weight of an entire house sitting on top of it.

Otherwise, all that future hard work will go to waste; cracks will show, things will break and ultimately your house will come crashing down. I want you to think of marathon training the same way. You need to have that solid foundation before you start building on top of it.And how do you do that? By making running a regular part of your week from now.

My aim for December is exactly that – keep running consistent and aim to get out at least three times a week. I am not going to be aiming for big mileage, or cramming in lots of intensity, but instead just keep myself ‘ticking over’, so that not only do I have a good base to build on come January, but I also haven’t exhausted myself before I head into my next training block.

How Coopah Can Help: With our ‘Just Run’ plans you can set up a plan from today that doesn’t need an end goal. You can determine how long you would like to the plan to be + how many days a week you want to run, and the workouts will be tailored to your current fitness level. The perfect companion to take you from now until the start of marathon training.

ADDRESS YOUR WEAKNESSES

Been ignoring that niggle in your calf? Know you need to start strength training? Or just not sure that you’re wearing the right trainers? Now is the perfect time to address these concerns. The last thing you want to do is start a training block with these worries in the back of your head, so if there is something that isn’t quite right, it’s time to get it sorted. Whether that means booking an appointment with a physio, start including strength workouts in your training or popping into your local running store for a gait analysis.

Also, if you know that you have particular weaknesses, now is the time to work on these and stop ignoring them.

For me personally, this month I am going to aim to make Yoga a regular part of my training. Flexibility is a massive weakness of mine, and I know that once the miles start creeping up it can cause my hip flexors and glutes to feel very tight and uncomfortable, but I know that if I can make this a priority in December, it will then be a lot easier to continue this as we head into January.

How Coopah Can Help: All of our plans include regular strength and conditioning and Yoga workouts, so if this is an area you know you need to work on, we’ve got your back and can help to make this a regular part of your training from now.

GET ORGANISED

There is no getting away from it, December is a busy time for a lot of us – work, social commitments, family gatherings, travelling (the list goes on..) and let’s face it, a lot of us are just tired too as we are approaching the end of the year.

So, my best piece of advice for the next month is to get organised and be realistic about what you can do. This is actually something I try to do at the start of every week, but at this time of year it is even more important.

I usually sit down on a Monday with my calendar and my Coopah plan, and look to see what is going to be possible. It may mean that I need to move some runs on my schedule or if I know I have a busy week coming up, I can then adjust it to reduce the number of training runs I have that week. That way, I don’t have to worry about missing any of my scheduled runs, and I know that I am making the most of the time I have available.

Also, if you can get into the habit of doing this in December, its a really useful thing to take into marathon training. And as the famous saying goes – ‘by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’

How Coopah Can Help: Our plans are built with flexibility in mind, you can easily move your workouts during the week, and easily adjust the number of training days if you know you are going to struggle to fit everything in. We also have our coaches on hand 24/7 to give you support and advice on how to manage your training through the chat to coach function in the app.

 

Finally, a little reminder for you all. Training for, and ultimately running, a marathon is a big deal. And over the next few months you are going to be putting your bodies through a lot, so it is super important to remember to look after it as you are going through this journey.

Marathon training will look different for everyone – everyone will have different goals, different experiences and a different approach to training, but the basic principles are the same no matter who you are.

So over the next few weeks, I want you to keep reminding yourself how amazing it is that your body is allowing you to do this, and that one day there will be a time where you can’t run marathons, so be grateful that you are able to do this now.

Let’s do this

Coach Jordan 🧡

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