Training For Your First 1/2 Marathon

One Love Fit Club in Chino Hills, CA, is for people who want to challenge themselves. It’s also for people who just want to get healthier, lose weight and have a healthy outlet. No matter what your motivation is, training makes you stronger and ready for the next challenge. People need to keep their juices flowing and that means new challenges. Some people love the challenge of a marathon and take up kickboxing to train for their first 1/2 marathon, while others take up the challenge of running and a marathon to improve their skills in kickboxing. They complement each other, since you train different muscles and skills.

You train for a 1/2 marathon by running.

Some of your training will definitely be focused on running. You have to improve your running stamina and build your pace on some runs. Start slower at a pace for recovery and end faster than that pace. Other runs, such as Fartlek training, should vary your speed in intervals, like HIIT—high intensity interval training. Include hills and varying terrain in some of your runs. Finally, go for a tempo run that keeps your pace steady, but at a high pace for a set number of miles. For the 1/2 marathon, it should be between 1-10 miles.

Rest and recovery are important.

If you’re pushing your muscles to the max, you need to give them time to recover. You also need to take a break from running to give your mental faculties a rest by switching focus. Rest helps prevent muscle injury. Rest doesn’t mean alternating with days when you don’t exercise at all with days you run. It’s active rest. It’s cross-training that may include yoga, swimming, weightlifting or even kickboxing.

How does kickboxing work into marathon training?

Kickboxing works different muscles and is an entirely different sport. It builds core strength and pushes your body with periods of low intensity and high intensity, with short rests in between occasionally. That’s important for building the cardio endurance necessary for running. It’s a total body workout, so it complements running that primarily works the lower body. Kickboxing also builds core strength. That is particularly important for people doing long distance running, since it’s one of the biggest problems faced by many runners.

• Don’t forget to sleep. Sleep is extremely important whether you’re training or actively competing. The third stage of sleep is extremely important. It’s when the body releases HGH—human growth hormone, which helps the body repair muscles.
• Don’t forget about a healthy diet throughout training. Leading up to the marathon, make sure your caloric intake is mostly from carbs. Your meals the day before a race should be low fiber, easy-to-digest high energy carbs and frequent.
• Hydrate frequently. When you’re training, make sure you have a hydrating pack or belt to get used to using if you’re going to wear one in the 1/2 marathon. When training, find a way to stash water or create a path that goes past water fountains.
• Use the help of a personal trainer who can guide you for the endurance training you need. He or she will create a program that will safely get you ready for your next challenge, whether it’s a marathon or kickboxing competition.

For more information, contact us today at One Love Fit Club