This write up is given by one of our runner, Ganesan Subramanian after his 2nd Full Marathon on march 28, 2010.
Congratulations Ganesan !.
Thanks for giving this valuable tips for our runners.
Excerpt from his email:
================================= My First FM was 6 years back in SFO.
During first one I was a novice for full marathon. I didn’t do the below precautions before the first marathon run but did this time:
1) Applying anti-itch ointment at bottom joints.(my co-worker suggestion)
2) Covering nipple with band aids. Covering the nipple helps a lot.(my co-worker suggestion)
3) Massage, Massage, Massage the legs on the previous day.
4) Drinking lot of carbohydrates 2 hours before the run. Try the new GU-roctane gel. Take couple of them in your pocket and follow the instruction.
5) Training on the hills a lot. I didn’t run more than 22 or 23miles but I did it many time for this marathon practice.
6) Conserved energy for the last 6 miles. My first marathon I didn’t conserve energy. So, I was having 9mins/mile till 18 mile. From 18-22 it was 10 mins a mile average. The last 4 miles I was dragging my feet because I couldn’t even walk and was about to quit. This time point 5 and conserving energy helped me to finish by running.
Last time itself I did this:
7) Wearing dry fits(prevents lot of abrasion compared to cotton t-shirts)(Mohan’s advice)
8) Drank lot of water 2 hours before the actual run(book and website)
9) Proper shoes.( Mohan’s advice)
If TEAM is going to run Full Marathon in hills then they have to train in hills. The muscles coming into play are different. So, train in hills. Run 20-22 at least 3 times. if possible 22-24.
One more thing I should have done but didn’t do is develop more thigh power and chest power by lot of squats and push ups. Both will help in running up hill and run faster(my co-worker suggestion). That too for diabetic patients like me it would have helped a lot. But the fact is I didn’t do.
If you want to add speed as part of your marathon then train by running several short sprints.(my co-worker suggestion, who ran in 3 hours 35 mins)
