Fun fact! Did you know that in the late 19th century from Marathōn in Greece, the scene of a victory over the Persians in 490 BC? That the modern race is a tradition that a messenger ran from Marathon to Athens (22 miles) with the news. It is about Herodotus told of the messenger Pheidippides running 150 miles from Athens to Sparta before the battle, seeking help. 

 

Today marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be finished by running or with a run/walk.

 

Preparation For Marathon 

Know that training for a marathon is also the marathon itself. We will be going to provide tips and tricks on how to prepare for the big day. Tips from how to space practice runs and adjust strength training to what's best to eat and drink. Continue reading, know and learn how to prep the night before, the right gear to bring to the race, and how to treat your body after that long run.

 

But Why Need To Prepare For Marathon?

It takes intense preparation, dedication, and skill in training and preparation for a marathon. But poor race-time decisions can put all of your months-long hard work and planning into nothing. Read here the few basic guidelines to minimize any excess damage to your body — and make the race experience more pleasant for you.

 

Keep Hydrated

Know that your body needs time to store water, do not chug a water bottle right before you leave because it is ineffective and uncomfortable. Remember to stay hydrated and energized, you need to drink water. Aim for at least 8-16oz of water for 1-2 hours before running.

 

Consume Simple Meal

Note that you don't need to eat plenty unless you are planning to run more than 12-13 miles. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bagel with honey or jam, or just fruit can fuel up your body so that can digest quickly. Make sure to avoid thick pasta sauces, fried foods, or cheeses, which are slow-to-digest foods. Here are some simple meal combinations you can try (bagel, toast, granola, oatmeal), natural sugar (jelly, banana, apple, honey), and protein (peanut butter, yogurt, grilled chicken).

 

Wear A Proper Exercise Attire

If you are planning for a short run, then you should wear light, breathable clothing that doesn't trap sweat. A cotton shirt will be fine, but you should use synthetic athletic wear for longer runs. Remember that your body's temperature raise to 10-15 degrees when you run. So so dress as if the weather is 10-15 degrees warmer.

 

Running Shoes

If ever you get any blisters or feel numbness in your toes, make sure that your sneakers fit by trying them out on short runs, so you would know if you need better-fitting shoes. Here are the tips to know if your shoes are fit for running. 1st your heel should stay snugly in the shoe, 2nd you should have room to wiggle your toes, and lastly, the balls and arches of your feet should be comfortable but not tight.

 

Reduce Your Exercise Week Before The Race

When reduce or tapering your exercise and workout before the big race will allow your muscles to recover. Make sure that you run shorter and slower, and switch to other activities you do regularly like biking or swimming 2-3 days before the race to rest your running-specific muscles. Avoid your urge to train hard at the last minute, it will only make you less effective when race day arrives. Did you know that it takes at least 6 weeks for your body to benefit from hard training, so a hard workout two days before the race won't help you? Marathon runners mostly reduce their 3 weeks to a month before the race, usually lowering their training mileage by 10 miles each week. 

 

Check Your Diet

To keep yourself from being sluggish make sure that at least three days before the race, do not eat junk food. Yes, your body needs the right fuel to be effective but avoid rich and fatty foods like donuts or bacon days before race time and try to eat more carbohydrates to prepare. Always remember that your body needs calories and carbohydrates to run effectively, good thing that your body can store almost 2,000 calories in carbohydrates. 

 

8 Hours Of Quality Sleep

Resting provides energy for your muscles to move longer and faster! No need to sleep too much because you may feel sluggish when you wake up. So just try o get a normal night's sleep.

 

Warm-Up

Studies have shown that a mix of dynamic stretching with small exercises gets your blood flow into your body and also, makes your muscles lose. Have a light jog for at least 10-15 minutes, while gradually increasing the pace. Then stretch lightly each muscle, holding for no more than 10 seconds each.

Slowly jog for another 10 minutes. Lastly combine 3-5 lunges, squats, skips, and jumps to warm up specific muscles.

 

Have A Massage

Are you a runner? If you are this fortunate especially if you are a beginner. Running for competition or even just for fun still renders stress and tension in your body. Did you know that massage?

 

Massage Promotes Relaxation

Of course, it is no secret that massage promotes relaxation, which has many benefits. Remember that relaxing your muscles also helps to relax your mind which reduces stress. As a result, it can re-energize your muscles for the following race or another tough workout, or even just the challenges of life.

 

Massage Can Reduce Muscle Pain And Fatigue

Massage is very helpful to improve your running to reach more mileage and also increase the intensity of your training even when you have started your training program. Technically more workload can cause muscle pain and fatigue. The main reason for this pain is the release of body toxins such as lactic acid into the tissue. This needs proper attention and solution, when left untreated the tissue can become damaged over time. Damaged muscle tissues mean less circulation and reduced circulation leads to congestion, tightness, and shortening of the tissues which limits your running performance.

 

Massage Increases Blood Flow Circulations

Massage does increase circulation and blood flow which benefits the performance simply because good circulation means better overall healing by triggering the immune system to promote a healing response in the tissue.

 

After every run, your body needs to recover from the stress caused to you. Every time your muscle is challenged especially during and after running your body releases toxins into your tissues. Massage is great and the fastest way to promote recovery helps release these toxins from your tissues. With the help of sufficient water, these toxins are flushed away easily, which assists lessen soreness and fatigue while helping freshen your legs for your next workout.

 

Massage Increases The Range Of Motion

It is a great advantage if you are flexible, increasing your range of motion can improve your performance. Remember that if you can run freely and properly, you can run more efficiently.

 

Did you know that a good massage can help rebalance your musculoskeletal system? When you run you will eventually experience pain and tightness in the Achilles tendon, hamstrings, knees, and IT band. You can commonly identify where they are experiencing pain. Here some of the pain and tension caused by running pain in the hamstring may be attributed to limited lumbar mobility. The hamstring could be over-stretched and compensating for the shortening of the hip flexors. When some parts of your muscles experience stress, or fatigue from using too much, some of your muscles will help and try to bring balance back to the body. Mostly this alternative or the secondary muscles are not meant to sustain taking the role and responsibility. If not given proper attention, or solution, and left untreated it will undergo stress, and much like a chain effect, other muscles also become involved and affected. Fortunately, a good massage will help break the cycle of the pain of injury.

 

After a tiring long run surely will need a good and relaxing massage the good news is you can do it at a convenience at your home using Medcursor Foot and Calf Massager.

 

MEDCURSOR

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