Sydney Marathon

You’ve done the training. You’re feeling fit. It’s time to think about your strategy for the big day. Factors such as the type of training, food, recovery, and race day strategies can be the difference between a PB and a PF (personal flop!) What can you do in the two weeks leading up to a race and on the day that will deliver your best running effort yet?

Taper your training:

Tapering training will enable your body to be fully recovered from all those long runs you’ve subjected it to. It gives you a chance to build up important stores such as your iron levels, zinc and white blood count. Do you need any more reasons to cut your training back? Most people jump at the opportunity!

Tapering is dependent on the distance of your race. For a marathon I would suggest halving your total distance/time run for the last two weeks. Doing shorter easy runs, mixed with a few sprints will help with speed, but really it’s just about maintaining what you’ve already got.

For a half marathon, the more prepared you are, the more time you have for tapering. Your last long run should be 8 days before, but if you only decided only three weeks before the race to do it, you may very well need that extra bit of time! You won’t make a huge difference to your fitness in the 8 days leading up to the race, but you run the risk of being tired/injured if you smash yourself so close to it.

For any distances less than a half marathon, give yourself four days off running before the race and you should fresh a daisy on the day.

Get stretching:

Admit it, you don’t stretch enough. What is it with most runners and stretching? It’s about as popular as a cold shower in winter (maybe because it can feel just as painful!). Hamstrings, calves (stretch with both a straight leg and bent), glutes, hip flexors, and lower back are the essentials. Click here for a video on some popular runners stretches. You may prefer to join a yoga or body balance class as this will stretch not only your running muscles but others you never even knew you had.

What to eat and drink before the race:

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Tagged As: fitness, fun run, half marathon, marathon, running

Editors Note: This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. He is currently completing a Post Grad Diploma in Applied Science (Elite Sports Training) and will go on to do a Masters in Recovery.

The well known “30 minutes a day” exercise guidelines were released back in 1995. These guidelines have recently been updated and new guidelines for physical activity  were released by the ACSM.

The ACSM is the American College of Sports Medicine. It is the peak body for sports medicine in the world and is the  largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world with more than 20,000 members.

The new guidelines for health adults under 65 years are:

• The basic recommendations are:
• Do 30 mins 5 days a week of  MODERATE intensity cardio or
• Do 20 minutes a day of VIGOROUS intensity cardio, and
• Complete STRENGTH training twice per week

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Tagged As: Exercise guidelines, fitness, Health, Strength training

Many people who have a dream of running a marathon push it to one side because they are filled with the fear that it’s too much training, they don’t have the time, or they aren’t fit/strong enough. Well I am here to dispel that fear by showing you in the simplest way possible a training program for anyone who can currently run 10km without stopping. If you are an experienced marathoner wanting to run a PB (personal best) then this program may not be detailed enough for you. But if you are a first time marathoner, or an amateur, then this program is exactly what you need to get fit enough to complete 42.2km.

The five ingredients for a successful marathon training program

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Tagged As: fitness, marathon, running, Training, Weight loss

If you’ve been stuck in an exercise rut, repeating the same old exercises, with barely any results, then maybe your body needs to be shocked by something new and different. Cross training is a workout that constantly changes, working all systems in the body from musculo-skeletal and cardiovascular. What’s the benefit? A body like Jose and Juanita over there, fit and strong with the explosive power of a leopard!

What is cross training?

You can read the dictionary definition of cross training, however, I like to call it the ultimate ‘Smash-em-up’ session! You know those days when you’ve got pent up stress, or you are feeling down, they are the best days to get into that gym (or lounge room) and go NUTS! Crank up the music, don’t worry what other people may think (security may be called) because when cross training you do whatever it takes to get your heart leaping out of your chest, and sometimes that means going crazy!!

Cross training is the combining of different exercises for different parts of the body that will improve strength, agility, fitness, and power. It usually involves big compound movements where multiple joints are working at once which elevates the heart rate giving the person a cardiovascular and strength workout at the same time. Explosive movements, such as jumping, build strength and fitness at the same time which is the ultimate aim.
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Tagged As: Cross training, exercise, fitness, strength, tone, Weight loss