Running the NYC marathon still remains a long held goal(dream) of mine, and I look forward to experiencing one of the most popular marathon events in the world one day.
Hearing first hand accounts of this famous event only strengthens my desire & resolve to get there myself one day & enjoy the experience.
Sadly however, I also hear too many accounts of a runner's poor experience, which leads me to ask how are you going to prepare yourself to ensure your NYC Marathon experience is a good one.
The NYC marathon will be held on November 1st this year, and just 2 weeks after our own Melbourne Marathon, meaning it is only 18 weeks away this weekend. Whilst I am regularly involved in the preparation of both Melbourne & NYC Marathon entrants, I often come across runners in clinic who arrive suffering the typical runners' complaints, only the NY entrants are a few weeks behind.
Last year, I met a lovely couple who were preparing for their lifetime trip to run the NYC marathon, this being their second marathon experience. The excitement and anticipation was palpable as we discussed this but anxiety soon followed after I started asking questions about their preparation and programming specifics, as I tend to do as a clinician and running coach.
You see when a runner appears with a running complaint/injury, this occurrence is usually always the result of overload, being the by product of common mistakes that runners make; often running too much too soon, inadequate recovery, running long runs too fast, or a combination of all three.
It basically all comes back to an inappropriate program that lacks the customised training ingredients to ensure maximum physiologic benefit from your training whilst avoiding injury. This is what a personalised program and prescribed training paces are all about.
Anyway, my clients came in early enough to have effective treatment and with some program management, this allowed them to recover in time for the big race, and off they went.
It wasn't until March, or some 4 months after the race that they returned to the clinic, and I was very eager to hear all about this great event and their once in a lifetime experience.
" Terrible. Didn't enjoy it at all " was the response and needless to say that this runner didn't realise their marathon goal finish time, in fact not even close. After discussing a number of mitigating factors that may have contributed this runner couldn't get past the reality that their training program and preparation just wasn't up to scratch to prepare for a PB, or even to enjoy the event outside of achieving a PB.
Further than that, the experience was so bad that she never feels like doing it again...not yet anyway, ( we're working on it!)
So I set the wheels of mental rehab in motion, to assist her to get running just for enjoyment again, and then consider another marathon at a later date.
Then it occurred to me that many people invest a huge amount of time, money, effort and sometimes hardship on themselves and those around them to get to one of these events, even if it is in your home town. And yet they often fail to approach it properly with a suitable program to ensure that they prepare themselves adequately and give themselves a good chance of having a great marathon experience.
We're talking 6 months of your life, many hours and 1000 kms or more in training. Often spending thousands of $$$ to get there as well, yet fail to get a customised program and plan that is designed to meet their needs.
And we know what happens if you fail to plan......
If you're going to go to all that trouble, please do it properly. You deserve a better result & a better experience.
You can get a personalised program here at Run Well. Your NYC marathon preparation starts now, or very soon so don't hesitate!
Train smart. Run well. Race better.
