All athletes are limited by their God-given talent. Some are naturally gifted; others will never be elite. Nonetheless, anyone can improve within limits. Here are some things you can do to become a better marathoner in the context of our annual training program.
Train Consistently. You can’t significantly improve aerobic fitness by training sporadically. Consistence requires attending all program workouts and, if possible, doing easy workouts on your off days. In the short term, you’ll have to train several times a week for six or ten weeks to see any progress. In the long term, you’ll need several years of consistent training to approach your potential. Meanwhile, the key to consistency is regular and adequate, injury-free recovery from all workouts.
Become Competent. Training consistently depends on becoming a competent endurance athlete. This marathon program will support you to learn the basic skills, the most important of which is learning how to enjoy running. Filling out the program diary and learning the hard-easy system will teach you to think like an endurance athlete. Under-standing our program training standards (in the information packet) will give you a ground-ing in other facets of the endurance training game, such as eating for optimal energy.
Lose Weight. You can go faster and longer with the same effort by simply losing weight, especially if your body weight is made up of 25% (or more) fat. Exercise will help to speed up your metabolism so you can burn fat, but you will not lose significant amounts of weight—even in a marathon program—unless you change the way you eat. Our course on sensible eating is designed to teach students how to establish a sensible eating lifestyle that will result in optimal body weight.
“Ambition is great if it keeps you in the game and you keep it in perspective. It can also be the source of problems, especially if it interferes with better judgment.”
Get in Touch with Your Ambition. To the extent you want to do the Honolulu Marathon, your ambition is the driving force. Even athletes who don’t particularly care about doing the marathon can be ambitious—if only to lose weight, get in shape, or keep up with their group. Ambition is great if it keeps you in the game and you keep it in perspective. It can also be the source of problems, especially if it interferes with better judgment. Remember, the marathon is our yearly destination, but along the way and into future years, you must also focus on establishing a sustainable, enjoyable, injury-free regime.
Be Well-Equipped. Your equipment may seem less necessary than your ambition where marathoning is concerned. But equipment is part of every sport, and running has useful equipment. Here’s a short list of things you should bring to every workout: new (or relatively new) shoes, cool and comfortable running clothes, a heart rate monitor and a stop watch, a sun visor or cap, a reflective vest or flashing light, a flashlight, a water bottle or CamelBak, a small cooler, a travel bag large enough to carry all your running stuff, a bath towel, a jacket or sweat shirt, sandals and loose-fitting clothes to wear after workouts.