Train

By Genny Owen
4 min 20 sec read

Tackling her first marathon this year, she's done all the legwork so you don't have to.

The beauty of running is that you really don’t need to spend a fortune in order to get the most out of it. Yes there’s some techy, specialist kit if you want to splash the cash, but when you’re just starting out, a few core pieces of gear are all that you need and can make a big difference to your overall running enjoyment.

Find your next running event

First off, I’d recommend purchasing some running specific shorts and leggings. With the weather being so unpredictable, it’s good to have a pair of both so that you can’t use the heat/cold as an excuse not to go running! A good running top is also key. Personally I prefer sleeveless tops as I find them more breathable for running in, but whatever works for you. Either way, your running clothing should be lightweight and comfortable. Ladies, make sure you invest in a sports bra too to avoid any awkward motion or discomfort!

Material wise, the biggest thing is to avoid cotton at all costs. Not only does it act like a sponge, soaking up the sweat as you run, it’s likely to rub and cause chafing which is not pleasant! Opt for ‘sweat wicking’ materials (usually made from high tech polyester) instead. In short, they are designed to draw sweat away from the body and dry quickly. Seamless fabrics are also a good idea to avoid any unwanted rubbing.

Next up, whilst a standard exercise sock may do the trick, if you want to go that extra mile, running socks are a good investment. For example, anti blister running socks are a winner, specially designed with double layering to avoid any unwanted rubbing. Again, just steer clear of cotton socks if you want to avoid a damp sticky sensation whilst running.

A couple of running accessories may also come in handy. A decent headband will stop your hair from blowing all over your face if the wind picks up. Equally, a running cap is useful to keep cool on those warmer days. I’m also a huge fan of running belts. They allow me to store my essentials safely whilst still feeling like I’m running free. Finally, if you’re running in the dark or poor light, a piece of fluorescent equipment won’t go amiss. Caps, belts, socks, hats, shorts, shoes...take your pick, it can all be fluorescent if you want!

Get gear

Spilbelt Running Belt - A reasonably priced, elastic running belt that can adequately fit and safely store any bits and bobs you want to take with you.

Gore Headband - As a specially designed multi-purpose headband, come rain or shine , whatever the weather throws at you, this headband should come in handy!

Hilly - TwinSkin Socks - The best socks out there in my opinion to avoid pesky blisters. Double layered fabric that's friction resistant, they help to prevent the dreaded rub.

Veho Headphones - These headphones are water resistant so they’re perfect for all kinds of sports. They’re non-slip and have an inline mic so you can make and accept phone calls.

Get inspired

Everyone likes a good story, especially when it’s got a happy ending. Runner’s World’s The Most Inspiring Running Stories of All Time is a collation of some of their best articles and is guaranteed to give you the inspiration and motivation you need!

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By Genny Owen
3 min 20 sec read

Tackling her first marathon this year, she's done all the legwork so you don't have to.

So it’s a week before your race (maybe even your first ever race) and the countdown has begun! I don’t know about you, but as race day draws closer, I find my mind and emotions flick all over the place… from excitement to nervousness, uncertainty to confidence and then back again. So I'm going to share with you a couple of last minute tips to hopefully keep you feeling fresh, both physically and mentally for your big day.

Rest up

The week before your race, make sure you don’t do anything crazy or over-do it training wise. I’d recommend doing a couple of shorter, easy runs and then have complete rest the day before, if not two. This should hopefully give your body time to recover from any little aches or pains and ensure you feel on top form on race day. Sleep is also key. There’s nothing worse than feeling lethargic or groggy, so aim for a solid 8 hours sleep the days leading up to your event.

Stick to your routine

This applies to a number of things, the first of which is food. Whilst it’s important to be sufficiently fuelled up for your race, just stick to what you’ve been eating whilst training. For example, if you’ve been eating salmon and rice the night before, then a bowl of porridge an hour before your run, don’t eat a massive bowl of pasta the night before and then porridge, plus peanut butter toast in the morning just because it’s race day. Not only are you likely to feel bloated and uncomfortable, your body may well react differently, leaving you regretting your decision! So just keep it simple and go with what you’ve tried and tested. The second point this relates to is gear. Whilst you might be tempted to splash out on a snazzy new pair of trainers for race day, it’s not a great idea the week before a race. You won’t have had sufficient time to wear them in and as a result, could end up with sore feet, blisters and frankly, not a very enjoyable race experience.

Get organised

I find it helps calm my nerves and stops me stressing if I sort out and plan ahead a few little things. For example, the night before the race, I lay out everything i’m going to wear and pack a small bag with anything i think i’ll need (layers of clothing pre/post race, water, snacks). I can then head to bed without my mind running through a checklist. It’s also wise to arrive at the event early, especially if it’s your first race. Get your bearings, your bib number etc. There’s no point arriving at a race flustered and stressed out, with minutes to spare and your heart rate already through the roof! So these few simple steps should help you avoid that.

Runday = funday

The most important point is to enjoy it! Done right, running and races are meant to be fun, leaving you wanting to sign up for more. It’s completely normal to feel a little nervous ahead of your race though. Try to soak up the atmosphere and use other runners or the crowd to cheer you on through if you’re struggling. Don’t sprint out of the start line either. Other runners may well wizz past you but that’s okay, everyone’s at different levels so don’t try to play catch up. Instead, pace yourself and run at a speed you feel is comfortable and consistent for you. Leave any sprinting for that final push when you see the finish line and then celebrate in style!

Get gear

Forgotten any last minute bits and bobs? No worries, head to Wiggle Run who have everything and anything you need so that you’re race ready!

Get inspired

If you’re a fan of running with music then we’ve got you covered. Head to the Let's Do This Spotify account for some big beats to get you pumped. Whether you’re feeling rap, rock, relaxing music or remixes, the LDT team has pulled together a selection of your dream playlists to suit your mood.

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Four top tips to avoiding the most common injuries long-distance runners face

Running long distances will take your mind and body to places you never thought you’d go. Play your cards right, and you will come out stronger and fitter than ever before; but, make a few silly mistakes and you could be out of your running shoes for longer than you’d like. Injuries are very common during ultramarathons, but you can avoid a lot of them if you follow some of these tips.

1. Work on your running technique

As your running distance increases, you’ll be taking 40,000+ steps while you’re running. If your running technique is bad, that’s a whole lot of time for a small impact or for some friction to build up into a painful injury.

Here are a few of the most important points to help with injury prevention:

• Cadence, cadence, cadence: This is a measure of how many steps you take per minute. You should ideally be taking 180 steps per minute. This may feel fast to begin with; if that is the case, try using Spotify playlists to help you keep your cadence up.
• The heel-striker vs forefoot runner debate: There are countless articles and studies that argue both ways. In reality, the most important aspect of foot-landing is where you land in relation to your hips: your feet should land beneath your hips rather than far in front of them. This reduces the impact on your knee and hip joints, and ensures you are propelling yourself forwards rather than back.
• Stand up tall: Runners tend to lean forwards, especially when they get tired. Focus on standing tall and actively pushing your hips forwards.

A paid coaching session to improve your running technique is a small price to pay for miles and miles of uninjured fun.

2. Build up slowly

When you’re building up your mileage, you should try not to increase it by more than 10–15% each week. If you’re starting at 10k and working your way up to 50k, this should take you at least 15 weeks.

A common training strategy is to have 3 hard build-up weeks followed by one recovery week, where you drop your mileage to help your body recover. This week shouldn’t be a full rest week — instead, replace a couple of your runs with a cycle or other cross-training session.

3. Learn about injuries

The more you run, the more you learn about your body, and you will start understanding pain that is safe to push through and pain that is not. Reading up about common long-distance running injuries can help you distinguish between the two. Below are some of the most common injuries, but for more details, there is an extensive paper on ultra injuries here.

• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Most commonly observed in female athletes, Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome causes dull, aching pain at the front of the knee. Pain can feel worse after long periods of sitting with bent knees.
• Stress fracture: A stress fracture is a very small ‘crack’ or fracture in your bone. Stress fractures are most commonly seen in the foot, tibia or femur of long-distance runners, and are usually caused by fatigued muscles no longer being able to protect bones from shock. These are difficult to diagnose, but may be present if you feel localized tenderness and swelling.
• Iliotibial Band (ITB) Friction Syndrome: The IT Band runs from the side of the hip down to the knee, and, if inflamed, will cause pain in the upper, outer part of your knee. Any sort of popping sensation while running may be a sign of this.
• Plantar Fasciitis: Plantar Fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain in runners. You may be suffering from Plantar Fasciitis if you feel pain at the bottom, inner part of your heel when pressure is applied, or if you feel deep pain or sharp stabs in your heel when running.

Understanding what the main running injuries are will help you identify if and when you should take a break from running. Remember, marathon and ultra running is a long game; if you feel an injury coming on, you’re better off taking a couple weeks off instead of injuring yourself beyond repair.

4. Strenghten your glutes

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body, so you might as well make the most of it. Strenghtening your glutes will help with your posture and will reduce risk of running injuries. Below are some exercises to try:

• One-legged squats: Do 3x 10 squats on each leg. When squatting down, try visualizing sitting down in a chair behind you, and make sure your knee does not move forward infront of your toes.
• Superman: Lie on your front, and lift up your legs and arms as far off the ground as possible. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 5 times.
• Glute bridge: Lie down on your back, with your knees bent, as if you’re about to do a sit-up. Lift up your right leg and bend your knee fully, and lift up your pelvis so that your back and left thigh form a straight line (see images below for proper technique). Repeat 3x10 times on each leg.

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Whether you’ve just done a 10k, half marathon, marathon or an ultramarathon, here’s how to recover like a boss.

After a long run, whether its 10k, 26 miles or 50k, your body will be crying out for some proper rest and recovery. The least you can do is comply and give the body what it wants and follow these steps to aid in your recovery.

Get off your feet

As soon as the race is over, try and elevate your legs if possible. Try and find a tree or wall that you can rest your legs against for a short while. This will help to reduce the fluid build up in your legs. It also means that when you put your legs down, you’ll encourage a healthy blood flow to your muscles. This is especially important if you are prone to injuries from running.

Stretch

Stretching tired and sore muscles after a long run is essential as it reduces muscle tension and helps to alleviate lactic acid and encourage blood flow. Stretching can also help to increase flexibility and most importantly, prevent injuries. If you leave your muscles and tendons all tight after your run, you are more likely to have longer-lasting damage to the muscles.

Nutrition

After a long run, no matter the distance, you body will have used up almost all (if not all) of its energy supplies so it’s very important to refuel. You should get right back on the food as soon as you can to get your carb intake back up to normal. This will help you to get some energy back, to start the recovery process effectively.

Water is the most important thing to get in. Hydration plays a very important role in recovery so make sure you knock back plenty of water over the course of the day.

Relaxation and Sleep

Make sure you get plenty of rest as soon as the race is over. You’ve put your body through a lot and it will need time to recover. Being too active too soon after the run will merely hinder your recovery process so keep it chilled for a few days.

Sleep is very important for recovery. Your muscles will repair the most when you are asleep so make sure you give them as much time to repair as you can.

Gentle exercise

After you feel well rested, try and do some gentle exercise to ease your body back into its old routine. A steady 20 minute walk will do wonders for getting you back into the swing of things and letting your legs recover without putting your body under too much strain. After a few walks, and if you’re feeling up for it, go for a gentle jog to really put the legs back to where they were.

As mentioned by Georgie Okell in her marathon recovery tips for Hip and Healthy, swimming is also a great way to recover. Swimming takes all of the weight out of your legs and arms and lets you just relax without feeling the strain of your muscles. Further to this, exercising in water is low impact and therefore great for your joints and your overall recovery.

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Top Training Tips For Ultra Running

1. Strength & Fitness Training

Ultra Marathon training will require less interval training than other races. Aerobic running is what an ultra is made of. Some speed training will be necessary of course. But mostly you should be doing low-impact cross- and strength training like hiking and cycling that will double as a help against running injuries. And it’ll make ultra marathon preparation more enjoyable.

2. Back-to-back training

Being able to run on tired legs is the key to Ultra Marathon training. You’ll be physically and mentally capable if you’ve practiced it beforehand. Running two long runs back-to-back once a week is the key. Which means that either you run morning and afternoon or on two-days running (probably the weekend). Split up in whatever way a distance to achieve over the two runs and try and manage the whole thing. Aim to do the full distance over 2 days 6–8 weeks before the event and forget about timing it.

3. Know the course

Knowing the course, the kind of terrain you’ll encounter, where the aid stations are placed and even the weather forecasts can help you train for your ultra marathon. You can practice it in the likely conditions and even cut up your training runs into achievable segments in the same way as you would on race day. You’ll never be sorry for over-preparing.

4. Terrain training

Most ultra marathons will have softer trail terrain that is better for our bodies than road-running. But the uneven trails have their own dangers and you’ll need to train on them as well. Aside from injury prevention though there is also the fact of just a different running experience. Accommodating for trail hills in training will be a key part of any ultra plan.

UPHILL TRAINING

Hiking is a good place to start with uphill training. You can build up stamina that way. Knowing that you can go as slowly as you like makes the training a little more bearable. Take small and sharp strides uphill — don’t make your life harder by taking long and lunging ones.

DOWNHILL TRAINING

Going downhill the wrong way can wreck your knees and legs. Working on shifting your body forward, and making short and fast strides with a flexed knee and loose arms is key. It also definitely requires strength and conditioning training and core body fitness training so don’t neglect those either.

5. Gear Testing

It’s not the first time you’ve heard it, but trying out your gear, in the right environments & on the right terrains is a must-do in ultra marathon training. Avoid chafing, avoid rubbing, avoid discomfort generally by trying it all out. Break in everything you plan to wear on race day. Shoes, socks, clothes, race pack, energy gels, electrolytes, race day meals and snacks. All of it should be well practiced and you should be comfortable with it beforehand. Buy spares of your gear so that you aren’t caught out by production stops.

6. Hydration and Running Nutrition

Aside from testing all your race day foods during training, your body should be in the best possible shape before you start your ultra marathon. Ultra running is too long to rely on one good meal the night before and drink day of. You should be eating and hydrating well for as long as you can beforehand — definitely a week of good water consumption will make all the difference.

For more info on Running Nutrition guide see What To Eat Before A Run

7. Event preparation

Get there early. Scope out where it is the day before. It’s not worth turning up late or stressed. Make everything as easy as possible for you, so don’t leave things up to chance. Have a running plan based on the course. Know how you’re going to segment up the course mentally and possibly physically (walking is fine sometimes) will hopefully help you realise that the whole ultra is achievable.

8. Keep training.

Just remember. You signed up for an ultra marathon for a reason. Remember that with any mantra you may need to keep up your running motivation. It will take a long time — but by the time you’re in the swing of things running training will be part of your life. You’ll love and hate it. But it’s all worth it for the achievement.

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Whether it’s your first half marathon or your 10th ultramarathon, race day can be pretty daunting if you’re not too sure how to handle it. Follow these tips so you know how to deal with race day and reduce the last minute nerves.

1. Bring warm clothes

You’ll want some warm clothes for before the start. You will likely be hanging around for a long time before the gun goes off so make sure you don’t get too cold by having some warm clothes that you can ditch before you enter the starting pen. You can either give these clothes to a family member or friend who has come to support you. For some of the bigger events, you will be given a kit bag that you can store at a safe baggage drop location so do make use of this if you can.

2. Go to the loo before the start

One of the worst things that can happen to a runner is to need to the loo after you’ve crossed the start line. Not only is it uncomfortable, but it will also add time on to your finish time if you have to stop half way around the course. Avoid this by making sure you get yourself to a porta-loo before you head towards the start line. Although the queue will be pretty long, it’s definitely worth the wait to avoid a sticky situation at some point on the course.

3. Bring your phone

Make sure you’ve got a charged phone on you before, during and after the race. This will mean that you can communicate with your friends and family during and after the race. I’m not saying stop during the race and have a 10min chat with them, but a text to say when you think you might finish won’t hurt.

4. Pick up your race pack early

Some event will send your race pack directly to you prior to the event. For those that don’t, you’ll want to get to the race site nice and early so you don’t have to queue to collect your race pack and have the stress of missing the start because you were still in the queue.

5. Don’t forget your warm up

Heading out on a big run without a proper warm up can be dangerous and lead to some pretty serious injuries. Make sure that before you head into the starting pen you some light jogging done to get the blood pumping and get your muscles warmed up. Some light stretching is also a very good idea to loosen up the muscles before you put them to work.

6. Find runners of a similar speed

Some events will have pace-runners — people whose job it is to run at a certain speed so that runners know how to pace their race — so a good idea is to find the pace-runner who will be going at your desired speed to help keep you on track. If not, just ask around and see what sort of pace or finishing time people aiming for so you can find your place in the starting pack.

7. Start slowly

It’s very easy to let the excitement of race day get the better of you and to go off to fast and blow. Just before you cross the start line, take a big deep breath to relax yourself and then head off at a good sustainable pace. Try and think about the first 10 mins of the race as the warm-up and then after this, you can get into a comfortable and consistent rhythm for taking on the rest of the course.

8. Run past the first water station table

The majority of runners will all flock towards the first table at each water station meaning there’s often a queue or just general pileup of people. If you run past this table to the middle or last table at the station, then there won’t be a queue and you can just carry on with your run.

9. Complete, don’t compete

Lots of athletes will get way too hung up on their time and see a big run as a kind of ‘fly or die’ challenge. The point of these kind of days is that you enjoy yourself and try and finish the course so don’t go out too fast and ruin yourself trying to chase a time. Just take your time and enjoy the day.

10. Don’t forget your medal

Most races will make it pretty hard to forget your medal as they will hand them out as you cross the finish line. But make sure you leave the race with it so that you have a symbol of your great achievement.

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