Coaching and Care of Athletes

DISTANCE AND MARATHON RUNNiNG TRAINING FOR MARATHON RACES Training for Marathon runners will be indicated·only on general lines, because a coach is unlikely to have more than one Marathon man to look after, and will prepare definite training schedules in accordance with the requirements of the particular individual. Marathon running calls for long and gradual preparation. Everything must be planned and carried out to a time-table. A man sh~uld do his training at the hours coinciding with the hours at which the race for which he is being trained will be run. Meal– times should be arranged upon the same principle, so that when the racing day comes there will be no derangement of the runner's digestive organs by reason of the last meal before competition coming at an unaccustomed hour. Bed-time should be at g.30 P.M., preparatory to the athlete's being asleep at 10 o'clock. He should rise at 7 A.M. He should be accustomed throughout the day to look forward to the set and invariable period of his principal training work, which is to coincide with the hours at which his big race has been arranged to take place. Three months is the minimum period for Marathon training, and four months of preparation is infinitely to be preferred . Many coaches are deceived by athletes who come· into training quickly. It does not follow because a man is racing fit at 10 miles within a mo.Qth that he is ready to stand the strain and fatigue of nearly 26l miles. ·Men whose occupations prevent them from training in the morning or afternoon should acquire the habit of taking the mid– day meal at a time which is 2 to 2! hours ahead of the scheduled hour -of the race. They should train on the road over which the race is to be run if possible, and should do their training in the evening, in preference to the early morning, if they have to choose between the two periods. Commence a man's training with an easy schedule, and through– out training work definitely to the watch, which is the only reliable guide to progress. As soon as a man acquires the knack of running with natural ease the coach should impose a time limit on his miles, but may well err on the safe side in the early stages of training. It is particularly important to train a Marathon man to run to a time schedule. By doing so he will distribute his energy and effort correctly, and will keep his mind fixed on the work-not always an easy matter during the course of a ruri of 26 miles. 263