Marathon training: The importance of varying your exercise

It has been more than a month since I joined my first-ever half marathon, the 2012 Condura Skyway Marathon Run for the Mangroves. And I can say that my preparation for the competition had produced good effects for the overall health of my body, specially its endurance. So I decided to continue this lifestyle and to make running a full marathon as my next goal.

From The Skyway Marathon

But unlike the way I trained for my 21 kilometer run, I'll be preparing using a different method for my next event. This is because I learned a couple of things in my preparation stages and not paying much attention on them would not benefit me in the long run.

One thing I realized is the value of variations in an exercise program. To tell you honestly, my one-month schedule before my first run involved running every morning using one pace and covering the same distance (although I run more than my average distance every Saturday). I felt its bad effects on my muscles, as they seem to wear out easily every day. This forced me to skip some training sessions for recovery.

I realized that if I kept doing the same thing, I would not reach my target time for my first-ever 42k. So I decided to vary my exercises. Here is what I've came up with for my first week.

From Life's Rhythm Lived On

For Monday, I decided to begin with MMA drills (note, however, that you can put an exercise of your choice here depending on your preference and as long as it doesn't involve running) since I already did a fast-paced run the previous day. This should allow my body to improve its endurance and dexterity. Event though the drills are still tiring, they use a different set of muscles and move the feet muscles in a different way that allows them to recover and develop more.

Tuesday is a great day for another fast-paced running, given that the body already warmed up the day before. And as I've proven during my previous training, you can't run the same pace for two succeeding days if you are running fast. So I decided to make Wednesday a slow-paced running day.

From Life's Rhythm Lived On

Meanwhile, to give my body a full rest, I labeled Thursday as the day wherein I'll bike easily. Rest is important so you would not burn-out your body. Nonetheless, I included a fun activity just to keep my body active.

Friday and Saturday should be a repeat of the Monday-Tuesday drill -- MMA training to be followed by a tiring workout. But this time, I put long-distance biking as an alternative for fast-paced running. My goal here is to add some excitement to my program (and who would not love biking?), while keeping the difficulty of my workout hard during the weekend.

So there it is. I hope that this newly-formed program will work for me and help me reach new distances in my running.