Training for the 1st Radisson Blu Larnaka International Marathon?

These 6 tips will help you change your running for the better!

1. Emphasize endurance.
Change this: Run more miles, even if you’re training for the 5K.

Why: Upping your mileage is the best-known way to improve your aerobic capacity, which increases speed endurance or how long you can sustain a pace during a race.

The challenge: Making a jump in mileage requires patience.

The risk: Increasing mileage too rapidly can lead to overuse injuries.

2. Make Recovery a Priority.
Change this: Lower your recovery day mileage and/or slow your recovery pace, and get more sleep.

Why: Failing to recover sets you up for injury and burnout.

The challenge: Sport is rife with messages that say to get better you have to work harder. Cutting back on recovery day mileage seems counterintuitive to getting faster.

The risk: You can lose fitness if you cut back too much; it can be a difficult balancing act between the need for volume and the need for adequate recovery

3. Become a Complete Athlete
Change this: Strength train your whole body, not just your legs or midsection.

Why: You need full-body strength to run with your best possible form, using your full range of motion and power. Strength also reduces injury risk. You can’t get all the strength you need just by running more.

The challenge: Strength training takes extra time and energy on top of running. It tends to be a tedious discipline with none of the joy or clearly visible progress of running.

The risk: Poor form with heavy weights can lead to injury.

4. Switch to High Octane Fuel
Change this: Increase your intake of healthy, nutrient-rich foods to improve your performance.

Why: Food is more than calories to burn for energy. Real foods contain nutrients that can improve cardiovascular health, speed recovery, protect you from disease, provide more consistent energy, and result in prolonged periods of better health.

The challenge: Processed foods are convenient, inexpensive, and well-marketed. Eating habits are tied to lifestyles and emotions. Runners may feel immune from the need to monitor their intake.

The risk: Health-wise none, although paying more attention to nutrition requires time and focus.

5. Embrace Positivity
Change this: Enjoy running for running’s sake, not just for its outcomes.

Why: A happy, positive runner performs better and feels more satisfaction.

The challenge: Runners are competitive—we use the numbers to convince ourselves of our worth. It is difficult to accept the relativity of our performances and reframe our perspective. Plus, some days running just doesn’t feel good, and positive psychology can feel like a load of you-know-what.

The risk: You may sound like a flower child to your running buddies.

6. Be Persistent and Consistent

Change this: Make running a default part of your life: every day, week, month, and season.

Why: Big leaps in running come about only by transforming your body, and those transformations only occur over time.

The challenge: It’s hard to measure the progress of one day and too easy to convince yourself it doesn’t make a difference. It’s also easier to negotiate the time and find the willpower for a hard, short-term push than to adopt a long-term lifestyle change.

The risk: A foolish consistency can cause you to run while injured or get in the way of recovery.