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 JULY 7, 2004 Training for a Charity Race So a friend or work colleague asks you to participate in a charity race. You're game, but how do you go from never having run a step to completing a marathon in a few months without getting injured? With proper training, almost anyone can learn how to run/walk a long distance. Most big charities sponsor long races since they raise money based on how many miles participants complete. To complete a long charity race, you need both cardiovascular and muscular endurance, which is just what you get from circuit training, says St. Petersburg, Florida, personal trainer Jodi Hyde, who is president of Workouts For Women, Inc. "Circuit training has you moving through a variety of exercises in a time efficient manner," says Hyde. A typical home workout might interweave side to side movements while holding hand weights, or rope jumping, with squats and lunges. She suggests you use light weights, do lots of repetitions, and go from one exercise to the next with little rest in between. "That builds muscular endurance, rather than strength, and also conditions your heart," Hyde says. She also suggests that you always begin your workout with a warm up and end with a cool down, and always stretch at the end of each workout. Other Training Tips New York certified personal trainer Brad Schoenfeld offers some other training tips: Build up gradually in stages. Set a three month goal and slowly raise your intensity to meet that goal. Limit potential injuries. Running on hard pavement makes you susceptible to knee injuries from all that pounding. He recommends training on a good quality treadmill to take the stress off of your knees. Learn the course's terrain, and then simulate it during training. If you have a lot of hills to run, then periodically raise the incline on your treadmill while you train. Simulate race day weather conditions. If you live in an area that gets extremely hot, acclimatize yourself by gradually turning up the heat in your training environment. |
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