It is getting closer
By now, you are probably searching for new ideas for your first London Marathon. The big day is now less than nine weeks away. You’ve trained hard, and you want to be sure to get every last ounce out of your training. After a while, the standard advice seems like old hat. You want to find some insider ideas to help you through the challenge.
We take a look at some fun ideas you may not have thought of so far.
London Marathon Ideas
London Marathon Ideas – Calming the mind
Of course, running the London Marathon is a big physical challenge. That stands to reason. But as it draws closer, it can start to feel mentally stressful too.
Don’t let your anxiety and stress levels build up. Instead, start to use a few tricks to keep your emotions in check. You could try Mindfulness. This can have numerous benefits. It will help you relax more. It can help improve your sleep. And crucially for a runner, it can give you greater body awareness.
Or, as an alternative option, you could attend some yoga classes. This will help calm you down but has the added advantage of helping to stretch out tired limbs. But what is often overlooked, is the benefits can have for your breathing. Breathing correctly can be massively beneficial over the course of a marathon.
Other ideas that can help your marathon preparation
Regardless of how fit you are, if you get hit with a virus, it will hamper your efforts. You need to do all that you can to look after your immune system.
Funnily enough, staying calm is actually a good way to keep your immune system intact. But besides that, and being particular about hygiene, you could try upping your intake of probiotics. In addition, massage can not only lower your stress levels but can bolster infection-fighting white blood cells.
And to help give you an edge in your preparation, you might want to look to add spices to your food. Did you know that ginger and turmeric are both great anti-inflammatories? Or that cinnamon could help combat oxidative stress? Or even that black pepper can be helpful in absorbing essential nutrients into the body?
In fact, take a more in-depth look at how nutrition can help you in these final weeks leading up to the run can pay dividends. It is an area that is seriously overlooked by most recreational runners.
And one counter-intuitive idea
When you are tired and you are feeling tired you would think you should slow down. But actually, there is a little trick you can use which is baffling.
Once fatigue has set in, put in a short burst of quicker paced steps. It shouldn’t be a sprint. Just pick up the cadence and the speed slightly for about 10 seconds. It will give you a mental lift, but more importantly, it will change the muscle groups you are using. This can make your running feel easier and more natural.
Whatever you do, keep it light. It’s a big challenge. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
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