Another Friday in the land of the Footnote. This week I started training again after a little break and  it was horrible! The first run was the worst and felt like my lungs were literally clogged up with all the bad food and drink I had been enjoying. My moans in the office were ignored because my level of feeling unfit is apparently way above everybody else’s level of being fit! So I received no sympathy from my colleagues or my aching body! Sound familiar?

I am entering a period known as the ‘off season’ where racing takes a back burner and you start preparing your body to start training. For serious athletes this is a fun time where they can mix training whilst having a life. For us mere mortals who already ‘enjoy a life’ it should be taken a lot more serious than that. The off season provides a period of time where you can run how you feel, clean out the cobwebs and train your body to begin training!

When is your 'Off Season'?

To give you an example of when your ‘off season’ you need to look into the future and figure out your aim for the season. For many including myself it will be a spring marathon in April. Let’s use the Virgin London Marathon (April 25th) as an example. A general marathon training period will be between 14- 16 weeks for the average runner. So let’s deduct 16 weeks from race day which gives us January 3^rd. So if you want to take your marathon training seriously and want to get the best out of your body (whilst leaving a cushion for injuries and illness) you have until the end of your New Year’s Eve hangover before marathon training starts.

That means you have nothing to do from now until January so you might as well enjoy life and use December as a carbo-loading month? NO!

Whether you are a complete novice or a well seasoned runner this is a period that will make a big difference. I thought I would throw some ideas in the mix and give you some motivation not to ignore this period as it could be the base for a big personal best in a spring race.

Here are my top 5 tips to use this period:

1.       Lose weight (easy for you too say!)

Maybe you are like me and have enjoyed life for the last few weeks (I know some of you reading this have enjoyed life for the last few decades.....). December is notorious for eating and drinking so you might say you need to start training to just to maintain your current weight and shape! Gentle easy running is the minimum you have to do during this period. Aim to run/ cycle/ swim (or all together) 3 times a week. This could be a lunch, evening or weekend commitment but plan ahead so your training does not fall on the office party!

In terms of diet- white meat and fish are my tips to keep the pounds off!

http://www.realbuzz.com/food-and-diet/

2.       Circuit and core training

I was going to title this tip as weight training but I don’t want you confusing this with ‘hitting the gym’ and working on your 'guns'! You will not need big biceps and bubbling shoulders to run 10k and 26.2 miles. I would suggest concentrating on lifting your own body weight (I.e. press ups, sit-ups, plank holds, yoga)

For more information click here 

3.       Cross training

Cross training will in fact help you with the first two tips. You will be doing plenty of running once the New Year begins so use this time to include other exercises into your life. For more tips please look at this great guide and my previous blog on cycling.

4.       Speed training and racing

Now many of you might not consider a 5k race as speed training but once you get into the middle of your endurance training you will look at 5k’s as a sprint! You will have lots of time for endurance later so maybe give yourself a focus of improving your 5k time? Maybe look at our 5k training programs. Remember last week there are many Free 5k races happening around the country that are more for training than serious racing.

For more advice click here

5.       Knowledge

Was this the first ‘Off Season’ article you have read? When was the last time you seriously looked at your pre-training  period? Even when you think you know everything about running (like me, haha) it is always great to refresh your memory or investigate a different look at training. realbuzz.com has thousands of articles covering every aspect of endurance training. Explore the site and study up on food & diet, training principles, health and fitness. Test is next week.....

I could go on and on about specifics but that is enough for today my ‘feet-lings’! If you have any questions please do the usual and get in touch with me (Remember i am a ‘lonely sole’ and need company during these quiet months!). Comment on the blog or write on my profile page.

Tags: off season, pre training, christmas training, winter training, fitness before marathon training

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