A big Happy New Year to you all! I hope you have not broken your new year resolutions just yet and that one of your promises involves you becoming a better runner!

The New Year gives everybody an opportunity to start again fresh and I hope you will take this enthusiasm into your training especially, if you are running a spring marathon. I thought I would give you some tip’s on what you need to think about/ prepare as you start your training program for the many races coming up.

What are your goals?

If you are a beginner you may not understand your ability, your fitness and your selected running event. So, for now you may not be able to answer the question (unless it is I just want to finish). Don’t worry, you will be able to assess as you gain more experience of the above factors. Many people predict times on what other people achieve (i.e. a work colleague or family friend). My advice is to leave your predictions for now and let your feet do the talking!

For the more experienced runners try and identify what time you would like and ask yourself if they are achievable. Look back at your previous best and break down your training into separate parts. Look at what mistakes you made and what worked well. Was your diet after training good? Did you do enough long runs? Maybe your week was not organised well enough and you kept changing sessions around. Be harsh on your review and make a new years resolution to improve in your weak areas. Like a counciling session, comment below what your worse mistake was as it would be interesting to share each others faults.

How much do you want it and is this realistic?

If you ran away from your family and quit your job to become a full time athlete you may be able to increase your chances of achieving your full potential. If for some reason you cannot commit to this then lets get serious for a second and tell yourself how much time can you realistically commit to your target. Being committed 100% at the start is great but remember training is a marathon and not a sprint!

You need to be committed for the whole program and not dip in and out of it like a hot bath. As a little footling my coach always told me to run when you can run because you will always have days when you cannot run and wish you could!

Why do this on your own?

My final tip is to try and find someone you can run with early on. Running on your own in horrible weather can be hell so why not share this pain with someone else! Find a running friend or even better go find a friendly running club. If you are in the UK you should have a look at this running database.

Use this time now to plan your training and think about what you want from this year. If you have not chosen a training plan yet we have plans for all shapes and races. 2010 could be a great year for you and your feet so start thinking about it now!

If you have any questions about starting up or need some advice on training please comment below or send me a message.

Tags: New year new runner!

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