5 Common running mistakes that a marathoner should avoid and how to fix them – Times of India

With fitness becoming the priority and love for running on the increase, marathons are gaining popularity and many are opting to participate in marathons that are held across the city, though the year. Senior cardiologist, Dr Santosh Kumar Dora from the Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai shares some tips you can abide by…
Running too much, too soon and training too hard at a short time span
Marathon training usually starts three month before the race day. One should ideally join in a group which is trained under a coach. Usually a marathon training involves standard run, cross training, core muscle strengthening, tempo run, hill run and rest days. A systematic training helps in running for big distances. Running just on weekends, running too hard and preparation over a short timespan before race days just brings injuries and nothing else.

Eating and drinking habits

Proper eating and drinking habits are essential during training as well as on race day. Carboloaded meals are needed for long distance running. Carbo load helps in glycogen rich muscles which help in providing ready glucose during run. A good eating plan on race day is to have a carbo rich diet the night before. 1 to 2 hour before the race one may have fruits or banana. 10 mins before race one should have around 200 ml of sports drink and then around 150 ml of sports drink every 4 to 5 km. Too much of plain water drink may lead to hyponatremia. Sports drink will not have that risk and keeps hydrated as well.

Not taking care of core muscles Core muscle training is an important aspect of marathon training. It stabilizes the body during run. Lack of core muscle training will give rise to lack of performance and invite running injuries. Core muscles is just not abs. It also includes hamstrings, glutes, hip, lower back , muscles around spine and oblique muscles. There should be effort to strengthen these muscles to increase running efficiency and prevent running injuries.


Time goal on race day

One should not aim for a time goal and accordingly try to increase pace to match the time. Runner should run at a speed where he or she is comfortable. Months of training makes the body to adjust to a comfortable speed and just follow that speed on race day too. Tempo runs on race day may make the situation worse and invite injuries.

Time for warm up and cool down

On race day reach the venue at least before one hour. Devote 30 mins for warm up. This is very essential and as needed as any other training day, when you do warm up before the race. When you are getting ready to run 21 or 42 kms, you need the muscles to be primed for that just before the race. Many runners reach the venue at the last moment and had to avoid this very vital step before starting marathon.