Marathon and Half-Marathon Running by Steve Trew

Author:Steve Trew
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847978561
Publisher: The Crowood Press

Runners pass empty water bottles during the London Marathon.

A competitor tops up her water bottle during the London Marathon.

Competitors can leave their own drinks at water stations or be content to drink the water supplied.

Body Weight

One immediate factor when starting to train is the loss of weight (almost always body fat). Being either underweight or overweight can have an adverse effect on performance. Even in endurance events like marathon running, athletes may carry a higher ratio of muscle than non-athletes. Normal body weight charts should be treated with caution. If body fat loss is an aim, one way is to reduce the amount of fat taken in the diet. However, the best advice is to consult your doctor. Never go on a crash diet as these are likely to be missing in essential nutrients. This will undoubtedly affect performance, and indeed, your general health. If you want to lose weight, aim for a gradual weight reduction.

All distance runners in training will require more calories than people who don’t run or exercise. However, it is important not to eat ‘junk’ food with high sugar and high calories. Complex carbohydrates include wholemeal bread, cereals, rice, potatoes, pasta, vegetables and fruit.

Checking Body Weight

Distance runners are extremely bodyweight and body-fat conscious. There are various methods and formulae for assessing whether body weight/fat content is conducive to distance running. One method is described here but do be cautious if using this formula, it is a guide only and may not apply to all runners.

1

For men, start at 110lb for 5ft in height and add 5½lb for each inch above 5ft. So a 5ft 10in man should be 165lb (110 + 10 × 5½).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.