Specific training plans

From our specialized coach, Vanda Brezinova-Kaderabkova

Beginner and first time runners: Follow up with the first four weeks described in the last newsletter. If you missed some of that, follow the plan at a slower pace or go one week back and do 3-4 half hour fast walking sessions a week. Don?t worry ? you will still make it for the half marathon without any problem. The most important thing is to get in shape!

Gym (fitness) goers and those active in multiple sports from aerobics to spinning with no specific focus, who exercise a number of times per week and run less than twice per week: get used to running outside! You should also not miss the weekend and at least one week day to run outside or in a gym on a tread mill. On other days, do your regular indoor activities: aerobic, spinning, aqua aerobics and other sports you like. Some indoor sports work well in preparation for the marathon, others do not. But you shouldn?t worry about that. Enjoy the movement and get in shape! Plan your training depending on your time availability and your gym?s opening hours. Get used to outdoor exercise. If running is not on your training schedule for the second weekend day, you can try a different aerobic activity outside such as skating, cross-country skiing, or biking.

IMPORTANT RULE: If you are just starting to run ? for the first time or after a long break ? go at a very slow pace. Pushed by euphoria, you would otherwise complete barely a few hundred meters and the scary memories of mandatory school races will soon reappear. Although it may seem very slow, you should maintain the pace that allows you to chat. You will still burn calories and won?t get overly tired. Moreover, you will strengthen your cardiovascular system. You wouldn?t believe it but a 100kg woman will burn as much fat during a fast walk (note that with this weight, no running is recommended) as her 50kg friend at a race-pace below 4min/km. Slow pace running means running at ?a conversational pace? or at a limit of about 70-75% of maximum output. This is also good for more experienced runners.

MY EXPERIENCE: When I began running 20 years ago, my condition was about the same as yours. I was 8kg overweight ? more than I was shortly before giving birth. I was the last in my class to finish the 60m run and anything longer than that was a pain. A friend of mine had to walk me to my first training at Prague?s Bohemka, otherwise I would have never found the courage. And yet I had to listen to comments such as ?Where did they find her?? or ?Check out those boobs??. Being the oldest of three children didn?t make my situation any better. I had to pick up my two younger siblings from school and wait with them at home until one of our parents returned from work. By the time I came for practice, others were almost finished. The girls from my training group soon dropped out and everyone else seemed to be far above my level. I went through all of this alone without any external support, but it was motivating to see my body getting into better shape and my wardrobe getting filled with smaller sizes. Eventually I became a first league runner and finished 100m in the same time as the 60m run back then. As a sprinter, I considered all races above 800m deadly, especially when running on the road. But the well-known ?never say never? adage proved right. I rejoined the first league, not as a sprinter but as a long-distance runner. I have so far completed nine marathons and after winning the silver medal in 2000m hurdles (35 plus age category) at the World Cup, I was invited to join the athletic extra league.