It’s been about three weeks since the LA Marathon, which you may have run. Training for spring marathons are now wrapping up. Congratulations on your race, if you competed in one! Good luck if you have one in the near future.
This newsletter is to provide more info to those that signed up to learn more about MBS Fitness programs and for MBS Fitness alumni, to let you all know about the programs that are about to start. We’ve also included this weeks training FAQ.
This issue’s topics include:
Susan Love MD Marathon Training Program – signup starts April 3
Murphy’s Track Club – run a faster race
Online Coaching updates – available later this month
Coach Murphy wins marathon – the first for women over 40
Top Training FAQs
Enjoy and Happy Training,
Team MBS Fitness
Susan Love MD Marathon Training Program
MBS Fitness is proud to once again be the official marathon training program for the Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Signup for the program begins April 3. The program officially starts with group workouts on June 3. Individuals signing up prior to the start of the group workouts will be given a “pre-condition routine” to transition from completion of your spring marathon to a fall marathon or to get you on a regular training schedule for those who are just beginning a training program. Individuals joining the program will commit to raise $1700 for Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Train for a personal record; run to eradicate breast cancer.
The program provides recommended individualized workouts, two coached workouts per week (including Murphy’s Track Club), seminars, online tracking of workouts, entry into a race of your choice and other features. To sign up go to http://www.susanlovemd.com/donations/slmd-donation-launch.htm and fill in form, including “SLMD Marathon Training Program” in statement field. The Susan Love MD Marathon Training Program is the only marathon program to be coached in-person by Coach Marie Murphy through Fall.
For more info, visit http://www.mbsfitness.com/slmd marathon training.htm
Murphy’s Track Club
Thinking about increasing your fitness level to run a faster race? Murphy’s Track Club can help. Murphy’s Track Club is a weekly workout utilizing interval training, one of the key elements to help you run faster, no matter what the distance. Individuals are given a target pace for each workout. Coach Marie Murphy also evaluates running form at these sessions. Held at the Santa Monica High School Track on Thursdays, the workout begins at 6:30 p.m. and usually goes through 8:00 p.m. Flexible pricing is available: 1 session - $10, 1 month - $30, 3 month - $80. For more info, visit http://mbsfitness.com/track club.htm.
For more info, visit http://www.mbsfitness.com/track club.htm
Online coaching programs available this month
This innovative new program gives you the benefits of an elite coach, no matter where you are. MBS Fitness offers online fitness programs from beginning walking to marathon training. With several support levels available, we have a program to fit your needs starting from $75 for a 12 week program up to $300 for a 21+ week marathon training program. Online coaching will be available this month!
For more info and to see demos, visit http://www.mbsfitness.com/online coaching.htm.
Coach Murphy wins the first marathon for women over 40 in NYC
With a stunning come from behind victory, Coach Murphy wins the first marathon exclusively for women over 40. Using the philosophy and training program she uses to train those she coaches, she completed her first marathon in 12 years, seconds within the time she completed her very first marathon 25 years ago. Coach Murphy finished the marathon in 3:04:03, more than 6 minutes ahead of the favored winner and second place finisher, Roxie Erickson.
For more info, visit http://www.mbsfitness.com/events/moremarathon.htm.
Top Training FAQs
We received many questions for Coach Marie Murphy at the LA Marathon Expo. Here were some of the top questions that she answered.
Q: What’s the most important thing to know before running a successful marathon?
A: The most important thing to remember is that your pace for the first 6 miles of the marathon will determine how you will run your last six. One of the most common mistakes for a marathoner is to run a pace that is too fast in the first six miles. Charged by all the energy surrounding around the start of the race, the excitement of running with a large crowd, the adrenaline in your body and the added rest you have had leading up to the marathon many athletes make the mistake of starting out too fast. I tell the athlete’s I coach that for every 15 seconds you run faster than your target pace per mile in the first six miles, you’ll lose 2 minutes per mile after mile 15. If you do the math, “gaining” 15 sec per mile at the beginning of the race (or two minutes by mile 8) will cost you 2 minutes per mile after mile 15. Overall you will lose more than 20 minutes for the whole race. Pace is the most important thing to make sure you achieve your goal.
Q: What should I do to recover after the marathon?
A: Proper recovery is important before you begin training for your next marathon. I recommend 3 days of rest immediately following the marathon. Use this time to stretch your muscles and ice. Don’t do any running or strenuous physical activity. You’ve completed your goal and your body needs to recover from the stress put on it during the race. To make sure your body recovers completely, I recommend a rule of thumb that says you should allow your body to recover taking one week for each hour it took you to run the marathon. For example, if it took you 4 hours to complete your marathon, you should have 4 weeks of recovery. In the recovery phase, you will start running again after the 3 day rest. You should be taking these runs very easy. At no time should the length of these runs be greater than 1 hour during your recovery period. You’ve put a lot of hard work into your training and your race, so give your body a break. You will want to start your next program at a higher fitness level so allow your body the needed time to repair and rebuild itself, it will thank you for it later.
Q: Should I carbo-load the night before the marathon?
A: Carbo-loading is the practice of eating (or otherwise taking in) excessive carbohydrates. I do not recommend changing your routine from that of your training routine. If you carbo-load prior to your long training runs, I see no problems with doing it the night before the race. Keep in mind, your body can only store a certain amount of carbohydrates and sugars (glycogen). Through your training routine, your muscles need more glycogen. Your body in turn is trained to store more glycogen and your nutrition should be tracking with that increased need throughout your training program. One of the biggest mistakes athletes make is changing their routine in the days prior to the race.
Q: How much should I run leading up to the marathon?
A: Your training program should incorporate a tapering phase, where you decrease the amount of time you spend running prior to your marathon. The tapering phase should be no less then three weeks. Despite the decline in accumulated weekly hours for your workouts, you should maintain (or even increase) the intensity of your pace runs and interval training. Many athletes make the mistake of not allowing enough time to taper, causing them to run a suboptimal race. It’s one of the hardest things to do, but done properly the tapering will prepare you for a great race.
Q: How many marathons can I run a year?
A: In general I recommend athlete’s run no more than 2 marathons a year, separated by at least 21 weeks. Many marathoners run more than two a year. However, doing so does not give your body the time it needs to recover, and therefore will result in suboptimum finishing times. Also, you increase your risk for injury. If your goal is to run marathons fast, stick to two a year.
We will be posting Top FAQs regularly at the MBS Fitness site. To see FAQs with Coach Murphy’s responses, join a community of runners and gain access to some fitness tools, register at http://mbsrunner.com/createacounts.aspx. Answers to top FAQs will be provided starting this month. When registering, you will be asked to choose a username, password and reenter your email address. You will then be sent to a login page where you will need to enter your newly acquired login and password to access the member’s site. You are under no obligation to buy anything. After registering you can sign in at any time to access your account.