Marathon Training and weight lifting?

[IntensePump]

Does anyone on the board have marathon running experience? I did a search but only came up with one thread that had marathon in the subject...

A female friend called me up wanting me to advise/train her for a marathon she will be running in june. She has running from high school but that is it, she is 19 now.

I checked out coolrunning.com for some ideas but I am curious if she should be doing some weight training along with the running to help prepare her.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Beowulf]

When I first ran a marathon I did not weight train. I began training lightly going into my next 3 and I dropped from 7:15 to 6:15 pace. Just make sure she doesn't go heavy and doesn't go near failure (at least on lower body).

No offense, bro, but if you don't know anything about marathon training, don't train her. It is profoundly brutal training and injuries are at every corner. Keep reading at coolrunning and runnersworld. All the essential info is there for staggeriing mileage increases etc. I suppose if you want to spend quite a few hours with this you could do it.

[Brian Tardif]

I've found good results in my training with adding weight lifting to my running program. Don't do too much weight training though, because you don't want to increase the load you have to carry while running. One day of training per week, full body, with about three sets per body part will be beneficial to reduce injury and maintain muscle mass. Marathon training is all about not overdoing it, but instead it is important to introduce new concepts gradually. I agree coolrunning and Runner's World are good places to check out for advice on training programs and such. But the point is, introducing weight training will be beneficial to any athlete's progression, even long distance runners.

[shocknyou]

Runner's World Mag. has some training schedules that you can download online. Personally I think marathons are freaking stupid. Just because people can do something doesn't mean that it's good for us to do it. Marathons are brutal on the body!

[ZiR RED]

Does anyone on the board have marathon running experience? I did a search but only came up with one thread that had marathon in the subject...

A female friend called me up wanting me to advise/train her for a marathon she will be running in june. She has running from high school but that is it, she is 19 now.

I checked out coolrunning.com for some ideas but I am curious if she should be doing some weight training along with the running to help prepare her.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Break it down just like you would when designing a training program for any other sport:

Evaluate the sport:

What is the musculature involved
How does it function (explosive, isometric, endurance, etc.)
What are common injuries in the sport, and where/how do they occur
How do we want resistance training to benefit performance

Then, evaluate the athlete:

What are the athletes strong points
Weak points
Assess over/under active muscles
Assess core strength
Assess muscular imbalances
What is the past resistance training history/experience

Finally, learn about the season:

When is the competition/in-season
What is the athletes sport specific training schedule: intensity, volume, frequency, etc.
When do we want to peak and when should we taper (tapering is VERY important for distance runners)

Then, after you have collected and analyzed all that information, you can start exercise selection and programming.

Br


EDIT: In general you need to focus on a few things for marathoners:

Core strength and endurance: bridges, bridges and more bridges
Muscular balance for performance and injury prevention (hamstring strength, VMO strength, hip abductor strength..correct stretching techniques)
Increasing running economy: building power and improving the elasticity or rigidity of the musculotendinous junction via SSC (ie: plyometrics)

[CopyCat]

Break it down just like you would when designing a training program for any other sport:

Evaluate the sport:

What is the musculature involved
How does it function (explosive, isometric, endurance, etc.)
What are common injuries in the sport, and where/how do they occur
How do we want resistance training to benefit performance

Then, evaluate the athlete:

What are the athletes strong points
Weak points
Assess over/under active muscles
Assess core strength
Assess muscular imbalances
What is the past resistance training history/experience

Finally, learn about the season:

When is the competition/in-season
What is the athletes sport specific training schedule: intensity, volume, frequency, etc.
When do we want to peak and when should we taper (tapering is VERY important for distance runners)

Then, after you have collected and analyzed all that information, you can start exercise selection and programming.

Br


EDIT: In general you need to focus on a few things for marathoners:

Core strength and endurance: bridges, bridges and more bridges
Muscular balance for performance and injury prevention (hamstring strength, VMO strength, hip abductor strength..correct stretching techniques)
Increasing running economy: building power and improving the elasticity or rigidity of the musculotendinous junction via SSC (ie: plyometrics)

Some really excellent points and info here. Especially the one I highlighted in bold. Lot of people tend to forget this part and for a runner this makes a very big difference when it comes to how they strength train.

For example, it sounds like she's already training for a specific race. I would suggest 1 or 2 days at most with weights. Most likely full body/circuits with two exercises each for the various muscle groups you want to target and keeping it in the 12-18 rep range. You need ensure she doesn't go too heavy or take on too much volume (this is something that you can use a general rule of thumb for an idea to start, but is dependent on the athlete and their abilities). This can supplement her training as her "cross training" days. However, I wouldn't use this as a replacement for them as a whole. You would still want to cycle, swim, row etc on some of the cross training days.

Are you asking only on the strength training portion or are you also asking about running specific plans as well.

Just fyi on my background:
Recent notables
100 mile trek John Muir trail
2009 Marine Corps Marathon
2010 Marine Corps Marathon
2010 Marine Corps Half
2011 Irish Sprint 10k
2011 Tough Mudder 10 mile (coming in May)

and obviously I'm on here so I enjoy lifting as well

[ZiR RED]

2011 Tough Mudder 10 mile (coming in May)

You're going to have a blast doing that! I did the rugged maniac 5k in southwick mass this past fall, came in 96 out of 2000, covered in mud and bloody...had a beer waiting for me at the end. I've heard the tough mudder races are even more banshee.

Br

[dalexander]

i live in mass as well one of the dr.s at my university does tough mudder, death races, and all the other adventure races they are really tough, mud barbed wire, walls to jump,...several differnet aspects of fitness

[ZiR RED]

What university do you go to dale? I go to springfield college

[dalexander]

Ya springfield is a powerhouse facility for phys. ex science , and esp athletic training. Last semester at Fitchburg State University program is smaller but very competitive. u in grad program?

[ZiR RED]

Finishing up my Ph.D, hopefully will be done this spring.

Br

[dalexander]

awesome what are you doing dissertation on?

[ZiR RED]

Effects of betaine on body composition, strength, and power in male powerlifters and bodybuilders.

[dalexander]

awesome good luck id love to read it when it is finished

[ZiR RED]

Of course. Gonna submit it for publication this summer (crossing the fingers its done then).