Health tips for preparing for a marathon

Ready to run?

Running a marathon without injury

You have to know these things

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With dark skin and a healthy body, he looks like a runner who loves sports. He is Liu Maoyu, the vice president of Dalian Road Running Association and the executive president of Dongcai Alumni Outdoor Sports Club.

As a runner, he has been running since 2011 and is a member of the Dalian Taobo Cheetah Running Group, running more than 44,000 kilometers so far. He has participated in 60 full marathons at home and abroad, as well as many 100km cross-country races, ultramarathons and other events. He has won the Dalian International Marathon Team Championship, the 2016 Changhai Marathon Champion, and the first Shenyang 100km Ultramarathon Champion in 2017. In 2017, he participated in the sister city of Kanazawa, Japan as a city representative of Dalian City, and won the sixth place in the age group. In 2018, he finished fourth in the 100km group of the 2nd Thunder Cross Country Huangshan Cross Country Race, and won the 3rd CGN Red River Half Marathon in 2019. The current best time for the marathon is 2 hours, 50 minutes and 15 seconds. It can be said that it is a proper runner.

This year's Dalian Marathon, another wave of horse running fever, many marathon runners have been eager to try, Liu Maoyu combined his own horse running experience, gave the pre-race preparations and precautions for participating in the marathon, hoping that the Malaysian participants completed the race safely and smoothly and achieved good results.

Pre-match preparation

training

Don't continue to run long distances a week before the marathon, at this time you should reduce the amount of running, let the body reserve physical energy, adjust your state to the best, reduce the amount while maintaining a certain intensity, maintain cardiopulmonary function and muscle strength.

diet

A few days before the race, eat more carbohydrates and fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., such as noodles, rice, bananas, oranges, grapes, etc. Avoid eating and drinking, overeating and drinking alcohol before the game. Avoid gastrointestinal discomfort and bad stomach, and eat the food you are used to.

sleep

Ensure adequate sleep before the game, sleep is the best means of recovery, regular work and rest do not stay up late. Go to bed early the night before the game, lack of sleep will affect the performance of the game. Many first-time horse runners tend to be very excited that night and can't sleep, which is normal, even if they can't sleep, they have to lie down and close their eyes.

On match day

equip

Before going to bed the night before the game, put your tops, shorts, shoes, socks, hats, watches, supplies in order and pin them to the number book. The clothes, shoes and socks worn in the competition need to be run-in after previous training, try not to wear new clothes, shoes and socks to run the race, and cut the toenails short and flat before the competition, remember.

breakfast

Breakfast for the next day should be prepared the night before the game and eaten two hours before the game. Breakfast is mainly bread, steamed buns, noodles, porridge, pickles, eggs, bananas, oranges, etc. If you eat breakfast too late, you have to consume part of your energy to digest food when you run a horse, which affects your performance and even causes miscarriage.

Arrive at the scene

It is best to arrive at the site 1 hour in advance. Allow plenty of time to go through security, store bags, warm up, and empty the air before the game, and the queue time on site can be long, so leave enough time. Wear a disposable raincoat after storing your bag to keep your body warm.

race

After passing the security check, go to the corresponding area according to the participation number, some strict events, if you enter the wrong area, even if you finish the race, there is no result.

Consider whether you need to adjust the finish time and pace according to your own condition, on-site weather, etc., and maintain a constant speed throughout the process.

After the starting gun goes off, many people will rush out, often faster. At this time, it is likely that you will be taken to the rhythm by the people around you, and you will run faster before you know it. At this time, you must control your rhythm and run at the scheduled pace of the race, and the first two kilometers are even slower. If there is an unexpected situation such as opening the shoelaces, do not squat immediately, but reach out and signal to run to the side of the road to re-tie it to avoid stampede. If the pace control in the first half is not good, it is easy to collapse after 30 kilometers, and it takes more time to compensate.

After the first 5 kilometers, there will be a supply station every 2.5 kilometers, rehydrate according to the weather conditions, and drink in small sips. Hydrate adequately, otherwise when you feel thirsty, you will already start dehydration. When entering the supply station, be sure to pay attention to observe whether there is anyone before and after, and do not insert it suddenly, otherwise it is easy to collide. Eat energy gel and salt pills before entering the station according to your own established supply plan and send them with water. Pay attention to try gum and salt pills during training, otherwise it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

Listen to your body and don't push yourself. When running a marathon, be sure to listen to the sound of the body, if you feel any discomfort in the body, especially the head or heart, once there is chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness or poor breathing, be sure to stop, seek help from surrounding doctors, do not hold up. Follow your doctor's advice and quit when it's time to quit, don't force it!

Zhao Haifeng, deputy director of the Rehabilitation Center of Dalian Second People's Hospital, reminded that marathon exercise is by no means a simple healthy run, exceeding personal tolerance, it will be too late, resulting in sports injuries. Avoid accidents and injuries, scientific exercise.

Practice before the game

Marathons are physically and mentally demanding sports, and proper pre-race warm-up can improve muscle flexibility and range of motion, reduce the risk of injury, and improve performance.

Scientific aerobic training is recommended before the race, which can be low-intensity jogging for an hour at a time, three to four times a week. During running, the heart rate should be controlled at 60%-70% of the maximum heart rate. The content and intensity of the warm-up should be adjusted according to individual differences to ensure that the body is in the right state to meet the marathon challenge.

Be in the correct posture when running

1. Look straight ahead, do not raise or lower your head excessively;

2. During running, do not shake your shoulders from side to side;

3. Keep the spine upright and open the thoracic cage, which is conducive to maximum breathing during running;

4. During running, pay attention to the arm swing posture. Elbow flexion 90 degrees. When swinging the arm upwards, do not exceed the sternum in front of you, swing your arms backwards without exceeding your waist, and keep your hands in an empty fist.

5. Do not excessively buckle or turn the knee joint, and keep the knee joint elevation angle controlled at about 45 degrees.

Doctor's Reminder:

Many people buy themselves a new pair of shoes in order to run a marathon, which is absolutely undesirable, because new shoes are easy to grind their feet, but they can't wear too old shoes, it is recommended to wear a pair of lighter shoes that have been used to about a month.

Marathon is a sport that requires a certain amount of physical strength and endurance, be sure to do what you can, do a good warm-up and stretching exercise, and avoid sports injuries.

Things to do after the game

1. After crossing the finish line, try to walk forward for as many minutes as possible if you can. This can ease the body, and if quantified with data, reducing the heart rate back to 100-120 beats per minute is a more suitable range.

2. Post-competition stretching can effectively relieve muscle tension during competition, reduce the pressure on joints, reduce the risk of injury during exercise, and stretch time can be about 20 minutes. The main stretching sites are: the back of the calf, the back of the thigh, the buttocks, the front of the thighs, the outer thighs, and the chest and shoulders of the upper limbs.

3. It is not recommended to run acid drainage after the race. But on the second day after the race, you can do a slower jog to relax your muscles as much as possible. Jogging can control the heart rate between 130-140 times / minute, and the time should be within 40 minutes, but you need to pay attention to full stretching, and it is best to stretch for about 20 minutes.

Pay attention to the "three three principles" after the game, and seek medical attention in the following situations:

1. Pain during exercise is more than 3/10; (pain is average)

2. Pain lasts for more than 30 minutes after exercise;

3. The same pain occurs on three consecutive runs.

Please indicate: Source Daguan News

Text: Dalian News Media Group reporters Chang Ting, An Wenyuan

Image: Courtesy of interviewee

Source: Daguan News