The Starter's Handbook to Half-Marathon Training

By Charles Kelton

This is your ebook shaped nutshell to preparing for and running your first half-marathon. Packed into this nutshell are the cornerstones of distance running training, just the bits you need to know; from the right foods that will boost your endurance to the right running body posture for maximizing your mileage to quick tips and what to expect from the your big day.

What with all the free and easily accessible content online it can kind of seem a little redundant to be using a book. But here are a couple of benefits. All the information you need to know is in one place. In a sense the content of a website is in one place, it's just it's one gigantic place. It can be a nightmare finding just the information aimed at you. If you want to know why you're feeling lower back pain you'll probably come across 50 articles of slight variation on what that might be; variously titled: 'overpronation causes lower back pain', 'how to use lunges to prevent lower back pain', 'correct your poor balance to prevent lower back pain' etc etc, my oh my, where do I start? you ask yourself. Especially if you're a beginner, this information can be overwhelming. Instead this handy dandy guide keeps the salient information for people new or relatively new to the half-marathon game in a single place. Secondly, once you've read through the handbook once, you can then easily skip to the information you need to know about just at the moment you need it. You're about to hit the tarmac or trail but know you should warm up before hand, well just jump to Chapter 2: Running - The Bit You've Come Here For, scroll to Don't Forget Me - I'm the Warm-up and bust out an aerobic warm up and a dynamic stretch, following the step-by-step lists and in a few minutes you've got yourself in the right condition for running.

The author's been on the same journey you're probably looking to take, starting out with a big ambition but equipped with very little knowledge of how to fulfil it. From going through the rigours of curating the need to know information and learning some things the hard way, here's a book that aims to be an easy to read, all killer, no filler guide.

Pick up a copy, transform your training or learn how to get started and feel free to get in contact if you need any help.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Kelton
• Release date: Dec 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370643752

Charles Kelton

A native of the UK, Charles also has a heritage with the U.S. where his casual running jaunts turned in to an appetite for distance running. Going a couple of days without having a completed a few miles sits uncomfortably a rather strange and alien feeling to many and something he doesn't always understand himself.Outside of running he enjoys consuming knowledge (not all of it particularly useful) and considers himself a life long student, with an interest in psychology, neuroscience, apologetics, philosophy, uncovering the hidden gems of far flung places and a penchant for Poirot and Sherlock Holmes novels.

Book preview

The Starter's Handbook to Half-Marathon Training

Charles Kelton

Copyright © 2016 Charles Kelton

Smashwords Edition

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Smashwords Edition Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase and additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Cover Design by: Whispers Of Light Photography and Design

Edited by: Leah Kelton

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Preparation

Chapter 2 – Running: The Bit You've Come Here For

Chapter 3 – Types of Training

Chapter 4 – Running Form

Chapter 5 – Common Running Injuries

Chapter 6 – Nutrition in Training

Chapter 7 – Pre/Race Day Expectations and Tips

Chapter 8 – A Final Word

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Connect with the Author

Introduction

13.1 miles. What are any of us thinking? Well, it's only half the distance of a marathon, you might say, true enough but lets face it; it is still 13.1 miles! And that, point one, really means something when you've just run the other 13. No mean feat. But you're not here to be told to reconsider, you've made your mind up and need guidance on knowing how to tackle those miles.

It might be safe to assume certain things about you, good reader. Perhaps you've run one or two 5Ks, possibly a 10K or like me before my first half, regularly churn out a few miles a week without any specific race experience. You're probably at a reasonable level of cardio fitness to be even contemplating this challenging distance or certainly weren't put off by your past competition experiences but most of all you want to know how to maximise your training efforts as well as to find out what to expect from the race experience itself.

This book is designed to explain the cornerstones of what you need to know to be successful in your training and competition. It covers the most important considerations with tips and step by step exercises and draws on my personal experiences of learning some things the hard way such as underestimating the importance of good breathing technique wow, once I got that right, did it make a difference!

'The Half' as it is often referred to is one of the most popular distances to run. According to Running USA (2016)* 2015 saw a record number of half-marathon events being put on across the country with a near record participation of close to 2 million people. Since 2010 the half-marathon has seen more finishers than any other distance outside the 5K and it's also the only distance that has more female participants than male.

So what makes this distance so popular? It's a challenging distance to run that provides ample benefits for both first timers as well as experienced full-marathon runners. These two groups of people meet half-way, literally. For the seasoned marathoner it provides enough challenge to keep themselves in shape when targeting a full-marathon while giving them the scope to try out some new techniques. For the beginner or intermediate runner it provides a challenging distance that can be seen as their first big step. It's a distance that commands respect even from couch potatoes who think they could roll out of bed and easily run a few miles. It also provides a good step towards many runners' ultimate goal of running a full-marathon and helps improve performance at shorter distances such as 10K and 5K.

The half-marathon distance was the first race I took part in, not a 5K fun run or a 10K. I was used to running a couple of miles several times a week as part of my general attempts to stay fit but when I put the money down to take part in the Army/Navy-Half in Washington D.C. I was struck more fully by the realization that this wasn't a distance I was going to be able to run