Cool Running

Another good site with a good training section.

Runners World Marathoning

The Runners World (US) Marathoning section is fantastic- full of tips, article, expert advice. Its going to take me a loooong time to work my way through this lot.

Apologies if this sounds like a shameless plug but the print version of Runners World is a monthly must-buy. Apart from genuinely interesting articles, race calendar, product reviews etc I find it to be a great source of motivation.

Marathonguide dot com

Pretty good site for useful articles on Marathon related topics (it does what it says on the tin). Particular articles that caught my attention were: -

Heart Monitor Training

Heart monitors are devices that are designed for wear during strenuous exercise, and serve the purpose of measuring and recording your heart rate, while giving you instant feedback about the work level of your heart. The fitness of the heart is the key to one's aerobic endurance - sometimes called 'cardiovascular respiratory endurance'. Both for health and racing reasons, aerobic endurance is a point of focus for almost any runner. Heart monitors are one of the most effective aids for tracking and developing your progress on the path to increased aerobic endurance.

Fuel on Fat For the Long Run

Always nice to know that fat is necessary for runners!

Developing your fat engine will increase the amount of energy you can generate, reduce the amount of carbohydrates you use, and stretch out the glycogen supply during long runs. Added together, you have a more stable and enduring energy supply, better endurance, and faster finish times.

Running and Fitness Calculators

Very useful for working out pacing, nutrition, heart rate etc

Official 2004 Paris Marathon Site

... is here.

Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Plan

The 'Novice' version of Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Plans is the one I based my training on last time. His site is a great resource for distance runners of any level. He his one of the most senior authorities on distance running today so I guess he knows what he's talking about!

There is also a good article on his site called Preparing to run 26 miles 385 yards.

"Get You Round" Marathon Training Plan

Over the next few days I'm going to be posting some online Marathon Training Plans. Its unlikely that I'll choose one particular plan and stick to it, I think I'll personalise my own that takes aspect from all of them.

Here is one from Runners World (UK) that is simply to get you to 'finishing' fitness; however, I'm planning to do more than just finish this time so another plan would suit me better.

I could've asked the question myself

My second marathon: overweight and slow is the title of a very good article at Runners World (UK). The title relates exactly to me! (apart from the female aspect...)

Q I’m a 33-year-old female, and after being collected by the ‘slow police’ after 19 miles in last year’s Berlin Marathon, I’m desperate to get my time down in this autumn’s race. I guess I should do speedwork but I don’t know what my targets should be. My other problems: I’m overweight by about a stone and a half; and step aerobics and evening classes take up a lot of my time.

Read the answer.