3 Top Tips To Help Your Marathon Training

Could your marathon training be enhanced by meditation? Thousands have discovered the benefits that come from regular meditation. You have specific techniques to train your body, so why not use the tools available to train your mind as well?

Youve run countless kilometres, pushed youre body to the limit, but the sustained mental focus can give you the edge you need to come in first. So many of the best athletes in the world have spoken about how important focus and concentration are, so why not use the knowledge that they've figured out? These 3 tips will help round out your training.

1. Concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other foot. Sounds a bit obvious I know but how often do you find yourself thinking about all the other things that are going on in your training and your life? Top athletes in many sports have found huge benefits from focusing on the moment. By keeping focused on each stride you can get the most out it. I mean really, its not like youre really going to forget that youre aiming for the finish line is it?

Theres whole training regimes that are focused solely on just getting into the moment and staying there. So you can see that this is a very valuable piece of the puzzle to add to your training regime.

2. Winning the mental battle is most of the work done. If youre in the right mental space then youll get so much more out of your marathon training. Youll be able to focus and have better motivation, making it easier to get up and going on those cold wet mornings.

If you can maintain your focus no matter what is going on in your life at the time, then you wont be caught off balance when you get to your race. All too often marathon runners underestimate the vital importance of mental training and discipline. The physical aspect is obviously important too, but its only a part of the big picture.

3. Planning every aspect of your training program. This isnt just the build up and tapering off towards competition, theres a whole lot more to it. What about scheduling some rest for yourself? Obviously you need to push yourself, but there is a limit to how much punishment your body can take.

It's called over training and sometimes it can be quite hard to spot. Basically when youre training reaches a plateau and even though you keep pushing yourself, your times dont seem to improve. This can sometimes a bit hard to distinguish from just having the odd off day.

But if you have weeks where you feel tired all the time, and when you get out and running you dont pick up but just get more tired, then you might well be suffering from over training.

The best way to treat this is like any other injury, ease off your training, dont stop completely but scale right back and gradually step it back up. Keeping a really close eye on if you feel the fatigue settling back in. You really dont want to push it too hard at this stage.

Really good nutrition is vital to your recovery too. You need to give your body the raw nutrients thats necessary for it to rebuild tissue and replenish depleted stores of vitamins and minerals. Hopefully this is already a part of your training, but its especially important if youre recovering from a setback like this. Sometimes you can actually be suffering from adrenal exhaustion, so you really need to get the nutrients into your system.

All of these areas of your marathon training will be improved by meditation. Get the hang of these three little secrets and you'll find your training and racing will improve dramatically. These are all vital components to your training, there's a lot more than just the physical part. This is a fantastic tool for honing your mental focus at the same time as you work on your physical training.