Run Your First Marathon: Everything You Need to Know to Reach the Finish Line

ALSO BY GRETE WAITZ

On the Run: Exercise and Fitness for Busy People (with Gloria Averbuch)

Opp! Fra 0 til 100 paa 10 (Up! From 0 to 100 in 10 Weeks)

Stress ned kom i form (Conquer Stress)

(with Willi Railo and Sigmund Stromme)

World Class (with Gloria Averbuch)

ALSO BY GLORIA AVERBUCH

A Turn for Lucas

Food Guide for Soccer (with Nancy Clark, RD)

Goal! (with Ashley Michael Hammond)

It’s Not About the Bra (with Brandi Chastain)

Joan Samuelson’s Running for Women (with Joan Benoit Samuelson)

The New York City Marathon Cookbook (with Nancy Clark)

New York Road Runners Complete Book of Running & Fitness, Fourth Edition

New York Road Runners Running & Fitness Log 2007

On the Run (with Grete Waitz)

The Vision of a Champion (with Anson Dorrance)

The Woman Runner

World Class (with Grete Waitz)

Copyright © 2010, 2015 by Grete Waitz and Gloria Averbuch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-63220-356-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-031-9

Photos courtesy of New York Road Runners, except for photos on pages 48, 64, 94, 104, 144, and 162.

Stretching and strengthening photos of Grete Waitz by Vebjorn Rogne, courtesy of Schibsted publishing company.

This book is designed to provide you with guidance about your marathon, exercise, and fitness program. Although every effort has been made to provide the most careful and up-to-date advice, including in the medical field, this book is not intended as a substitute for any treatment or advice offered by a medical professional. You should seek medical approval before undertaking any exercise program.

Printed in China

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Why Run?

Chapter 2: Going the Distance

Chapter 3: Getting Started

Chapter 4: The Training

Chapter 5: The Marathon Training Program

Chapter 6: Running Basics

Chapter 7: Training Extras

Chapter 8: The Running Life

Chapter 9: Mental Motivators

Chapter 10: Shoes and More

Chapter 11: Staying Healthy

Chapter 12: Marathon Nutrition and Hydration

Chapter 13: The Race

Resources

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

For my family, through thick and thin; my husband Jack, who has seen me through all the miles—on the road and in life; and to my brothers Jan and Arild.

— G.W.

To my daughters, Yael and Shira, the most inspiring athletes I know.

— G.A.

The Great Grete Waitz

Since the original publication of this book, Grete Waitz has passed away. She died on April 19, 2011, in her hometown of Oslo, of the cancer she fought for six years. Her legacy lives on in the numerous honors bestowed on her, and the charitable foundation she helped start, AKTIV Against Cancer (see Resources for further information). We have taken the liberty to update some statistics or other information in Grete’s sections for this edition.

FOREWORD

by Deena Kastor

Whether the marathon is one of your life goals or you’ve simply moved up in distances through the years, you are about to make a quantum leap in your athleticism. Run Your First Marathon is your bridge to a new title: Marathon Runner. This is an exclusive moniker for the commitment this journey requires, and the sport of marathon running has hooked so many people because of the joy that results in hard work.

Grete Waitz, with her World Record, Olympic medal, and nine New York marathon wins, remains a hero in the world of marathon running. I believe her greatest role in this sport was how she used her celebrity to inspire people of all ages and abilities. For decades she led by example and shared with millions the benefits of running. In the marathon world, we share a secret that for whatever motivated you to begin this marathon journey, you will see that the pursuit positively affects every aspect of your being. You are merging into a community of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. So, hold onto your hat, feel the wind in your hair, and smile as the scenery passes by.

So many first-timers simply want to run one marathon and check it off their bucket list. More often, these individuals register for another and another in an effort to improve, and isn’t life just like that? We seek continuous improvement, we set goals, we reach them, and we hunger for more.

Run Your First Marathon is a book that has graced the hands of so many marathon success stories. This book’s a keeper because it also has great information for continued improvement as you travel and gather a great collection of race bibs and finisher medals. There are so many programs that get people ready to enjoy the marathon distance, but the key to success is creating a support team you believe in. Here’s to a great journey, a marathon finish, and many, many more.

PREFACE

A Relationship Forged Through Running, Family and Life

(Note: This piece, written by Gloria Averbuch, was first published in the New York Times on April 19, 2011.)

We called each other best friends, a friendship forged through running, writing and just being two women of about the same age. For nearly 30 years, and through co-authoring three books, scores of speeches, articles and conversing about sports, marriage and, yes, even death—I knew a Grete few people did. And through her, I learned what it truly takes to have achieved the greatness she did. In addition to her athletic gifts, she was the most focused, disciplined and humble person I have ever known.

Yet it wasn’t enough to be born with an athletic gift. It was her strength of will that lifted her to glory. You should know that young Grete usually placed in the back of the pack before winning her first prize at age 13, a little silver spoon that she reached into her bag at least 10 times on the way home to make sure she had not lost; that her parents, who wanted her to play the piano and do her chores, initially told her: Why do you want to waste time with this running? You’re not going to be a running star, anyway, at which point the usually obedient Grete grabbed her training bag and fled the house.

You should know that the young woman who placed first academically in her class in high school (she wrote our books together with impeccable English, and never once missed a deadline) commuted two hours each way to her teaching job while training for two Olympic Games; that she barely missed a spot in the 1976 Montreal Olympic 1,500-meter final (the top five finishing within two-tenths of a second of one another in the closest semifinal in Olympic history at the time), losing to the Russians who later admitted to having taken performance-enhancing drugs.

It wasn’t enough to be born with an athletic gift. The history of Grete’s vast and legendary athletic accomplishments will be well documented in these days, but what you need to know is the man who helped make it possible is her husband, Jack. He is the man she met in her running club, married when she was 21, and who without question or complaint submerged his own career into hers. Jack is the one who guided, encouraged and let Grete vent, supporting her through the challenges the public didn’t see. Throwing her shoes to the ground in fatigue after her first New York City Marathon in 1978, she swore to him, I’ll never to that again! After all, they had taken the trip to the race before Grete planned to retire from running, only for the chance to see New York.

And Jack held Grete up, literally and figuratively. I don’t think they spent more than a week here or there apart in their entire 36-year marriage. He celebrated her victories, and he saw her through her illness. He remains as inspirational as Grete, and I honor her memory by also honoring Jack.

You’re so American . . . she used to joke, rolling her eyes, when she wanted to describe the gushing praise or emotion with which people often approached her. But she and I got past that. She believed me when I explained how I spoke to her as my inspiration when I ran, the feeling I had to finally be coached by the Great Grete to my own N.Y.C. Marathon best time.

And she helped me from the beginning to negotiate the athletic life of my 24-year-old daughter, who admired my friend Grete and is now a professional soccer player, and so like Grete in her focus, discipline and personality, that as I often told Grete, I have a piece of my dear friend in my own child.

You’re so American . . . I often said to her as our discussions grew more personal, more essential, especially during her illness. I love you, I told her. I love you too, she replied. These were the last words we spoke to each other, in the last intimate conversation Grete felt like having with anyone outside her family.

We came a long way together in 30 years. You could say it was a marathon of a friendship.

INTRODUCTION

When I ran my first marathon in 1978, little did I know then how much that event would change my life.

This is a sentence that can also be uttered by the multitudes of those who have done what I have—and what you will do: Run your first 26.2-mile race.

I can’t promise you a life-altering experience, just as I can’t predict your race time. But one thing of which I feel certain: While not all of us can climb Mt. Everest, we can complete a marathon. I understand what that means, and what it takes. So does my coauthor, Gloria.

I am asked all the time by aspiring marathoners if I can help them to realize their dream, whether they are strangers, acquaintances, friends, or family. Most of them aren’t even runners. They request a training program, or even just some words of advice or encouragement. Having had a full and wonderful career, made possible by the magic of the 26.2-mile race, I always give the same answer. Yes!

I know what a great achievement it is to run a marathon, and I want to share that with you. I respect and understand what it takes to go the distance, and I know I can take you there. I’ve provided novice marathoners with everything from basic outlines to detailed training programs and advice, and I’ve watched and shared the joy and success of so many of them over the years. Of all those I have been privileged to work with, every one of them said they were glad they took on the challenge.

My marathon career opened up a whole new world for me. And I have seen it do the same for so many of those whom I have trained, including Gloria. And so, she and I—both of us marathoners and authors who have written books and articles together for over twenty years, but even more, have been close friends—have teamed up to do it again. This time, we have created a blueprint for all of you new to our sport. Like you, Gloria and I were once first-time marathoners, and what we gained in knowledge and understanding from running that race has remained and been strengthened. Now into our 50s, we are both still avid runners and exercisers. Like every veteran of the marathon, we reflect fondly on that first experience. What we share with you in this book has been constructed by years of participation and experimentation, and with the help of some of the best minds in our sport. We hope you will truly benefit from our collective wisdom.

Since we published this book, I have heard from scores of people who have followed this Marathon Program. Yet, I continue to get questions. So, the additions we have provided in this revision deal with those types of questions.

However, the basics of this book are sound. I still believe in the walk-run approach for novice marathoners. And I know this training program works. In fact, recently I was at the Oslo Marathon (ten thousand Norwegians in a country of 4 million, running various distances). So many people came up to thank me for this book, which is uncharacteristic of my countrymen and women! It takes a lot of courage, because in my culture, we don’t ordinarily do this. I am proud to say this book is like a bible in my home country. A lot of people find it inspiring to read. I was doing a photo shoot for a Norwegian women’s magazine. The editor said, You are my coach. She read the book, and then gave it to her husband. He then decided to run a marathon, and they both participated in this year’s Oslo Marathon. That’s the gratification I get from having authored this book.

May your road ahead be a smooth one, filled with the same sense of adventure and discovery that ours has been!

1

Why Run?

Once upon a time, I, too, was a first-time marathoner, although my experience was vastly different than what it is for runners today and, undoubtedly, what it will be for you. I ran my first marathon in 1978, in what you could call the dark ages. The marathon fever that eventually broke out during the 1980s running boom wasn’t yet born. In those early days, few even knew what a marathon was (by definition, 26.2 miles), let alone talked about the event. In fact, even those who ran the marathon on the national level were thought of as strange. And that was among fellow runners!

Times have changed since then. Today, marathoning is increasing in popularity year by year. According to the latest statistics from Running USA’s Road Running Information Center at www.runningusa.org, the estimated U.S. marathon finisher total for 2013 was 541,000. That’s a continual annual rise, and up from 518,000 in 2011. For large U.S. marathons in 2013, a remarkable 35 percent were first-timers (debut) marathoners.

Back in 1978, I was a twenty-five-year-old full-time schoolteacher who ran with my hair in pigtails. I had never been to the United States. I had absolutely no expectations of the marathon, except to use it as a way to get a trip to this country before I retired from running. I was a top track runner in Europe, but I was about to close that chapter of my life and, in so doing, complete my running career. The longest I had ever raced