RUNNING GERMANY: BERLIN – The countdown has started – 37th Berlin Half Marathon on 2 April 2017

Now that the days are clearly getting longer, Spring doesn’t seem too far away. There are just four more weeks for you to optimize your training with longer runs and tempo runs. This is the time to wear in new running shoes and to test your pre-competition food and drinks as well.

Only four and a half weeks until the race

The best way to reach your athletic goals is by having a well-structured training year. You should start by setting realistic goals based on your current fitness level and a feasible amount of training.

Mark your calendar for the date you want to be at your peak fitness. If you select two season highlights each year, for instance, the Berlin Half Marathon in Spring and the BMW BERLIN MARATHON in Fall, be sure to set two phases of training.

Training means a systematic plan from general fitness to competition-specific elements. The most important and longest phase (about 8-12 weeks) is the preparation phase with gradually increasing basic training. Too rapid training often brings risks of injury and is not long-lasting.

As the competition date nears, more and more competition-specific training should be on your trainings schedule (eg. endurance runs at race pace, end-of-run pace increases during a long jog.).

A 10K race fits well into a training plan about four weeks before a half marathon, for instance. If there is not a race near you at that time, do a test run by yourself or with friends. It does not have to be an exact distance, but should be between 9 and 12 kilometres.

This is a good test during this phase of your training to see how well you can maintain your pace for a half marathon. We will be providing our next training tip on March 15, when we discuss tapering, or how to optimally train during the last ten days before the half marathon.

Source: Berlin Half Marathon

Berlin Half Marathon