Alan Derrick

Calderglen harriers coach

Tip one - On your marks, get set

This week, the Calderglen Harriers coach looks at how to get your mind in focus and your body in training.

First of all, make sure your feet are firmly on the ground. Give yourself realistic expectations and you will only be pleased with your results on the day. Let more experienced runners challenge themselves with winning the race or beating a personal best time and focus on your own goals. Perhaps you want to run the race without stopping or simply to get round the course full stop, both worthy aims for the absolute beginner.

Depending on your level of ability, jogging or walking the 13.1 mile course is going to give you a finishing time of somewhere between two and four hours. So, your basic aim over the next two months is to gradually expand your level of fitness so that you can complete the course in that time, comfortably and without any undue strain or stress. Time spent on your feet jogging or walking will be the most effective way to expand your level of fitness for this specific challenge. So, try to go out for a jog or a walk and jog which lasts thirty minutes at least three times a week.

Remember, for absolute beginners, you want your training to be as enjoyable and rewarding as possible. If you cannot jog continuously for thirty minutes, don't carry on to the point of exhaustion. Rather, break each session up, for example, jogging for ten minutes, walking for five then jogging for a further ten minutes and so on.

Towards the end of the second week, if you are comfortable with the thirty minute sessions, you can think about expanding one of your weekly sessions by about ten to twenty minutes. Again, variety is the name of the game so look out over the next few weeks for some more tips on how to spice up your sessions and ready yourself for race day.

Tip two - Staying the course

How can I make sure I go the distance? Calderglen Harriers coach Alan Derrick continues his regular column for absolute beginners with a few tips on building up endurance.

 "It will come as no surprise to hear that, at this level, to expand your endurance, you must gradually step up activity which makes your heart, lungs, muscles and joints work harder. This is not, however, just a case of running further each day. In fact, focusing simply on how many miles per week you are running, can work against you. You can easily become obsessed with your weekly mileage targets, which depend upon your natural individual strengths. Your targets may be easily achievable but, for some, may be impossible, leading to over training and injuries.

Instead of looking then at distance (your weekly mileage), consider your distance along with a number of additional and equally important factors: duration (how long you are investing in each training session); frequency (how often you are training) and recovery (how many rest days are you allotting yourself).

Rest days are a critical part of your training week. It is only when you are resting that your body adapts to your marathon training. Whilst you're in training though, remember a rest day doesn't mean a lazy day. A gentle cycle or a swim gives the joints a rest whilst not over-stretching the heart and lungs.

Putting rest days aside, ensure that you spread your training sessions out throughout the week in the beginning. After a few weeks, start moving your training days around and including two sessions on consecutive days. Be sensible though. Don't make your most difficult session, the longest or hilliest route, one of the two consecutive sessions.

Moving your sessions around like this is an easy and effective way of stepping up your endurance training without adding to the number of sessions you are doing.

That said, also look at adding one extra session one week and then dropping back down to your regular number and choosing one session which is your longest run each week and upping the duration progressively. Take all these tips in your stride, and I am sure you will be pleased with your resulting race.

Tip three - Beating monotony

Absolute beginners may be starting to feel a bit flat about what can seem like monotonous training sessions. To help you stay the course, Calderglen Harriers coach, Alan Derrick, continues his series of helpful hints for beginners with some tips on how to put the fizz into marathon training sessions.

Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles for absolute beginners is overcoming the fact that, although you are training hard, you won't turn into Seb Coe overnight. Satisfy yourself instead with the knowledge that, as you work through regular and frequent training sessions, your body tone and stamina will develop gradually and that this fitness, once won, is worth its weight. It is both easy to maintain, as you continue to train, and relatively easy to regain, if you should take a break in training. So stick with it.

That said, routine, no matter how worthy, can be boring so make efforts to surprise yourself! Start by renewing your interest and interrupting the repetitiveness of your training by making some changes to your route. Even keeping the same route, but changing the direction you run it, can be uplifting.

Better still, give yourself a break from pounding on tarmac or concrete and change your scenery at the same time, by training away from the roads. Consider some of East Kilbride 's trails and paths such as between Calderglen (from behind Claremont School ) down towards Blantyre . Alternatively, what about the football pitches at Brancumhall and the running track at the John Wright Sports Centre? All great places to train and give yourself some new scenery.

Now your training is up and running, you need to think about pace. Next week I will look at how to approach the critical area of successful pacing.

Tip four - The pace race 

Our resident running expert, Calderglen Harriers coach Alan Derrick, continues his series of tips for absolute beginners with a look at how to pace yourself for an enjoyable, stress free race.

By now you should be reasonably confident about racing in the half marathon and completing the course. But, watch out for the competitive gremlins which can come out on race day.

You know the pace you train at and you are probably thinking 'if I just hold back a little on race day, I should be able to keep that pace going for most of the 13.1 miles'. Good plan, but race day will be different from training. You may train alone or with friends but, on the big day, you will suddenly find yourself with literally hundreds of running mates all of varying abilities. In that situation, it takes a lot of discipline not to start chasing after faster runners and exceeding your comfortable pace.

Instead, focus your rush of adrenalin and run at your comfortable pace from start to finish. The most economical way to run to your potential is to run at an even and achievable pace like this. It won't win you the race but it will ensure that you complete it and enjoy it - which should, as absolute beginners, be your goal anyway.

Over the next (NUMBER) of weeks, do some of your training each week at precisely the pace you hope to run the half marathon. First, divide your estimated half marathon time by 13.1 to give your average time per mile. Next, find a six or seven mile circuit (which could be part of the half marathon course around East Kilbride ) and measure out three miles in the middle of the route, noting approximately where each mile starts and finishes. Use this route for one of your runs each week and when you hit the start of the measured three mile section, start your watch. Try to run at your average mile pace, checking the time each mile and adjusting your pace accordingly.

Better still, why not try it on the track at the John Wright Sports Centre; four laps equates near enough to one mile. It may take a few weeks of practice, but eventually you should be able to switch to that pace without a second thought.

Remember though, your personal expectations and pace for race day should fit your abilities. Be prepared to adjust your predicted race time if you find three miles at this pace is too fast. Better to find out now rather than on the day with ten miles to go!

Finally, to prepare yourself for the adrenalin rush on race day, join in a shorter race three or four weeks before the half marathon. A 10 km race is ideal and you will find many on at weekends and on mid-week evenings at this time of year. Check with one of the local running clubs for details of forthcoming events.

Before setting off, convert your average mile pace into average km pace and then run the 10 km race at your predicted half marathon pace. And, remember, ignore the temptation to chase those around you. Aim to complete the race and enjoy your first mini marathon!

Tip five - The early bird

Harriers coach Alan Derrick gives his penultimate piece of advice - wind down! Hard to believe? Absolute beginners read on.

"Now that you are in the home straits and the race is only a few weeks away, you can congratulate yourself on successfully tackling most of the hard work. The next step is to start to wind down. Keep the number of training sessions up at between three or four a week but halve the distance you are running and the duration of your sessions. Avoid any temptation at this late stage to introduce any runs longer than you have managed comfortably up till now.

Down shifting like this, will ensure you maintain your fitness whilst allowing your energy stores to build up.

My next tip could be a bit of jolt to your system. As you will know, the half marathon starts at 9:30am on a Sunday morning. It may be that your body does not know what it is like to be awake at that time on a Sunday, let alone awake and running! In the last couple of weeks leading up to the race, try getting up early on Sunday and going for a run. You will be surprised to see that, if you are not used to running at this time of day, you will need to invest some time and effort to adapt your body to running at this lively hour.

Something else to get in the swing of is running and taking on fluids at watering stations along the way. Take a bottle of water out on some of your training runs or arrange for family or friends to meet you part way round your training route with a cup of water. As your focus should be simply to complete the course, you will probably find it more beneficial to stop and drink the water rather than carry on running and spill most of it.

On a final note, check out your running shoes. This is your last sensible chance to change your shoes if they are past their best. You need to break them in over a few shorter runs in the weeks leading up to the race. On no account, wear new shoes on the day of the half marathon. Should one of your top supporters happen to present you with a shiny new pair on race day, resist the temptation to put them on and save them for your second half marathon which you will undoubtedly want to run after the 16 th !

Tip six - Under starter's orders

It's the week of The 'diet Coke' East Kilbride half marathon and Calderglen Harriers coach Alan Derrick signs off his regular tips for absolute beginners with a few 'do's' and 'don'ts' designed to ensure a successful and enjoyable race.

As the weekend and the race fast approaches, all that is left for you to do is to be sensible. The training is finished except for a few gentle jogs or runs throughout the week, which should stop after Wednesday. That said, you are still in training for the big day so try to abide by the following pre-race rules:

Do :

• get plenty of rest in the week before the event
• keep well hydrated with non-alcoholic drinks
• get-up out of bed a few hours before the start of the race to allow your body to wake-up and your muscles to stretch out
• have a light breakfast of cereal and toast no later than two to three hours before the start
• make sure you have your running gear and most importantly your number (if you have pre-entered) with you
• arrive at the start in plenty of time as it will be busy
• bring a bin bag with a hole for your head to keep you dry if it rains before the start
• take up a position at the start line appropriate to your ability, otherwise you will get in the way of faster runners and cause congestion and frustration
• start slowly if you have never run, jogged or walked the half marathon distance before
• take a drink at all of the water stations

Don't:

• do a trial run around the entire course during the week before the race
• drink an excessive amount of alcohol the night before the race
• sleep in - it is an early race start
• start faster than you have ever trained

Finally, the most important tip of all: ENJOY YOURSELF!