Running Equipment for a Marathon

Video Transcript

"I’m Turner and I’m here to talk to you about equipment you might use if you’re in a running program, training for a marathon or training for a smaller race like a 5k. As far as normal clother are concerned it really depends on the weather conditions. The most lightweight heat retaining material I would recommend, and these can be sold in pretty much any running store or brand name store like wall mart or anything like that. As far as shorts and shirts are concerned, pretty much what I have on, nice mesh running shorts, short shorts, a nice cotton t-shirt, that’s fine. If you’re in real cold weather definitely secure your head, get a nice thermal headband. If you feel comfortable wear a thermal hat, but that really does pick up wind resistance like that. And a micro fiber long sleeve shirt I would really recommend if you’re in anything below freeing. 40 degrees you could manage in a t-shirt if you are going fast enough. It all depends on whether you are running a race, how fast you’re going. If I’m just training out here and I’m running 9 minute mile pace, I’m not going to be building up that much body heat, so I need to be wearing tights for my legs maybe even a coat for my upper body depending on the temperature. And a t-shirt underneath to absorb all the sweat. If you’re running a 5 minute mile pace for a race or something you might just want a t-shirt, because anything else is just going to pick up wind resistance, slow you down with its weight and in general you’re going to feel pretty hot after building up that much sweat and heat for that long. Shoes of course are the most important thing, but lets deal with socks first. Socks, not unlike what I’m wearing now, you generally want short socks with nothing above the ankle. These can be sold in most running stores. Nice padding on the heels or the toes depending on where you wear down the most. But in general running socks, are anything that does not have any material above the ankle. Shoes, as far as this is concerned it depends on the race. If you’re going to be running a track race for 3200 meters, get spikes. Get spikes with very little surface area on the bottom. If you’re going to be running a marathon race for 26.2 miles, get as much surface as you can. You don’t want to be balancing on your toes or your heel the entire time. It will not work, you will get blisters. You want to be comfortable in the shoes you are running that much distance in. I know this seems like common sense but just stick with me on this. Any running store in your area focused entirely on running can help you out there. They have shoes that are tailor-made for people running the 5k, just for people running marathons, just for people running 10- miles or so, depending on your distance and what speed you want to go, whether you are doing this for fun or doing this for a race or doing it just as a regular jog or a walk, or walking. And I’d really recommend talking to one of them. "