Proper Running Mechanics

Marathons first began with the idea of running a long way without stopping. In the early days of civilization, this activity was frowned upon and relegated to messengers (known as runners) who relayed messages from one military command post to another. The importance of these messages often belied the disposable status of the the person designated to deliver them; thus bringers of bad news were often killed as an expression of disgust with regard to reports of army losses or surrenders. Rather than wait for such a harsh greeting at the end of the line, today's long distance runners do their best to torture themselves en route, pushing their endurance to the absolute limit to prove to themselves that, well, they can run a really long way, just like in the old days. And live to be proud of it.

Our experienced marathon expert guides you through all aspects of training for the big race, starting with the very basics of running mechanics and proper nutrition all the ways to how to stay loose and visualize the actual race. She demonstrates how to stretch your abs and hamstrings and warm up for a day of training. Learn how to schedule these days and mix up your routine with cross training, including treadmill and resistance ball workouts. Our expert even discusses the legal requirements for running in a marathon. Once you watch this series of videos, you will know all you need to know in order to succeed on marathon race day.

"On behalf of Expert Village my name is Barbara Coradin with Energy Fitness in New York City and today I'm going to show you how to train for a marathon. Now we are going to talk about proper running mechanics. It is very important to keep the body always in alignments so the head is a lined with the body. Arms are 90 degrees, hands are loose as if you have 2 batons or two eggs in both hands. Basically the knees come up so you want to run easy like this, this would be in slow motion, you want to keep the shoulders relaxed. Try to hit the floor, heel balls up, keep your shoulders relaxed and dash straight. So okay, you want to stay relaxed remember to breath, keep your head up, knees up, shoulders down, abs in."