Great Whitehaven Beach Run - Training Tips from Lisa Weightman Posted by Lisa Weightman - 17 May 2023 When you sign up to a running event, whether it be for the first time or as an experienced runner remember that our bodies don’t like shock! We like a gradual introduction into new things! Small incremental improvements in distance or intensity each week is how you stick to a running program and avoid injury or illness. If you can stick at it for at least 4 weeks you’ll come out the other side you’ll be hooked. Weightman at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. If you are looking for a coach to guide you. Find a coach that you can relate to, that isn’t going to send you a cookie cutter “this is how to run a 10k” program. Look for someone who you really enjoy working with who understands your weekly schedule, your priorities in life and will adjust the program to suit you. To be a great runner it is true you need to run consistently. But to find your personal best you need to be balanced holistically and that is where a great coach will understand that and work to your strengths. I have the pleasure of helping 3 beautiful humans in this way and they are doing a brilliant job given what they are also achieving outside of their running goals – I am super proud of them and it’s a pleasure to be their coach. Once you decide to sign up to a running event, the first step on the training journey is to invest in shoes that work for you! The shoes you choose have such an impact on your performance and your ability to stay in the game. Once you have a nice pair of kicks or two ready to go – it’s all about planning achievable training aligned to smart goals! Remember this is your race and your race only – so your training should suit you! Look at what you are doing now as a weekly mileage. Set an upper limit on the distance you can realistically cover when you hit your peak mileage and work back from there on a gradual increase. Your mileage graph across the month shouldn’t have a steep uphill week on week. Just a nice gradual progression. Look at doing some changes in pace across your week. Introducing intervals at a feeling where you think you could hold it for 3-5k, another where you think you can hold it for 10k and then some easy running in between. Gradually increase the longer run you do once per week so that you get your body ready for the race. Find ways to make sure you are safe out there! We should all be able to run freely at anytime in the day, listening to podcasts or tunes. But in reality we are not always so lucky to be able to do that safely. Be aware of your surroundings when you go out for your training run. Make sure someone knows where you are going and the route you are taking. Run with your phone if you can, but even better if you can run with others do it. It’s fun to catch up with other runners and share the experience and it’s a lot safer too! Listen to your body! No pain, no gain does sound like a tough motto to abide by but running through pain is he worst thing you can do. Recovery is just as important as the training and it’s really enjoyable too! Why skip the good bit! Get excited about the finish line! Relief is usually the first feeling I have when I finish a race! I’m done and I can go and enjoy myself. The second is fulfilment. I feel proud to cross the finish line and hope that what I do as an Australian sports woman inspires others to follow in my footsteps – in sport, in life and in being the best you can be to make dreams come true! Get excited about this moment in the lead up and savour and celebrate it when you do cross that line! About the Author Lisa is a four-time Olympian who specializes in the marathon event. This Summer Lisa become Australia's 3rd fastest marathon runner of all time, running a personal best of 2:23.15 at the Osaka Marathon and has qualified for a fifth Olympic Games. Lisa has both silver and bronze Commonwealth Games medals to her name and holds course records across events throughout the country, including the fastest times ran on Australian soil over both the Half Marathon (68:48) and the 10km (31:20).