COMMUNITY SPORTS TIPS: Preparing for a half marathon

Commit to a goal of completing a half marathon and you’ll love yourself for it. Whether you run or walk for exercise, be sure to set a goal for yourself to accomplish the unthinkable and kick your body (and self esteem) up a notch. Identifying your goal will help you work backwards and establish your strategy and routine and half marathons are the perfect accomplishable goal.

A quick tip to change up your typical walk or running routines is to insert a day of interval training or Fartlek training (Swedish term for speed play). Repetitive exercise routines have a tendency to grow stale not only for your drive but also on your body. Try changing up your exercise routine for a day throughout the next couple of weeks and see your results.

Try the following and let us know how it goes.

• Warm up with a steady jog for 10 minutes

• Run hard for one minute

• Jog or Walk briskly for three to four minutes

• Repeat 10-15 times

• Cool down at a steady pace for 10 minutes

Ultimately, you want your training to be enjoyable so grab a friend and go for a run. These types of training methods can be varied to adapt to your specific training plan and have demonstrated to work incredibly well.

Javier Sanchez is the race director for the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon & Relay. For more information, visit www.sarasotahalfmarathon.com.