Marathon training plan for skating?

Have you ever thought about skating a marathon? That’s exactly what this Skatefresh student is planning to do, and in this blog post Asha answers her question with some tips and advice on a marathon training plan.

Question:

“I’m working on my stopping techniques, more specifically in the Lunge Turn to Powerslide. I guess it will pay off in time. 

I’m planing to skate my first marathon, if situation permits, this summer or autumn. Do you have a marathon training plan for skating that I could follow for 2 or 3 months? I’m able to train at least 3 times a week and for at least 1 hour each session. Please let me know. I would appreciate it.”

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Asha says:

Great that you have a marathon in your sights! And even better that you are planning on training for it and not just doing it from nothing. Ive seen too many skaters do themselves a lot of pain doing that. Training is essential, always.

I’ve helped many students prepare for marathons especially Berlin every year.

My main focus with them is to work intensely on perfecting the different aspects of their skating stride (the push, glide and regroup). If any of all of these 3 are incorrect your skating will be inefficient, you will tire more easily and then skating longer distances fast becomes less fun.

I take those students through a series of moving drills and exercises, each one builds on what is gained and learned in the previous one and so you progress “stacking” one exercise on top of the other.

This can be done in an intensive way by deciding how long you want to train for in each session and dedicating a set time for each exercise and moving from one to the other. This can also be interspersed with skating intervals to integrate what’s learned in the training into your skating.

I usually do this full process with students in private skate lessons or group speed skating classes.

This technique training is available in online course format as the “How to Skate for Fitness – Intermediate” course. 
This is a sequence of 11 different training exercises to help you perfect all aspects of your stride.
3 of these 11 drills are available for FREE to try out.

This training will build lower body muscle mass and aerobic stamina as well as create a fitness stride that is sustainable over long distances (and looks smooth).

Over time you will notice your ability to train each exercise for longer and watch it become easier as you progress. Too few intermediate level skaters really dissect their stride to find their weak areas (which in a marathon will become increasingly obvious).

If you have any amount of inside edge pronation on either skate then it is essential that this be corrected before you add more time and distance to your skate routine. Pronation is a serious (and very common) problem among even intermediate skaters which can lead to slow onset injuries in the feet, ankles, knees or hips (usually just on one side).

Here’s what’s been said about this course by others in your situation.

“My friend and I are using Asha’s Online Course together to train our Fitness Stride for Berlin Marathon in September. So far so good. I’m noticing that my leg and back muscles are not as strong as I thought and the exercises are challenging but I feel them working. It’s way more fun training together than alone.”

Dietmar Reiche (47) Germany

Good luck with your training whatever path you choose and I hope I can help you get there.

 

View the full intermediate How to Skate for Fitness online course here. 

Get access to 3 Free Fitness Stride training drills to receive lifetime access to this important training.

How to skate for fitness intermediate free trial - Skatefresh