Hi! My name is Richard Francis. This is a video on how to run a marathon. We've just covered the mental commitment required to get to the finish line, in this next clip we are going to cover the equipment you'll need to get to that finish line.
Now, the most important investment you'll need to make is in a pair of good running shoes, your tennis shoes or cross trainers won't do. So the biggest question that I get is what kind of shoes should I wear? What kind of shoes should I buy? They vary in arch stability; they vary in support and pronation support, they also vary in flexibility, and motion control as well as cushion. So which one to buy?
The first thing you need to do is figure out what your arch is and what your foot pattern is. So the easiest way to get your foot pattern is to actually wet your foot which I'll show you in a minute and step on a piece of paper.
Now, the other way is to go to your local running store where you find somebody who is specialized in analyzing gait patterns and they'll watch you run on a treadmill or outdoors and they'll be able to give you an idea of what your gait pattern is or your gait analysis.
So the easiest way for you to do this at home is to wet the bottom of the bare foot. So put a piece of paper on the ground, dark piece of paper preferably. Just slightly wet your foot, not too wet, step on a piece of paper, hold it for a couple of seconds, and that should give you a pretty good shot of your foot pattern.
So looking at this paper, you can see that I have more of a medium to high arch and that means more of a neutral runner. If this was a little bit wider, it would indicate that I have more of a medium arch and I want more of a stability shoe.
If this was really wide in the center, more flat footed, I would want a stability shoe. So if you remember that, neutral, shoe stability, or motion control, those are the three types of shoes really out there, and generally you've got three shoes again, neutral, stability, and motion control.
So neutral shoe is for a higher arch, a stability shoe is for a medium architecture, and a motion control shoe is more for a wide arch and has more cushion. Generally, the heavier you are, the wider your arch is going to be, the wider this pattern is going to be, the flatter your foot.
When you're looking for a shirt, type of shirt you want, if it's under 65 degrees, 55 degrees to 65 degrees, you can probably -- you are fine with the para-shorts and a t-shirt. Anything under 55 degrees you are going to want to go for tights, long pants, wind jacket or a long sleeve.
But the material you want to focus on is more of an acrylic cotton blend. Most of these high dry wicking shirts, these high text shirts nowadays are not 100% cotton. They are a mixture of synthetic materials. So stick with those, 100% cotton really absorbs the moisture and sweat and is not good at all for running. Go for a lighter weight, high, dry wicking material.
Same thing with the shorts, don't go with high cotton, stay away from heavy fabrics, go with light fabrics. Now, for guys you don't need shorts like this. The reason runners really wear this is because you've got less material, less chances for chafing.
Now, when you are running long distances, the last thing you want is material rubbing between your legs as you're building up blisters. That's the last thing you want to do when you are running a marathon is worry about chafing.
A very light weight type of wind-vest is a good idea, and you can just throw it out on over. The back of them, a lot of them are mesh. So it allows breathability. A good hat. Remember to stay away from chi cotton, this is also a synthetic blend, very light weight. Try to stay with white hat reflect the sun, stay away from 100% cotton again, go with a more of an acrylic cotton blend.
More of the running socks that you find out there, especially the branded ones contain those blends and don't have 100% cotton. So you'll find a lot of fancy socks. You don't need to go pay $15 for a pair of socks, $4-5 you can get a good pair of running socks.
A good pair of sunglasses, shades, really important; protect you from the sun. Always go out with hat and sunglasses. If you are running at night, go with a light -- slide right on the arm, and are good for running at night, make sure you have at least one on either arm. Okay. The next session we are going to cover is a proper training program to follow to get you to finish line.
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