Over the last few months, I've seen many a runner pacing up and down Wyoming Avenue. No doubt, a number of them are preparing for The Big One: The New York City Marathon.

One of the premier marathons in the country, New York's annual 26.2-mile November jaunt gives locals yet another reason to be proud of our locale. 

What's so great about this particular event, you may ask?

Well, it's all about the scenery. When running such a distance, it's important to have some eye candy along the way. This particular run takes you through sections of all five New York City boroughs. Thousands of New Yorkers line the course to cheer you every step of the way. The staff working the event do a wonderful job keeping everything running smoothly (nice pun, huh?), and you can bear witness to some of the greatest endurance athletes in the world.

What's not to like?

Of course, it's not so easy to enter this event. There are marathons all over the country, in every major city and many smaller sites. Most of these can be entered by simply paying the fee, even on the day of the run.

But as I mentioned, this one is special. There is a lottery that you can enter, but you'll just be taking your chances. You can also join a sponsored group and gather donations for many worthy causes ranging from cancer to autism to Parkinson's Disease to the homeless. For obvious reasons, this is a great way to enter. 

Of course, the one sure way is to join the New York Road Runners Club, and run enough of their events to gain guaranteed entry. It's also a great way to get in a lot of your training runs.

The next obstacle is mental.

Many reading this probably think that, as amazing as it all sounds, none of this applies to them. Maybe you're not a runner at all, or just your 3-miler sounds like a plenty daunting task without adding an additional 23.2 miles. 

But many people NEED a major goal in order to get themselves going.

I've known many a local who decided that joining a gym, starting running or even a yoga class wasn't enough…they were going to take on a triathlon. Well, that is daunting. But that's what they needed. And I've seen many of them succeed in many ways well beyond their initial goal of just getting through one. 

So, maybe the NYC Marathon is the task for you. The next question is: How to begin?

If you've not jogged further than the end of your block, taking on the whole task from day one is probably not the right route. Frankly, for any athlete, a principle of periodization applies. Simply put, you need to cycle your training volume up and down over the period you have to prepare for the event, thus leading to much greater gains in the big picture. Basically, you don't just go out and run the race every week until the event begins. You start off slow, build up, taper back, and continue to build your endurance through that process. Eventually, you'll be amazed at how far you can go. There are many websites with free guidelines of how to do just that.

But my philosophy goes just a bit further than that. I believe that if you truly want to feel like an athlete out there—and not just someone who survives a brutal event—you need to train in multiple fashions. The greatest athletes in the world do not dominate in their sports by only playing their sport—they mix it up constantly.  For example, football players spend hours in the gym, not only lifting weights, but working on their balance through yoga techniques, their posture through Pilates, and using multiple other methods. 

Maybe you're thinking, "That's for great athletes, but not for me." Well, why should you treat yourself as anything less than athlete? After all, you're out there running the same course, right?

One of the main reasons these athletes are elite is because they mixed it up. They got through their runs without injury because they stretched through yoga. Their lower backs survived because of the core strength they gained in Pilates techniques.  And frankly, they had good trainers who knew how to integrate all of the proper methods to keep them working toward their goals.

So, how can you mix it up?

Well, look at all the exercise methods all around you. Believe it or not, they ALL apply. All of these will make you more fit, and that's what will help you run further and faster. Even if you don't have the money to join a gym, doing some simple exercises at home doesn't have to cost a dime. And the equipment you might need is accessible at a very low price. (Purchasing a foam roller in the exercise section at Target down on Vauxhall can be a life saver.)

Even changing the way you run can make a difference. Just use what we have around us. Don't go running the same route every time when we've got so many places to go. If you choose only to run the track over at Meisel Park every three days, you're going to do yourself a great disservice. Maybe try the South Mountain Reservation? How about doing some sprints up Floods Hill in South Orange? That'll change it up nicely. Not to mention the fact that it will kill the boredom of doing the same thing over and over again. I've always said that if your mind is bored with an activity, your body has been bored for a long time.

By mixing it up you can save yourself from an injury or two, keep things fresh, and quite possibly perform better in the long run (yes, another running pun!).

And maybe we'll see you out there on Wyoming Avenue getting ready for next year.

Tim Reynolds is the owner/operator of THE GYM ON SPRINGFIELD, a personal training studio in its 4th year of operation in Maplewood. Tim lives in Maplewood with his family (Suzanne, August and Sinikka).