I finished (the race) 30 minutes faster than I thought I would,” Green Lantern told reporters at the finish line of the New York marathon back in 2008, “And an hour after that, I thought I would have to go to the hospital.” Of course he was really just American actor Ryan Reynolds back then (the movie wouldn’t release till 2011) running to raise funds for the fight against Parkinson’s, a disease his father had been diagnosed with years earlier. Heroism is much harder without super powers. “And dangerous too,” says fitness expert Sunil Kudva, dubbing the marathon, “an ultra-endurance event.” So it’s important to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. This is what the experts recommend:

Members of the Striders Fitness Training Group train for the 2013 Mumbai Marathonu00a0