Marathon Training – Trials and Tribulations

Our articles are not designed to replace medical advice. If you have an injury we recommend seeing a qualified health professional. To book an appointment with Tom Goom (AKA ‘The Running Physio’) visit our clinic page. We offer both in-person assessments and online consultations.

On Christmas Eve just gone I did the first run of my training for Brighton Marathon 2013 and started my 16-week programme aiming for a sub 3:10 finish…3 weeks later I’ve finally found the time to update the site with my progress so far…

That first run was a bit of a beast, the schedule said 7 miles but I knew I wouldn’t run over Christmas so pushed that up to 10. That probably would have been fine had it not been 10 very hilly off-road miles through leg sapping mud. The final mile set the tone for my first week – I felt exhausted and just had nothing left to give.

In hindsight maybe I’ve been a little over-ambitious with my schedule. I used SmartCoach and used a baseline of running around 30 miles per week. If I’m honest I haven’t ran 30 miles per week for ages, I’ve averaged just 10 miles per week since November. We’ve moved house and been incredibly busy and my running has been placed on the back burner for a while so I knew I’d be facing a big increase in mileage initially. Which, now I think of it, makes my first run even more foolish and it pushed my first week’s running up to 34 miles.

You’d think I might practice what I preach but I’m a runner as well as a Physio and most of us runners are touched by a little madness! Unfortunately I’m now paying the price…

…at the end of my first week my left hip started to niggle. I hoped it would settle in a few days but it lingered into the second week. I kept running and managed 27 miles in my second week but had to drop 1 run to let the hip settle. It seemed to work and I was pleased the hip was easing off…until week 3…

Week 3 has been a 35 mile week. The hip was settling nicely,despite me continuing to run, until Wednesday’s tempo run. In order to fit the runs in I have to run home from work. Unfortunately this is a fairly hilly route with some slippery, muddy sections – not ideal for a tempo run in the dark with a dicky hip! The following morning I was aching again and it lingered all day. I completed the week, including Sunday’s 16 miler but I realise now I will need to rest for this to settle.

I’ve talked a lot in the past about modifying your running to make it pain free. I’ve tried changing footwear, slowing down, changing running surface and putting a rest day between each run. I’ve stretched, foam rolled and taped the hip area to offload it but despite this it hasn’t gone away. It hasn’t got worse but it isn’t really much better.

Week 4 is a step down in terms of mileage – my schedule says 28 miles – but I might do far less. Monday I awoke with a sniffle with developed through the day into Man Flu…

So week 4 didn’t start well! Luckily Tuesday my cold settled a lot and I suspect it was actually just signs of a little overtraining…more evidenced that really I should rest. Colds, aches and niggles that won’t settle tell me I’m “in the red” and need to allow time to recover. The body is an amazing thing and can recover surprisingly quickly – my hip was entirely pain free by Tuesday evening so I did some very gently hips exercises to loosen things up a little. I’d taped the hip Sunday for the run and kept it on and I do wonder if it helped the pain ease so quickly, it certainly felt better when taped.

Tuesday evening, things went a bit tits up! We came home to discover our boiler had stopped working and spent the night without heating or hot water…brrrrrr! It still wasn’t fixed by Wednesday so I had a “watering can shower” then put on virtually every item of clothing I own!

On the positive side I did manage a short treadmill run Wednesday – 5.5 km with no pain – and did a little cross-training plus a good stretch off after. I remain pain free today and will head out for a 7 miler later (once the boiler man arrives!).

My running aside there are a few useful points to take from this…

Firstly select your marathon training schedule carefully and thinking about your recent mileage – going from 10 miles per week to 34 is over a 300% increase and bound to cause some problems. Secondly look out for signs of injury or illness and don’t forget the benefits of a little rest. Thirdly mix it up a little! I really enjoyed the cross-training mainly because I did movements I hadn’t done for a while and it felt great! Running is often a repetitive movement in a straight line with little rotation or sideways movement. Doing things like side stepping, hip abduction, bridging and drop lunges moved the legs in ways they hadn’t done for a while and seemed to help a great deal. Obviously it’s a balance and if you’re nursing an injury the priority should be keeping those exercises comfortable and not pushing through pain.

Next week is scheduled to be a 37 mile week. I’m hoping if I’m sensible I should manage that but I might have to swap a session for cross-training if I’m struggling again…oh the joys of marathon training!

Best of luck to anyone training for a marathon at the mo! Why not share your story in the comments below? We’d love to know how you’re getting on!