Any experienced marathoners???

vonalj

Anyone have a clue what I should do? My first marathon is 5weeks away (Pittsburgh-city of bridges)! I did 2 halfs last year. Anyhow, I am having some issues with training. First of all, I pulled, strained, sprained, who knows...hurts immensley around my hip and down my thigh....groin?? Not sure. Rested 3 days. Felt okay so I did my scheduled 5 mi and felt good, however I had pain later on that evening and next day. Okay so in the midst of all of this I was lucky enough to catch a cold, sinus infection, who knows...don't have any health insurance so I'm just taking OTC meds, garlic/honey, zinc, vit C...all the good stuff! So should I take the rest of this week off to rest my hip and get rid of this cold or suck it up and go along with my scheduled training?????HELP!

robbienjill

I just went to the orthopedic two weeks ago 4 the same symptom. He said I have tendonitis and I must NOT run for 6 weeks. Its a bummer to hear those words. I would suggest talking to your doctor. I have still been running some, but cutting back half what I had been doing. Seems to be getting better, but it still hurts. Hope you get good news!! Good Luck!!

Rest is good BTW. I have the a cold as well!!! Gets us all at once it seems.

neenaleigh

dont do anything for at least a week! just let it heal! you have 5 weeks you will be okay, we are stronger than we think we are! :bigsmile: ! your body will remember! we are fantastic creatures!

TubbyMarathoner

I would suggest that you do NOT stick to your regular training! Many training guides ask you to do WAY more running than you actually need to, leading to overuse injuries, which it sounds like you may have. (If you have some reading time, check out "The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer.") I would also suggest that you take a week (or two) off from running STAT and get yourself to a yoga class!
I finished my first marathon on 5/31/09 and my second on 10/4/09, and was in pretty rough shape the second time around because of all the training involved. The best advice I ever got was if you're too sore/injured to run, either WALK (as quickly as possible - NOT a casual stroll!) the distance you're supposed to be running (which, believe me, feels like it takes forever), or do cross training for the same amount of time that you'd normally be running, and at the same cardio intensity. Also, use ice packs as often as you can, and ibuprofen/stretching are a big help, too.
My goal was to finish - NOT to be fast. If that's also your goal, think about giving your legs some tender loving care for the next couple of weeks while keeping up your cardio, and only running as much as you feel you need to the last few weeks to stay loose, and I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Good luck!!!!!!

RamNemesis

Sorry to hear about the injury, Not too sure what advice to give on revovery but to help prevent it in future is to make sure you do core strength exercises as well. These will help to maintain your posture while running as a loose upper body puts stress on the hips and lower back.

vonalj

Thanks all!