Tapering with an injury -- half marathon

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eep223
eep223 Posts: 624 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys. Looking for some opinions here. My first half marathon is in a couple weeks and over all I'm feeling pretty prepared for it. I've been running for a couple years, and have been training specifically for this race for about four months. I've stuck to a training plan and had no trouble meeting distance goals. My longest run in the cycle was 10.5 miles, which I completed last weekend, and overall I'm running right around 20 miles a week.

My original plan was to only slightly cut down on my miles in the final week before the race (continuing to follow the training plan that I've been following). However. I have had some niggling lower leg pain over the last couple of weeks. It hasn't caused me to completely miss out on any runs, but it has definitely slowed me down. After a couple of very painful runs, I tried a few solutions. I've been stretching more and foam rolling, I've replaced my shoes, I bought compression sleeves, I've been doing ice baths, etc. etc. etc., and things have gotten much better. If I didn't have a race looming, I'd probably take a little break and ease back in with some lower mileage. However, I don't have the luxury of time right now.

I was pleasantly surprised how good I felt throughout my last long run. The following day I did not feel so great, though. The tenderness has flared up in my leg and I've been really sore. Not wanting to push the training any harder, I've decided to declare myself officially on a taper. I know I have the fitness to get me through the race at this point, but I want to get there with my legs feeling good. After the race, I can have all the time in the world to rest and cut down on my mileage. As long as I can run [i.e. no stress fracture], I'd like to run this race that I have trained so hard for.

My question is, what is the best way to handle this? I know that ideally I should cut back a bit on my distance, but continue my workouts and keep up the intensity when I do run. I'm wondering, though, if in this instance it would be better for me to take the two weeks off entirely and give my overworked legs a real rest. Will I be less likely to injure myself during the race with two solid weeks of rest, or with a couple of shorter runs sprinkled in? Thoughts?

Replies

  • CoachB6
    CoachB6 Posts: 35 Member
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    I've had this happen before too. I'm not qualified to give medical advice but if you've trained that long and are comfortable with long runs, you should seriously be fine. You may not PR but you'll finish without issue (other than some soreness after). I would still walk to keep up muscle tone so you don't risk further injury (the weaker my quads are the more my knees hurt after). Hope this makes sense....
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
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    The fitness is in the bank. Rest your leg. Bike, elliptical, pool run if you want and it doesn't hurt--something very low impact.

    I was in a similar position before my marathon in October. I thought it would be better to run once per week during taper. I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

    Good luck in your race! I have a trail half coming up on the 31st. :)
  • richjones1968
    richjones1968 Posts: 25
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    Best to cut right back until the race - if you`ve done all the training up to now a couple of weeks rest shouldn`t make too much difference but a full injury might mean you don't make the start line. Try to do other training - swimming or cycling or even light weights - but don`t push too hard in a new way. Do a couple of easy runs to check the pain is dissipating and keep the foam roller massage, ice etc. going
    - Good luck for the big day.
  • bos10fit
    bos10fit Posts: 80 Member
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    You should be tampering anyway. In a full marathon, your longest run should be 20 miles 4 weeks before the race. Same with a half. You should reach 11 and tamper 3-4 weeks out. You will be fine.

    This is coming from a half marathon and full marathon I have completed. The half marathon I was an idiot and didn't do a single run 3 months before haha due to an injury and my foot and still completed it just slow at 2:34.
  • eep223
    eep223 Posts: 624 Member
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    Thanks, folks! The good news is that this is my first half marathon, so any finish at all will be a PR! I think I might go out for one run next weekend to see how it's feeling, and otherwise focus on resting with some mild cross training thrown in. I appreciate the advice. I feel like I'm supposed to be running, but you are all right; the smartest thing is probably to lay off!
  • eep223
    eep223 Posts: 624 Member
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    Update: I successfully completed the race, but it wasn't pretty. The good news is that my injury didn't flare up at all and I was able to complete my race in my goal time. The bad news is that I started having shooting pains in the knee of my opposite leg around mile 10 and ended up walking quite a bit of the last three miles. I could barely walk the rest of the day and over all felt rather unprepared for the race. I think my lack of running for the last two weeks likely contributed to my poor finish, but then again maybe it was the same training issues that caused to my initial injury. Who knows. I wish I could have ended feeling stronger, but at least I finished! I'm already thinking about what I need to do to train better for next time. More strength training is top of my list for sure!
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    eep223 wrote: »
    Update: I successfully completed the race, but it wasn't pretty. The good news is that my injury didn't flare up at all and I was able to complete my race in my goal time. The bad news is that I started having shooting pains in the knee of my opposite leg around mile 10 and ended up walking quite a bit of the last three miles. I could barely walk the rest of the day and over all felt rather unprepared for the race. I think my lack of running for the last two weeks likely contributed to my poor finish, but then again maybe it was the same training issues that caused to my initial injury. Who knows. I wish I could have ended feeling stronger, but at least I finished! I'm already thinking about what I need to do to train better for next time. More strength training is top of my list for sure!

    Glad you were able to finish. Take a break and let those legs heal up and hopefully you can get back in there before too long.

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