marathon training
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RhiAndy11
Posts: 72 Member
Helloooo
I am running a marathon at the end of this month amd starting to feel a tad concerned. The problem i have is pain!
Around 10 miles in my legs/hips/knees/ankles are in pain. i dont feel physically tired/out of breath. i feel like i have the energy to keep going and going if only the pain would go away. Basically my legs wont let me ha. Anyone had this issue and dealt with it? im wondering if i should take over the counter pain killers couple of hours before the race and then 10 miles in? anyone done this with success?
Thanks in advance.
Rhi :-)
I am running a marathon at the end of this month amd starting to feel a tad concerned. The problem i have is pain!
Around 10 miles in my legs/hips/knees/ankles are in pain. i dont feel physically tired/out of breath. i feel like i have the energy to keep going and going if only the pain would go away. Basically my legs wont let me ha. Anyone had this issue and dealt with it? im wondering if i should take over the counter pain killers couple of hours before the race and then 10 miles in? anyone done this with success?
Thanks in advance.
Rhi :-)
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Replies
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p.s. i have run further than 16 miles pushing through the pain but need to do that 26miles!0
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See a physio?
Pain in all those places doesn't sound good a month out... how many miles are you running per week?3 -
You must be very careful about taking painkillers whilst running & immediately afterwards. It can cause kidney damage and is often explained in the pre-race briefing pack. Please google and research yourself but here’s one article to get you started: http://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/marathon-training/4467/should-you-take-painkillers-during-an-endurance-race
I would echo the advice to see a Physio ASAP, you can take caffeine in you gels/drinks or as tablets which might help you push on & mask the pain but pain is your body’s warning and you don’t want to do long term damage to yourself by ignoring it. I’m not sure anyone gets through a marathon without a degree of pain but you need to recognise if it’s just tired muscles or if you have a problem.
Calf guards are good if you don’t already use them, I recommend them. You might want to try compression tights too.
You could try following a regimental routine of strength and injury prevention exercises but it may be too little too late. Won’t do any harm though so long as you do them with correct form. Check out YouTube for some routines.
Where exactly are you feeling the pain? Does it change with whether you run fast or slow, up hill or downhill or flat? Is it just painful when you run or have you got pain the next few days too?0 -
ooo that article is a tad scary. Thank you! il skip on the pain meds then eek.
it mostly hurts when running down hill. If i do 6 miles i dont feel it at all and nothing in between but once i reach 9 miles the pain starts to niggle. totally bearable though until i get past half marathon....then its a struggle. it starts in my knee and feels lile it runs up and down my leg. i spoke briefly to a physio about it and my IT band was mentioned. So i think it is tired muscles?
The problem i have is i live in a very hilly town i think?! so pounding the floor on the way down is maybe too much for my knees? not sure.
Looks as though im just gona have to turn up at the marathon and hope for the best at this point oops!0 -
ooo that article is a tad scary. Thank you! il skip on the pain meds then eek.
it mostly hurts when running down hill. If i do 6 miles i dont feel it at all and nothing in between but once i reach 9 miles the pain starts to niggle. totally bearable though until i get past half marathon....then its a struggle. it starts in my knee and feels lile it runs up and down my leg. i spoke briefly to a physio about it and my IT band was mentioned. So i think it is tired muscles?
The problem i have is i live in a very hilly town i think?! so pounding the floor on the way down is maybe too much for my knees? not sure.
Looks as though im just gona have to turn up at the marathon and hope for the best at this point oops!
What's your training plan been like? Tired muscles at 13 miles will not make a fun race4 -
well im doing a long run once a week. 13+ miles and 2 shorter ones. 3-6 miles. the shorter ones are occasionally on the treadmill weather dependent. I havnt quite made 17 miles yet though. some of that is possibly motivation. i like a 10 mile run....more than that feels like a chore. i definitely only plan to run the one marathon ha. Im just going to have to get through the next 4 weeks i think. I was hoping painkillers would help but 100% put off that idea. so glad i asked!0
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At this point personally, I'd do a half and call it a day.9
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cwolfman13 wrote: »At this point personally, I'd do a half and call it a day.
yehhh as much as that thought has crossed my mind....i signed up to a marathon and i dont have it in me to quit...even if that means walking over the finish line. i can say i tried. i have my half marathon medal (2h3m) now i want to try for a full. call me crazy1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »At this point personally, I'd do a half and call it a day.
yehhh as much as that thought has crossed my mind....i signed up to a marathon and i dont have it in me to quit...even if that means walking over the finish line. i can say i tried. i have my half marathon medal (2h3m) now i want to try for a full. call me crazy
IDK...I don't really think of it as quitting when you're talking about pain and injury. I had a similar mindset when I was training for a sprint tri...I should have bailed or done it relay style because I ended up pushing through on my training and injuring myself a week or two before the event and not being able to do it anyway and then sidelined for 3-4 months recovering.
Just be careful with that stuff.
ETA: I also had to bail on a full century ride due to a training injury (actually a crash that resulted in two sprained rotator cuffs)...this was well after my experience with the sprint tri so I just did the smart thing and opted for the 1/2 as my training volume was already there but I was going to have to take some time off to heal my rotator cuffs...I knew that by the time I could get back on my bike full time that I wouldn't have time to get the miles in for the full so I opted for the 1/2 with the idea that I'd do a full another day.
I'm not a runner, but I'd also question your current mileage with only a month left. My wife is a runner and I don't know exactly what her mileage is when she's marathon training, but I know it's a lot and she's running usually 5 days per week.
She did a 1/2 marathon last October in Portugal and she got a little lax in her training and ended up being ambulanced to the hospital which terrified me because I had expected to hear from her hours before I finally did.
IDK...sometimes I think you just have to be smart.5 -
well im doing a long run once a week. 13+ miles and 2 shorter ones. 3-6 miles. the shorter ones are occasionally on the treadmill weather dependent. I havnt quite made 17 miles yet though. some of that is possibly motivation. i like a 10 mile run....more than that feels like a chore. i definitely only plan to run the one marathon ha. Im just going to have to get through the next 4 weeks i think. I was hoping painkillers would help but 100% put off that idea. so glad i asked!
That's not enough mileage.
For a half you can train on 3 runs a week (I do!). For a full it's not enough mileage during the week to manage the 13 plus miles at the weekend, as you're finding out.
Sorry, I don't have any useful suggestions at this point other than agreeing that doing a half would be better and then train better next time for a full.7 -
Yeh i see your point. il do my best!0
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TavistockToad wrote: »well im doing a long run once a week. 13+ miles and 2 shorter ones. 3-6 miles. the shorter ones are occasionally on the treadmill weather dependent. I havnt quite made 17 miles yet though. some of that is possibly motivation. i like a 10 mile run....more than that feels like a chore. i definitely only plan to run the one marathon ha. Im just going to have to get through the next 4 weeks i think. I was hoping painkillers would help but 100% put off that idea. so glad i asked!
That's not enough mileage.
For a half you can train on 3 runs a week (I do!). For a full it's not enough mileage during the week to manage the 13 plus miles at the weekend, as you're finding out.
Sorry, I don't have any useful suggestions at this point other than agreeing that doing a half would be better and then train better next time for a full.
unfortunately child care is an issue! plus the fact that im a bit of a fair weather runner ha. Thanks for the replies guys. il just do what I can. my stubborness will get me over the finish line im sure
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as a person who has run a couple marathons significantly undertraining, but not injured - i don't recommend pushing yourself for the end of the month...if you could drop down the half, make that mid-point of your training and then start a building into a marathon a couple months from now - will give you time to work through any injuries/strength deficincies
for comparision - when I am solely marathon training - i'm running 4-5 days a week, if its triathlon training (half iron, or ironman) then its 2-3 days with swimming, cycling included...3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »well im doing a long run once a week. 13+ miles and 2 shorter ones. 3-6 miles. the shorter ones are occasionally on the treadmill weather dependent. I havnt quite made 17 miles yet though. some of that is possibly motivation. i like a 10 mile run....more than that feels like a chore. i definitely only plan to run the one marathon ha. Im just going to have to get through the next 4 weeks i think. I was hoping painkillers would help but 100% put off that idea. so glad i asked!
That's not enough mileage.
For a half you can train on 3 runs a week (I do!). For a full it's not enough mileage during the week to manage the 13 plus miles at the weekend, as you're finding out.
Sorry, I don't have any useful suggestions at this point other than agreeing that doing a half would be better and then train better next time for a full.
unfortunately child care is an issue! plus the fact that im a bit of a fair weather runner ha. Thanks for the replies guys. il just do what I can. my stubborness will get me over the finish line im sure
Yep, and it will get you injured too. Seriously, your mileage is nowhere near high enough. Is there a half you could do instead?7 -
You really are seriously undertrained for a marathon. A marathon is a lot more than twice as hard as a half. There's a reason they say to "Respect the distance." Even when properly trained, a marathon is difficult and painful. You might be able to finish, but you'll hate it and will never want to do it again. Why not wait until you can train properly so you enjoy the race and can finish with a smile and some sense of pride at having done your best? If you don't enjoy running long on your training runs, you really won't enjoy it when your body is screaming at you the last 10 miles of the race.
FWIW, I have a marathon in two weeks. In this training cycle I've done 9 runs of 16-21 miles. I know that even with decent training, it's going to be hard at the end. That's the nature of marathons.
Does your race have a time limit? Many won't count you as a finisher if it takes you more than 6 hours to finish.6 -
Look, there are two types of marathoners: runners who train for it and plan to continue hitting running goals, and people who see covering 42.2km in any way/time as a once in a lifetime achievement as long as they get a medal. Obviously you fall into the second category, OP, so I'm not gonna tell you to drop out and train properly more for a later race. What I am going to say is prepare for hours of agony, and possible injury putting you out of action for weeks. Like, not able to walk out of action.
Your undertrained, your already injured or close to it judging by your pain when running, this is not going to end well. I run marathons on the reg and train heaps and finish near the front and it's still a goddamn challenge to keep going. You really need to look at the cut off time and consider walking a decent amount of it (which I personally never understand as how is that running a marathon but somehow it's a thing a lot of people do). Looking after kids when you can barely walk, and can't get up and down from the floor, is pretty nightmarish too.8 -
You've gotten a lot of good advice. I'll just add that my husband ignored a developing IT band problem and just spent the better part of a year in recovery-- he is a 10k and half marathon guy (no desire to go further) but he's just getting back up to half distance without feeling tortured.0
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Last year, my cousin (who has completed a couple of marathons) ignored a persistent knee pain while running. One day it just gave out and popped. She is now spending the next 12-18 months in recovery after having had two knee surgeries, followed by having new cartilage grown, and another surgery. If childcare is an issue, trust me, you don’t want to be laid up like she was for twelve weeks not being able to walk. My advice? Do not push yourself or think that sheer stubbornness can get you through. Save the stubbornness for your race when you’ve done the mileage—you’ll surely need it then too.2
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Thanks for the advice everybody 0
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TavistockToad wrote: »well im doing a long run once a week. 13+ miles and 2 shorter ones. 3-6 miles. the shorter ones are occasionally on the treadmill weather dependent. I havnt quite made 17 miles yet though. some of that is possibly motivation. i like a 10 mile run....more than that feels like a chore. i definitely only plan to run the one marathon ha. Im just going to have to get through the next 4 weeks i think. I was hoping painkillers would help but 100% put off that idea. so glad i asked!
That's not enough mileage.
For a half you can train on 3 runs a week (I do!). For a full it's not enough mileage during the week to manage the 13 plus miles at the weekend, as you're finding out.
Sorry, I don't have any useful suggestions at this point other than agreeing that doing a half would be better and then train better next time for a full.
unfortunately child care is an issue! plus the fact that im a bit of a fair weather runner ha. Thanks for the replies guys. il just do what I can. my stubborness will get me over the finish line im sure
I've only done ten marathons, but I wouldn't even do a half on that mileage, particularly carrying an injury.1
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