Am Petrified of getting injured during Marathon Training

Pisco Sour

I started training for the Rotterdam Marathon at the weekend. Did a LSR at Marathon pace on saturday, 4.5 miles. It felt very unnatural running at such a slow pace. I've never done that before. It felt like I was putting more weight on my body or something. My legs werent really used to that type of running.

I had a day rest and then did another LSR yesterday (I'll only be doing these once a week but wont get another chance to do one for 3 weeks so I thought I'd make use of the bank holiday and do another). Did 5.75 miles at the same pace as the first day. Again it felt a bit weird on the legs.

Today my muscles are feeling quite stiff in places and I've been feeling the odd niggle, tweek and creek in the muscles. I'm probably imagining half of them. But running this marathon is something I really want to do, and the thoughts of getting injuries along the way which could call the whole thing off are a bit of a killer to be honest. Any time I'm running so slowly I'm worried that I'm going to do something to injure myself.

Is this a normal feeling I'm having? Is it just a case of it taking time before my muscles get used to running so slowly?

Any advice would be welcome.

aero2k

My experience may be of some help....
I was also terrified of injury, up to last year. My background is cycling, which I perceived as being much more gentle on the old body than running. In training for last year's marathon I restricted myself to 3 or at most 4 days per week, with a max weekly mileage of about 35.
This year I made a big change, firstly by running every day, though only two of those days were fast or long. I gradually upped the mileage to 60 per week, with no ill effects other than the odd niggle that didn't get worse from running. I do about half my miles on grass/or trails, and other than the twice weekly sessions I don't push myself too hard.
I always feel a bit odd for my first 20-30 mins of running, then everything starts to click into place. I also find a gentle run easier on the body than doing nothing the day after a hard run.
If you feel your current pace is too slow, I'd advise you to run at a pace you feel comfortable at. As your LSRs get longer, the pace should take care of itself....

tunney

Long Easy Runs are a better way to call them.

Pisco Sour

aero2k wrote: »

If you feel your current pace is too slow, I'd advise you to run at a pace you feel comfortable at. As your LSRs get longer, the pace should take care of itself....

The thing is I was running at around 9-9.30 minute a mile pace, which is around 4 hour pace. Considering my Half Marathon best is 1:49 it would appear this pace would be correct for a Marathon. Any faster and I'd be going too fast. It just feels so weird running slow.

tunney

Technique, technique, technique. good Form is the best way of avoiding injury. Ditch any music and focus on what you are doing. My 2c

RacoonQueen

tunney wrote: »

Technique, technique, technique. good Form is the best way of avoiding injury. Ditch any music and focus on what you are doing. My 2c

Really, not a fan of the music are ya? :pac:

There's always a risk of injury when you're training, take it from someone who fecked up two marathons with injury this year, one self inflicted(sort of) and the other unavoidable. No matter how much you look after yourself you're still at risk when you're covering that sort of milage. I believe, statistically, endurance athletes are far less prone to injury than other athletes. All you can do is look after yourself, train properly, recover properly and be careful. LISTEN to your body, it is so much smarter than you are and knows what it needs and wants. Don't worry about what might happen just enjoy your training.

aero2k

RacoonQueen wrote: »

LISTEN to your body, it is so much smarter than you are and knows what it needs and wants.

Words of wisdom indeed.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time when I listen all I hear are creaking and groaning noises which only go away after the first couple of miles of a run!

tunney

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Really, not a fan of the music are ya? :pac:

There's always a risk of injury when you're training, take it from someone who fecked up two marathons with injury this year, one self inflicted(sort of) and the other unavoidable. No matter how much you look after yourself you're still at risk when you're covering that sort of milage. I believe, statistically, endurance athletes are far less prone to injury than other athletes. All you can do is look after yourself, train properly, recover properly and be careful. LISTEN to your body, it is so much smarter than you are and knows what it needs and wants. Don't worry about what might happen just enjoy your training.

It doesn't matter how much physio you get, how great yor runners are, how much you foam roll. If you rock your hips and run with your quads while slouched - you will get injured. Okay its not a quick win, but good technique likely to help your long term running