Marathon tips from a physio
It’s that time of year again when we start to focus on the events for the coming year. The big events such as London and Manchester marathons seem a long way off but I can guarantee the time will fly past. Your training should be well under way now as we are just over 11 weeks away from VLM. You may be an experienced runner, someone doing their first ever marathon or just picked up a late place for charity. What ever your reasons and what ever your goals are for the day your risk of picking up an injury over the next 11 weeks is high. Unfortunately research shows that if you are a new runner you are much more likely to pick up a running related injury. Do not panic though. There is plenty you can do to keep your self on track for the next few months. These are my top tips for avoiding injury over the next few months.
1- Give your body time to adapt– if you are looking to build up your running to marathon distance, for most people this is a big jump in both distance and training. The average marathon time for a woman is 4 hours 48 and for a man its 4 hours 30 so this is a long time on your feet. Running is high impact and causes trauma that your body has to recover from. It can take around 4- 6 weeks for adaptations to soft tissue to occur. This means your ligaments, tendons, fascia start to adapt to the stresses that running puts them under. Keeping your sessions regular is vital to achieve those changes. Running 3 times a week with a mix of distance and pace will build resilience in the soft tissue. Get this good solid block of 6 weeks under your belt before you start to increase the mileage.
2- Don’t over eat– now we are all different but as a very loose rule of thumb, running for 60 mins burns about 100 calories per mile. This will of course depend on your size, pace and gender. So for the average female runner 60 mins will get them around 5- 6 miles. This means you’ll burn around 500- 600 calories. A bagel with cheese on will probably replace around 400 of those, add a coffee and you’ll be replacing between 150 and 200. The average woman burns roughly 2500 calories per day by just being alive. So just because you are running more doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want. My advice is to find a good nutritionist and work with them for a few months to get good habits in place early on. Its more important when you eat so you are well fueled for your longer runs and that you are giving your body the right nutrients to aid recovery. Switching to foods high in protein is also a good choice as protein is the building blocks for the body and you need this to aid recovery.
3- Add in your S&C- need I say anything!!!!! Research has shown that adding in 2 sessions of strength based exercises sessions with weights can reduce your risk of picking up an injury!!! Why?? Because it strengthens your body to absorb the forces transmitted through it when running. It can improve performance even if you don’t add any more miles to your training. Start now and make it part of your marathon training programme. I can help you put together a very simple S&C programme and there will be videos coming on my Youtube Channel so keep a look out for theses
4- Get good quality sleep– When you’re asleep, specifically in the “deep sleep” phase, your body releases growth hormone, which starts repairing damage. This damage could be from injury. But normal exercise also causes your muscles to break down slightly, which is thought to be a contributing cause of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) . The deep sleep phase creates the best environment for your body to break down and rebuild damaged muscle cells. This repair process is what actually leads to muscle growth and the way physical fitness improves over time. Try to get into a good routine before bed to allow your mind to unwind. Aim for 7-9 hours each night and there’s certainly nothing wrong with an afternoon nap if you are lucky enough to be able to squeeze one in
5- Know when to rest, stop, run through it– this can be really tricky to navigate. Some pain during and after running is normal, pain that makes you stop running or increases as you run isnt so good. I say to my patient that pain more than 4/10 during a run is a sign to stop that run. The pain should really settle over 24 hours. For more advice on this check out my you tube channel
6- Learn to run well!– running is a skill. We develop it as children and often we lose this skill as we move through our very sedentary lifestyles. TV, desk working, driving all require very little motion and this means our muscles can become deconditioned. Many people take take up running without any guidance or training on the basics of running. Gait analysis can be a vital part of learning run nd can help reduce your risk of injury. Through February and March Gait Analysis in the clinic is at a special offer of £90.
6- Use your tools wisely!! Are you the proud owner of an all singing all dancing massage tool? Maybe you have one but dont really know how to use it. There are many products on the market to aid recovery. If you dont know how to use yours then I can help educate and demonstrate so you are getting the best out of it. Massage tools wont fix you but they can be useful for recovery and self care. Get some tips on my Youtube channel.
So there you go, some very simple tips for you. The other biggie is to not ignore niggles. Come and see me so we can check them out and adapt your running/training to allow you to continue to train around them. 11 weeks really isn’t long so please….look after yourself.
For more info on the above topics please check out my Youtube Channel
If you want to book in for an MOT please get in touch