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Resuming marathon training after injury

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 jdh90 08 Sep 2020

Hi hivemind, seeking the wisdom from those hardened distance runners who have been through the wringer.

I started training for my first marathon mid way through lockdown to give structure to keeping fit. I was following a 16 week plan from runners world.  The old excuse of not having time to train for it had evaporated, needed something to keep me active, liked the idea of running one before my 30th at the end of this month.

I was reaching the last two weeks of the plan when it starts to taper, when I rolled an ankle on a fell run. Self diagnosed a sprain, maybe a class 2 as I thought I felt a tear and quite a bit of pain but wasnt totally incapacitated.  Hobbling for a week, it still twinges if I stretch my foot into that rolled over position.

Ive had three and a bit weeks of rest, feeling like I can get back into it. 6k tester jaunt at easy pace the other night felt totally fine.

My question is, where should I expect to be now weekly mileage wise? From both angles of safely continuing recovery and I've done no real cardio for three weeks.

Is it reasonable that I could be doing the marathon in another three weeks?  This is just a personal achievement thing, no race, do my aspirations seem sensible or should I be adjusting them a little further into the future?

Before the tumble, I did three 20milers inside 3hours (but not pacing or fuelling well and hitting the wall from about 16). I was gunning for 3.45 or faster for the marathon to equal a time my girlfriend did a few years back, and it was almost starting to feel achievable by the last one.

Welcome your thoughts and experiences, thanks.

 wbo2 08 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90: given that being overtrained is a bigger problem than undertraind go for it.  Follow the last three weeks of the schedule, but maybe add a little more in the middle week. 

 PPP 08 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

20 milers under 3 hours with a 3:45 goal sounds like you would have what it takes to get there. 

I personally would want to build up the mileage, feel strong and then race/time trial a marathon. Neither of us are Olympic athletes who need to be ready at a given date and can't shift it. If you want to do a marathon in three weeks, that means that you have a week of running before you would want to taper... after no load previously. 

You didn't mention your previous mileage, but I would say 2-3 weeks to build up to the mileage you've been up to, a week easy, then 4 weeks of higher mileage that peaks towards the end of it and then taper down for 2-3 weeks. 

 Herdwickmatt 09 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

I’d be conservative with mileage, amkle instability can hang round for a while. Make sure you are doing your balance rehab!

 compost 09 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

Have you been doing any rehab on your ankle or just resting it? Ankles are awkward and overextending the ligaments can cause a loss of proprioception so you're more likely to go over on it again.

If you haven't already, do lots of standing one-legged on the injured foot whilst doing other things like cleaning your teeth or making coffee, or standing along a rolled-up towel. This will help the ligaments re-learn where their limits are, reducing the risk of another injury.

In terms of fitness, an enforced rest fora couple of weeks can be a good thing if you were late in the training cycle, when your body is in need of a rest. I'd build back up like the response above, focusing on volume first, then adding quality later.

Enjoy!

Post edited at 09:40
Roadrunner6 09 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

3 weeks off isn't massive.

I'd do loads of strength work and just some tester runs of 12 miles or so and go for it.

Lots of one leg squats type work. Brush the teeth on one leg, wash the pots on one leg.. my students laugh when I'm stood at the front of class balancing on one leg..

OP jdh90 09 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

Thanks folks, appreciate you all taking the time to reply.  Compost has even taught me a new word there. Proprioception.

Checking back at Strava it seems I was doing 40-50km across 3-4 sessions per week for the six weeks prior to injury and 60km the week before that.  I'm a little suprised to see that, I felt like it had been ramping up in distance, not just pace.  I don't think I forgot to record any runs....

For the first couple of days it was just RICE.  Rehab since then has been some toe-alphabets and calf raises which got slowly less painful and more mobile until I was feeling like it was ok to run again.  I've just looked up some more exercises and will be getting the resistance band out and drinking one-legged coffee.

The collective feedback seems to suggests I shouldn't be set back too far in terms of cardio fitness and the rest may have even been beneficial, so the main worry is making sure the ankle is ok.

So I'm wondering if it might be a realistic plan to maybe build back up this week and next and do 26 miles as my long run at the end of week 3, but drop the target time and pace it more like 4-4.5hours.  That way I get the birthday tick, can follow it with an easy week, then possibly start to train for another go at a faster time in the future.  Unless that sounds like too much to soon for the ankle.  Trying to gauge how conservative is conservative...

Also, I plan sticking to the road until I've done more rehab to build strength.
Thanks again.

 dread-i 09 Sep 2020
In reply to jdh90:

>.. and next and do 26 miles as my long run at the end of week 3,

I'd say that would do more harm than good. Perhaps wk3 20, wk2 10, wk1 5, but even that might be a bit steep. Also if you've run 26 miles, you've run a marathon (more or less). The only thing left to do is to see if your run in 3 weeks is faster. Better to keep a little excitement and see if you can do it on the day.

>Also, I plan sticking to the road until I've done more rehab to build strength.

If you run off road for some of your runs, I'll will help build strength. Your foot will hit the road the same way each time. Certain muscles will get hammered, others less so. On a trail, your foot is hitting he ground different ways, your stride length changes frequently, you jump puddles etc. More muscles involved, more strength gains.

 Herdwickmatt 09 Sep 2020
In reply to dread-i:

Also 26miles on the road is long and quite sustained. If you are just in it for the experience I’d aim to run on gentle trails and enjoy it rather than taking a battering in the road for no reason other than a ticklist (but maybe that’s me and each to their own!)


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