And there we have it folks. 5 weeks out from my marathon and I ended up with an injury. Runner's knee otherwise known as ITBS (IT Band Syndrome). Like most runners, I asked myself "what did I do right, what did I do wrong"? Through my mental assessment (and complete self-honesty), I discovered interesting things about marathon training. Things no one ever told me. Or maybe they did tell me and I just missed the memo.
I'm not one of those people who has a specific training plan for races less than 13.1 miles. My typical long run day (when I'm not marathon training) is 10 to 11 miles anyway. So when it came to marathon training I figured it was a matter of adding distance, being consistent and learning about fueling. Well that was wrong. There is so much more that goes into it, things I never realized...until now. The list of things that I did right and wrong is long. But here are a few key things that I wanted to share with you.
THE GOOD:
As soon as I was done reading my marathon training book, I made a training schedule for myself. Using an online calendar, I pre-planned all of my workouts including distance, pace and rest days. The calendar worked out well for me because I never had to guess at what I should be doing on any given day. Plus I never blew off a training run because the calendar would make me feel guilty. So I stuck with my plan until the runners knee or ITBS happened. And btw, runners knee can be extremely painful!
I built my distance up in small, 10% increments each week. Also, a slow run day meant running 60-90 seconds slower than my anticipated marathon pace. Over the last few months I have felt my aerobic system and breathing improve greatly. I credit this to slow run days. And a slow run day doesn't mean its an easy run day.
I added in speed workouts. Not every run day is meant to be slow and this was the first time that I have ever added speed workouts into my training plan. While I hated every single speed session that I had to do (actually I dreaded them), I did get the greatest sense of accomplishment after completing each one.
I did a "marathon pacing" run each week and LOVED marathon pacing days. This is where you do a slow warm up run, then you run holding your marathon pace for a certain amount of time, and end with a cool down run. Each week the warm up run gets shorter and you hold the marathon pace for longer. It became my favorite workout every time.
I concentrated on my daily nutrition by adding a lot more fruits, veggies and lean protein into my diet. I cut a lot of sugar and refined carbs out of my diet. Smartest thing I ever did was cut refined carbs and sugar down.
On long run days I practiced specific fueling strategies during my run. Eventually I dialed in on a fueling plan that works for me. 45 minutes into the run 1 GU followed by water. Every 30 minutes I consume 1 GU or Sports Beans and follow up with a mouthful of water. In between, I take a drink of Gatorade. I try not to overdrink so that its not sloshing around in my tummy.
Out of my 6 day training schedule, 4 days were specific run days and 2 were cross training days (bike and swim). I honestly believe I would have ended up injured sooner and/or worse had I done 6 days of running with no cross training. Cross training was good for me.
THE BAD:
There are 2 big mistakes that I made. My first big mistake was the number of weeks that I trained for this marathon. You see, when I read my marathon training book there was a 16 week training plan that I wanted to follow. I counted back from the marathon date and realized that I was 8 weeks away from the marathon. I decided to start the training program in the middle, or at week 8. What I DIDN'T account for was the number of weeks that I had ALREADY been training for. Technically, when I started the training plan I was at week 13 but instead I started it at week 8. So when all is said and done, I'll have trained 21 weeks for this marathon when I should have trained for 16 weeks. I also realized that at week 16 I felt fabulous and ready for the marathon. Week 18 was when I became injured. So long story short, I overtrained for the marathon by training for too many weeks.
The second big mistake was not strengthening and stretching my hip flexors and gluteus muscles. Last year, I injured my right side training for the Disney World Marathon. My injury stemmed from weak hip flexors and gluteus muscles. You would have thought I would know better, but I was idiot. It never occurred to me to specifically stretch and strengthen my hips and glutes. I figured all off my swimming, biking and running automatically stretched and strengthened those areas, when it did not! This was a huge mistake on my part.
I have since discovered that all of my injuries; SI joint problems, ITBS (IT Band Syndrome, ie runners knee), ankle pain, piriformis syndrome, etc., ALL STEM FROM WEAK HIP FLEXORS AND GLUETUS MUSCLES! I don't care what anyone tells you! If you have an injury from the waist down, odds are its from weak and overly tight hip flexors and glutes. Once you add serious distance on with weak, tight hip flexor and glutes...it isn't a question of IF you'll become injured, but WHEN! Trust me on this one and learn from my mistake.
I typically see my chiropractor on a monthly basis for maintenance. When I started training for the marathon I should have started seeing him every 2 weeks. When I was 8 weeks out from the marathon, I should have started seeing him on a weekly basis. He's the best at assessing whether my leg length is off or if my SI joint is off or if I have a tight Psoas muscle. So the next time I train for a longer distance endurance race, I will make my chiropractor a key factor in my training plan.
I will probably consider doing a 5 day training plan next time as opposed to a 6 day training plan. I think 6 days is too much for me.
LESSONS LEARNED:
Every time you embark on a new adventure or a new distance, it's all a learning curve. As long as you learn from it, you've gained a lot. And to be honest, I don't think anyone ever perfects it. You just make it as good as possible for yourself. But here's one last closing note; If you feel pain during your training routine, stop immediately and re-assess your situation. The smartest thing I did was to immediately stop running when I felt the runners knee come on and take a week off from training. The thought of not being able to make it to the start line was a very big reality check for me. So happy running, happy thoughts, stretch and strengthen your hips and glutes. We'll see what happens at the marathon. It's almost go time
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