First Marathon Training Question

Coach,

As  I  began  training  for  my  first marathon and started increasing my mileage I developed some phantom pains that would come up occasionally. I would usually continue running and try to run through it but sometimes  the  pain  wouldn’t  go away. How do I know if I should stop  or  continue running? I  don’t want to lose all of the training I have already done.

Thanks,  

Confused

Dear Confused,

Without knowing the specific pain or the area I can give you a general answer.

When you are marathon training, especially if it is your first one, you are constantly adding stress to your body and there are going to be some rough patches. I always explain to my athletes that there is a difference between discomfort and pain. Discomfort is a normal part of training but pain is not. If the discomfort doesn't alter your stride then you are usually okay to push through, but if you get a sharp or shooting pain that alters your stride or doesn't go away with a few minutes of rest it is your body telling you that something is wrong and you need to stop running.

The human body is an amazing organism that will continue to improve and grow stronger as long as we allow time for the adaptations to take place. For every three weeks of mileage build-up you need to allow a week of rest and recovery where you run lower mileage and lower intensity. By doing this you can usually avoid an injury that might delay or even stop your training.

If it does become necessary to take a few days off don’t despair, you won’t lose any conditioning. When you do start back into your training don’t jump ahead in your schedule to where you would have been, but drop back to your last good workout and begin from there. By using your brains as well as your muscles you should be able to complete your training without injury and experience the 

unbelievable joy of completing your first marathon!!!

See you at the races.......

Coach Will