Marathon training II : Improving form and avoiding injury

It is a delicate and frustrating balance...

The ultimate paradox of running and other endurance training is that as one's form improves, the danger of getting injured increases. Just when everything was going better than ever, I started to feel pain in my hamstrings again, and this week I had to back off from running. On the positive side, it has been a week of unusually nice and warm weather, so I could enjoy hiking and just relaxing in the sun, in addition to strength training and swimming. But the fear that the pain might not go away is extremely disturbing.

It is so typical! As our form improves, we are able to endure more and more training, but as the distance and intensity increase, so does the danger of injuries. Muscles can endure a lot, the lung capacity gets better and better, but the joints and the tendons are fragile, especially the older we are. I mentioned it once in an earlier blog entry, but I want to share it again: the story of Tom Goom, who is a physiotherapist in addition to being an experienced marathoner. It is a textbook example of what NOT to do.

First things first: maybe I focused too much on the negative sides of marathon training last week. There is a lot of satisfaction and feeling of achievement involved with following such a program and seeing the results. When I came back from holidays, it took me about two weeks to get to the speed that should correspond to my training level. I had been running quite a bit slower during the hot summer in Turkey, and coming back to the cool summer of Norway did not give the immediate speed effect that I was expecting. Just three days after coming back, I did my worst 5k race ever. Two weeks after that, I did one of my best 10k races. A week later, I had a 20k tempo run which was considerably faster than my planned marathon pace, and it went all nice and easy. In addition to all this, the real long runs, 30k or more, which felt really painful in the beginning, started to feel much easier and go faster and faster.

So everything was going just perfect. In the first few weeks after coming home and starting to follow the marathon training program more conscientiously, I was often quite exhausted, and could only do four of the five planned running sessions. As my form improved, though, I was able to endure more training, and I started to do all five running sessions of the week. I felt better and better; both form-wise and with respect to how little tired I was.

I have been all the time taking extra caution with respect to injuries, doing my leg strength and HSR training exercises regularly, and taking a lot of dietary supplements to stay healthy and keep strong tendons. I am a bit embarrassed to share the following picture, but this is in fact what I take every morning, hoping that they will keep me away from injuries. I am not sure whether they are of help, but I am pretty convinced that at least they don't hurt.

But in the end, although I've been cautious and listening to my body,  you see that things may still go wrong. Hopefully not terribly wrong... At least there is no acute injury that happened during a run. I had a nice 34 k run last Sunday. I rested on Monday. I had leg strength training Tuesday morning, and a zone 1 15 k run Tuesday evening.  In fact the 15 k was supposed to be 19 k, 13 of which would go in marathon pace, but I felt like taking it easy. So far so good. But Wednesday morning I woke up feeling pain in both upper hamstrings tendons. I was really in doubt about what to do. I had planned to participate in a 10 k race on Thursday, but I canceled it to be on the safe side, and went for an easy hike instead. That turned extremely spectacular and gave me the chance to catch up with friends I had not seen in a while. So there has been no running since Tuesday, which is perhaps a good rest for my legs in any case. Today I hope that I am ready to run again.

Fingers crossed. Only four weeks now...

Marathon training I : Following a program

Come October!

I must admit I am getting a bit fed up with marathon training. Sometimes I wish the race was already in a couple of weeks. I had heard other people mention that it takes quite a bit of sacrifice to train for a marathon but I had not really understood. In the end, my friends and I are all running several times a week, so what is the big fuss about training for a longer distance? Well, it is exactly that: the long distance.

I have very big respect for the 42 km... The respect makes me disciplined about following my training program. Yes, there is actually a program. Although it may sound from my recent posts that my training towards Amsterdam is going somewhat ad hoc, there has been a program all the way since March. On one of his trips to Istanbul, Frank brought me a booklet prepared by Kondis for training towards Oslo marathon. The first part looks quite a lot like this.  As Oslo marathon is in September, while Amsterdam is in October, I started to follow this program one month behind. So in March, I started to look at what the program suggested for February. The suggestions fitted perfectly with what I was already doing at that time. Running three times a week, one medium length, one interval session, and one long run. Of course the length of the runs was very short then compared to now.

The booklet has two types of programs, one for novices (first time marathoners) with running three times a week, and one for experienced runners with running five times a week. As time went, I placed myself in the middle, and kept a schedule of running four times a week. Always one interval, always one long, always one medium run, and then one more run depending on what my friends were doing. As the summer arrived, the lengths of the runs increased, and so did the air temperature and humidity. Even during the summer holidays I managed to keep the training schedule, albeit with much reduced speed.

After coming back to Bergen in August, I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to fit all the things that I wanted to do into my training program. In the end, I converged to eliminating all other bigger competitions and rather focusing more and more on specific marathon training. I have now advanced to the experienced runners' program with running five times a week, if my legs permit. I am still very cautious about injuries, and from time to time I take an extra day of rest if I feel exhausted or I feel pain in an ankle or a hip. Sometimes I have to skip the marathon training intervals and I can join Melkesyre uphill intervals instead, which is a wonderful bonus.

It is a great help to be in a group of several friends who have signed up for Amsterdam marathon. Without that kind of motivation I am not sure that I would be able to keep up. We have now a common program, very similar to my Kondis program, that we are following altogether:
Day 1: 10-14 km run
Day 2: Intervals
Day 3: 10-14 km run
Day 4: Intervals
Day 5: Long run (20-35 km)
I still adjust the rest of my week depending on the length of the long run, because I always need a day of rest both before and after a 30+ km run. I also get the programs of friends from Istanbul training with a coach, and I take ideas from their training. Having a common goal is a great way of keeping in touch from a distance. On the other hand, to spend time with local friends who are not going to Amsterdam, I do some of my moderate runs with them.

The Kondis booklet also recommends strength training at least a couple of times a week. As often as I can, I do my HSR exercises to keep my hamstrings strong and try to stay out of injury. I have also restarted squats with heavy weights. Studies have shown that runners who do this in addition to their running program, become faster than those who only do the same running program. During a long run, after 25 km, shoulders, arms and back start hurting, so I try to focus on these areas also during strength training, in addition to trying to never let my core get weaker.

It all takes a lot of time. All my time outside of work goes to training, and even that is not enough. I constantly feel behind schedule. I should definitely be doing more strength training and more sleeping...

Come October!!!