5 weeks out from my first full marathon, it’s time for some last minute planning and summarizing how things are going. With a goal pace of 3 hours 15 minutes for the run, the pace is going to be as much of a problem as the distance. Slowly bringing my distance up over the last 7 weeks has been reasonably successful with my longest run now sitting at 32km with an aim to increase that over the next 3 weeks to around 37-38km. Relying on the race day nerves and adrenaline to take me over the line to the full 42.2km.
The next 5 weeks will be split into 3 weeks of training where the distance and speed will continue to increase and then 2 weeks of tapering which will be decreasing the load through my legs to feel nice and fresh and ready on the day of the race. My training schedule is currently around 50km per week with the majority of that being done through the weekend long run and 3 shorter runs throughout the week. Another major factor for marathon training is injury prevention, unfortunately around 90% of people training for a marathon get injured during their training. Fortunately as a Podiatrist at TFC Podiatry, understanding and trying to prevent these injuries through a consistent rehab plan has so far kept anything more than a little bit of delayed onset muscle soreness away.
When it comes to developing a rehab plan, a full assessment should be performed to ensure that you work on the right movements and structures. This has been true for myself as I know that I tend to get very fatigued through my hip abductors during runs. Doing some good quality activation work around these structures has been very beneficial and my glutes are staying strong for a longer part of the run, which will hopefully keep any nasty compensation patterns away.
If you’re planning on running and want to avoid or treat injuries you can book online here
