Aches and Pains and Marathons! Oh My!

With the NYC marathon fast approaching, many runners have begun to reduce their mileage and are now on their final stages of tapering.  However, the joys of tapering are often coupled with aches and pains.  But why?  Why do we see more running related injuries 1 to 2 weeks prior to every marathon?  Why don’t we see them at the height of the runners’ training? 

 

Many new conditions arise secondary to a reduction in training volume and intensity.  These conditions often result due to the recovery process and decrease in proprioception.  After long months of training, tapering gives the body an opportunity to heal.  Inflammatory molecules rally during the healing phase to clean and tidy up overused muscles, joints, and bursae, which can cause pain and minor injury.  Before tapering, the body was used to miles of “pounding” and input into the nervous system (proprioception).  The brain received signals from your joints that provided information about your body in space and masked any incoming pain information.  When reducing the distance of your training, remember that you’re also reducing the proprioceptive input, which allows the pain signals to reach your brain. 

 

Now that you ‘know’ your pain, go about implementing a strategy that equates to ‘no’ pain…stretch, ice, maintain the strength of your dynamic hip stabilizers (namely gluteus medius), listen to your body and don’t over do it.  The morning of the race you want to feel rested, ready to run, and above all enjoy the moment.  This is what you’ve trained for.

 

This was sent to me from a colleague (Allison Lind) who is a physical therapist/marathoner herself.