Injury Prevention 101

Welcome back to Injury Prevention 101, class!  Last time we talked about "What to do When Everything Hurts."  Today we'll talk about "How to Keep Everything from Hurting."

Let's examine Runner K.  She is a first time marathoner with a goal of 4 hours.  She has never worked on speed or pacing before.  During week 5 of marathon training (MT W5) she upped the pace significantly.  She had a 5 mile run at 9:14 pace and another 5 mile run at 9:08 pace.  When it came time for her LSD of 13 miles, she was hurting the entire time and finished with a 10:36 pace.  She was very disappointed.  She also hurt for several days after that.

Now let's look at Runner K during week 7 of marathon training (MT W7.)  Her fastest run was 6 miles at 10:16 pace, but her LSD was 16 miles at 9:48 pace.  She had minimal pain the next day and was able to run 5 miles, with strides, at 9:49 pace two days later.

So what has Runner K learned?  A 9:08 pace is too fast for now.  Her legs aren't conditioned enough for that just yet.  She is also learning the importance of going very easy on easy days.  This might including *GASP* walking part of the time!

With just under 10 weeks until her marathon, I am sure there are more lessons to learn from Runner K!