How to pick up my marathon training after 2 weeks of not running?

September 10, 2010 10:39 AM

I'm training for a marathon that is taking place in just over 5 weeks. I haven't been able to run for 2 weeks due to illness and injuries. I took a week off to nurse some hip bursitis and then I came down with a flu like bug. The longest training run I've done so far has been 14 miles, and that was two weeks ago. This weekend, I am supposed to do 18 miles. To you runners out there - what do you think the best way is for me to get back on track and finish the race successfully over the next 5 weeks? My pace is around 11 minutes/mile.
posted by emily37 to health & fitness (9 answers total)

If you assume that you do your last long run two weeks before the marathon, you've got three more weekends in which to do long runs. How did your 14 feel? Are you running totally, or running and walking?

If it were me, I would do 16-19-22 for long runs, and whatever the schedule calls for for short runs. I would take the runs very slowly, and probably add in some walking on a schedule (like 8 minutes running, 2 walking) for the 22 miler and the marathon. This assumes you're fully recovered now. If you don't start, you can't finish, but if you get beyond 16 miles in training you can finish. You can always walk.
posted by OmieWise at 10:46 AM on September 10, 2010

Are you pretty healthy now? If so, I'd do 16-18-20-14-race as your LR.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:46 AM on September 10, 2010

Start off with a week of easy runs . . . ease back into it. Then add mileage weekly gradually as others have suggested for your long runs. It is fine if your longest run before the marathon is 20 miles. Don't forget your taper at the end . . . you really need that.
posted by bearwife at 10:49 AM on September 10, 2010

I trained for the half marathon, not the full, but I think some of the approach is the same:

- I built up my distances by going for slooooow long runs on the weekends. Very slow. The distance is the key, not the speed. Try out run/walking if you haven't yet: I started at 5 min run, 1 min walk. An easy way to do this is to bring a watch and set it for 6 min, and keep track of the time during your walk until it is time to run again.

- I also did some speed work: at a track, I did 800 m (1/2 mile) intervals at a pace 30-60 seconds per mile ahead of what I was aiming for race day, with 400 m walking laps to rest in between. I worked my way up to doing about 8 of those.

- I developed a nagging hip injury with about 5 weeks to go, which made me reevaluate my goal from a time goal to just finishing. But then, even though it sucked for the last 3-4 miles, the race day adrenaline pushed me to finish fairly close to my initial time goal. So even if the distance seems intimidating during the runs, remember that the race is always going to be different.
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 10:50 AM on September 10, 2010

Ok, so 5 weeks to go! First of all, get PUMPED! I'd recommend following a modified Hal Higdon novice schedule.

From here, I'd automatically eliminate one week because you'll need the week beforehand for your taper. I'd do something like this for long runs only:

W5: 14 miles
W4: 16 miles
W3: 18 miles
W2: 20 miles
W1: (Taper) 10-12 miles
MARATHON

On top of that be sure to do 3 short runs during the week, two runs of 4-5 miles and one run of 6-10 miles. I'd probably do something like this:

W5: 4/6/4 then Long run of 14
W4: 4/6/4 then LR of 16
W3: 5/7/5 then LR of 18
W2: 5/10/5 then LR of 20
W1: 3/5/3 then taper LR of 10-12
MARATHON

Run all runs at a very slow pace. At this point you might want to consider just running the marathon to finish and not be concerned about time so as not to prevent further injury. Rest the day before your long run and the day after your long run and on both of those days try to stretch a lot, hydrate and take a significant walk (as in 1-2 miles) on top of other daily activities. On your long runs, take it easy and take walk breaks if needed. The key is to finish the total distance, even if you have to walk some.
posted by floweredfish at 10:58 AM on September 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

From Mrs. Archivist who is an ultramarathoner:

"with just two weeks down, he/she shouldn't experience any serious loss of fitness.
14 miles two weeks ago is not bad as they've built up a good foundation.
As a general rule, for this weekend, I wouldn't recommend doing more than 16 since they've been off their feet, even though they're supposed to be up to 18 (better to do less than get an injury).

From the 16, they can ramp up the mileage the next week, but shouldn't add more than 10 percent of their weekly mileage per week.

That said, since they are just trying to finish the race rather than worry about speed, the long run on the weekend is more important than any other run they do during the week, e.g. easy runs, speed work, hills, tempos. It is possible to do a long run every weekend rather than every other if there is less over-all weekly mileage.

If they want to sacrifice some of the weekly mileage to get the long run longer per week and still follow the 10 percent rule, that should get the
long runs closer to the goal race distance and still keep them safe from injury.

And even though they only have 5 weeks, they should still taper for the last two.
(I'm not a coach or a doc, please remember!)
posted by archivist at 10:59 AM on September 10, 2010

wow, thank you for all the fantastic advice. My hip is feeling a lot better and I'm over the flu, and I am antsy as hell to get back out there! I run with 4 other people, and they are doing 18 this weekend, so I will try to keep up with them. I used to just run, but I've been trying to do run/walk intervals as the distance gets longer so I don't overdo it.

One quick question to you all - between my last weekend LR of 10-12 and the marathon weekend, should I be running at all? A couple 5 milers?
posted by emily37 at 11:26 AM on September 10, 2010

Yes, run whatever you were scheduled for, as long as you're feeling well. Remember ice and rest are good things.

I'm dealing with runner's knee and two halves in the next three weeks, so I feel for you.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:59 AM on September 10, 2010

I just went through the almost exact same thing! Three weeks ago I took 10 days off to deal with shin splints. Before that my longest run was 16 miles. After the time off I started back up with a 14 mile run (and a 50 mile week) and it hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I had to cut down on running the following week because of the heat and bad air conditions, and this past week I did 20 miles, without much of a problem.

My marathon is just over 5 weeks off too (Mount Desert Island), and really appreciate your asking these questions. Good luck with your race!
posted by suki at 12:44 PM on September 10, 2010