Sometimes, Injuries Can Lead to a Marathon PR
I was once asked about whether it made sense to ignore the advice of a doctor and run the Boston Marathon despite a serious onset of plantar fascitis or whether it made more sense to just try again another year.
Her training had been going really well, she was just entering her taper, and she really didn't want to quit running a mere week before her marathon.
After all, it's the Boston Marathon! I told her that they'll make another marathon and that she was better off listening to her doctor in this instance.
She had a specific problem that running was going to exacerbate and the best way to get rid of the problem was rest.
She decided to follow my advice and skipped not only the Boston Marathon but also the Vermont City Marathon, which she had considered trying to jump into a month later.
In fact, she took 8 full weeks away from running.
What was the result? A marathon PR at the Philadelphia Marathon the next Autumn! It was the first time she had broken 4 hours and she re-qualified for Boston with 20 minutes to spare! Runners can deal with PF problems for months, and even years.
Running through it is only likely to make it worse and to require a longer recovery.
Instead, she dealt with the problem, then came back stronger then ever.
After 2 months off, she only had 5 months of training in before her next marathon, but she still PR'd by 7 minutes.
She took the first mile a little fast, then settled down to a good pace, and never fluctuated more then 6 seconds each mile after that.
She never felt better during a marathon, and was even able to pick it up for the last half mile passing quite a few runners.
Sometimes we push our bodies so hard and for so long that the best thing that we can do is to just step away for a little while and let some recovery happen, and then to allow ourselves enough time to build our base back up while we train for our next goal event.
I'm glad that it worked out well for her and that she ran such a great time in Philly, and I hope that if you ever get a serious injury that you can also have such great success.
Her training had been going really well, she was just entering her taper, and she really didn't want to quit running a mere week before her marathon.
After all, it's the Boston Marathon! I told her that they'll make another marathon and that she was better off listening to her doctor in this instance.
She had a specific problem that running was going to exacerbate and the best way to get rid of the problem was rest.
She decided to follow my advice and skipped not only the Boston Marathon but also the Vermont City Marathon, which she had considered trying to jump into a month later.
In fact, she took 8 full weeks away from running.
What was the result? A marathon PR at the Philadelphia Marathon the next Autumn! It was the first time she had broken 4 hours and she re-qualified for Boston with 20 minutes to spare! Runners can deal with PF problems for months, and even years.
Running through it is only likely to make it worse and to require a longer recovery.
Instead, she dealt with the problem, then came back stronger then ever.
After 2 months off, she only had 5 months of training in before her next marathon, but she still PR'd by 7 minutes.
She took the first mile a little fast, then settled down to a good pace, and never fluctuated more then 6 seconds each mile after that.
She never felt better during a marathon, and was even able to pick it up for the last half mile passing quite a few runners.
Sometimes we push our bodies so hard and for so long that the best thing that we can do is to just step away for a little while and let some recovery happen, and then to allow ourselves enough time to build our base back up while we train for our next goal event.
I'm glad that it worked out well for her and that she ran such a great time in Philly, and I hope that if you ever get a serious injury that you can also have such great success.
