How to prevent injuries when marathon training

Marathon training can be an incredibly rewarding experience, both physically and mentally. However, it's important to remember that training for a marathon can also put a significant amount of stress on your body, which can increase the risk of injury. As a sports therapist, it's my job to help you stay injury free while you're training and help you enjoy the process. Here are my top tips for reducing risk of injury when prepping:

• 1. Build up your mileage gradually

One of the most common mistakes that runners make when training for a marathon is increasing their mileage too quickly. This puts a lot of stress on the body and can increase the risk of injuries like Patellafemoral syndrome, Achilles tendinopathy, Shin splints, Lower back pain, plantar fasciitis, and IT band syndrome, to name a few.

To avoid this, it's important to build up your mileage gradually over time. Experts recommend increasing your mileage by no more than 10% each week. Following a training program will really help and ensure you take proper rest days in between your runs.

• 2. Invest in the right shoes

Having the right running shoes can make a big difference in preventing injuries. Make sure you invest in a good pair of running shoes that fit well and provide adequate support for your feet. This can help prevent injuries like plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathy, and blisters.

• 3. Add resistance training to your program

Strength & resistance training are an important part of any training regimen, as it helps prevent overuse injuries by working different muscle groups and strengthening tendons and ligaments. Incorporating activities like swimming, cycling, yoga, weights and pilates can really compliment a running program. This can help prevent injuries like runner's knee, hip bursitis, and lower back pain.

• 4. Take rest days

Rest days are just as important as training days, as they give the body time to recover and repair itself. Take at least one or two rest days per week, and listen to your body if you are feeling overly fatigued or sore. Overtraining can lead to injuries like muscle strains, tendinopathies, and stress fractures.

• 5. Stretch and foam roll

Stretching and foam rolling are important parts of any training regimen, as they help prevent muscle imbalances and improve flexibility. That’s why we encourage our clients to stretch before and after their runs, and to use a foam roller to work out any tight spots.

It is also worth considering the type of stretching preformed pre and post running. You want to perform dynamic stretching within your warm up such as; leg swings, high knees, lunges, peddling the calves out. We would also recommend performing activations before you run thats specific to your body, here at Back to Fitness, we will assess you as an individual and give you a unique activation program to help optimise your running, which will not just help minimise your injury risk but help improve your overall running performance.

Cool downs will include longer hold stretching, called static stretching. This is where you hold for a minimum of 20s to allow the muscle fibres to switch off and relax. The areas we would suggest to focus on are glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves, but again having an assessment will allow us to give you a personalised stretching program. We would also encourage foam rolling at least 1-2 times a week, or if you have the time, after each run to keep those muscles relaxed. This can help prevent injuries like hamstring strains, calf strains, and IT band syndrome.

• 6. Proper nutrition & hydration

Adequate calorie intake is crucial when training for a marathon. Your body needs the fuel to keep you going and to recover from those longer runs. Aim for 1-1.2g protein per kg of body weight, carbs pre and post workout to replenish stores and ensure you are drinking water before and after your runs to rehydrate your body.

• 7. Book in maintenance treatments

When preparing for your marathon, it’s always good to factor in treatment. We see a lot of clients overloading towards the end of their prep, leading to injury. This can have a massive impact on your training program by limiting your big runs. In some cases, this may cause the runner to pull out of their marathon or defer a year as they haven’t got enough milage under their belt or can’t settle their pain in time for the big day, which is the last thing we want for our runners as they’ve worked so hard to get where they are.

Here at back to fitness, we will do everything we can to help you prevent those niggles turning into injuries and minimising how much time off you need to take, as we understand sometimes resting completely isn’t the answer. So if you’re prepping for a marathon and you feel overworked or something is niggling, getting it assessed and treated before it worsens and limits your running. By following these tips, you can help prevent injuries and stay healthy throughout your training journey.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us through email, or to book in a treatment with one of our therapists click here.

Happy running,

Your Back to Fitness Team 🏃‍♀️🤍