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training gone to pot due to injury, can I still manage to run a marathon?
I am supposed to be running the Kielder marathon on 6 Oct (my first marathon) I have not been able to run for 4 weeks due to injury but this week I have managed a few short runs - Have I still got time to train or am I just kidding myself?
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I guess it depends how far along you got, and whether you can put in a couple more long runs in the next week or two. I am doing Kielder too (also my first) and am told it's not for the faint hearted, so if you are in two minds it might be better to defer and enjoy a different one/next year rather than struggling round being really miserable.
One option is to make your mind up to walk a certain amount - say a minute in every ten or something, and do this from the beginning to stop yourself getting completely burnt out. If you haven't got up above 15 miles even before you took the time out, I think I'd abandon the idea, and go for something a bit easier!
Thanks for your advice. I know Kielder will be a tough one. My last long run before I was injured was 15 miles and I really enjoyed it but went downhill after that!
I'm putting pressure on myself as I have potentially a lot of sponsor money pending if I complete it.
Good luck in your training and your first marathon.
from experience don't do it. I missed about 5-6 weeks of mara training , part of a 15 week plan (sort of), got what I thought were my long runs in, came up well short and on race day. All the best though.
How much training had you done, and for how long.
If you've lost 4 weeks out of a 14 week programme, and you started from a low base, then you're going to struggle. But if you've been doing above 20 miles a week for 3 months, then I think you can pick it up. Make sure you adjust your target time a bit. And don't rush to make up the miles... or you'll injure yourself again.
You would be far better now to spend most of your time building up to long slow runs, than use time on tempo runs etc. You're not going to be absolutely optimum, but you'll get more value from those LSRs, and no reason why 4 weeks should totally destroy your performance. Good luck
Of coure, you age, weight etc has an influence too.
thanks for advice it's good to hear other people's opinions which come from different experiences.
i was on week 9 of 16 week programme and running over 30 miles a week. I'm going to try a long slow rum tomorrow and I think you're right Runny Knows I need to concentrate on th LSR.
I didn't have a target time in mind - just to finish!
the next few weeks will help make my mind up!
Even a long slow run instead of rum! Lol
If you really want to do it for the sponsorship, then yes, get in a few LSRs, but probably best to accept you're going to need a run-walk strategy and plan accordingly, rather than run 16 miles then walk 10...