connemara connundrum

SUNGOD

hello all, firstly this is not a injury advice thread
ok first some background ive been following the hal higdon intermediate 2 marathon programme for the connemarathon and have completed all the long runs and was just starting my 3 week taper down when i got injured (i know perfect timing) the injury is slowly healing and im in two minds wether to wait till it feels ok before running or chancing a run this week, if i wait it may mean going to connemara not having run in nearly 3 weeks or i could chance it and possibly aggrevate it and miss out completely on connemara
i suppose my question is has anyone gone to a marathon not having ran or only cross trained in the weeks before it?

harrier

Stick to the cross-training for your real work-outs. Maybe a small bit of running to get the legs moving, but try to let them recover as much as possible before race day so focus all your hard efforts on the bike/ pool/ gym. My first marathon was after an injury-plagued lead in where I relied heavily on cross training. I reset race goals too - slow first half, stopped to stretch out the sore points at halfway for a couple of minutes then ran faster for the second half. An 8min negative split (3:36 finish) meant passing people for the whole second half of the race which kept the mind off the sore leg.

911sc

Same dilema for me... I have hardly run for the past 3weeks as i picked up an injury weeks ago and recovery process is slow.
I have done only few 13miles and 2*20miles run for my long run:(
I am worried about doing more harm by trying to stick to my training schedule rather taking a break before Connemara.
It is only few days that my leg seems back to normal with not constant discomfort pain.

I have substituted running with cross-training and swimming to maintain level of fitness. I may go a couple of 5k/10k runs before the 6th, but that's it..

I believe that this break is not going to make me go any slower or any faster.
(my estimate time is around 4h10min/4h20min for the 26.2miles)
My goal post has changed for the Connemarathon.... i will be happy with a finish on my 2 legs regardless of the time (well, no runner forget about the time, but that's a secret).
I'll keep the sub-4hours challenge for the Dublin Marathon!!!

Enjoy the race.

SUNGOD

thanks harrier and 911sc
thats what i wanted to hear ,that its not ideal but can be done with little running directly before the marathon. like i said its only my taper which is affected so everything should be ok .i may have to adjust my forecasted finishing time but then again you never know till the day, as it is my first marathon my estimated finishing time could have been way off even if i did'nt get injured .
so really just as long as i make it the start reasonably fit and healthy and i can both enjoy the marathon and give it my best shot what more can i ask for
best of luck to anyone else going to connenara

hunnymonster

SUNGOD wrote: »

i suppose my question is has anyone gone to a marathon not having ran or only cross trained in the weeks before it?

I had some surgery at the end of March 2006 and was told no exercise at all for a month afterwards (not even swimming!) My first run after this was the Boston marathon and I was fine if a little stiff afterwards. I would err on the side of taking it easy before race day if Connemara is a major goal for you this year. Sure, you might hurt afterwards but you'll be able to do it.*




* The sensible advice would be to tell you there are other races and you should fully recover before attempting anything, but I'm not very sensible!

raemie21

yeah, similar boat here. Got a groin strain after scheduled second last long run and have been really poor since then. Supposed to be at Paris next Sunday but it's not going to be great. Physio advised cross training/swimming the usual and have stuck to that for the past two weeks. But essentially yeah I'll be lining up next Sunday without running for three weeks - just hope for the best It's my first marathon and at the moment, I'm just desperate for the strain to go away or be bearable, just for the 4-4.5 hours or so. I don't care about general low energy, tiredness, all other struggles for a marathon - my biggest thing is the pain and if that's ok on the day, then I genuinely believe and tell myself that my previous training and running fitness will come back. Same for you! Best of luck