Hello

I only began running this summer and ran a lot in October and overused my adductor!

I applied to run a marathon in April 2008, but if the training doesn't go well I will pull out as I don't want to injure myself.

I have been resting my leg for about 2 months, although I've still been doing karate training twice a week. I need to start training again soon as I only have 4 months.

Basically my question is, is it silly to think about running a marathon considering I am a beginner and only have 4 months to train for it?!

Comments please!

Thank you!

Hi Jolewest

It's not silly at all; 4 months is plenty, just build your mileage up slowly but steadily and try not to do too much at once and injure yourself.

You want to be able to do 10 miles fairly comfortably with 1 month to go, and preferably do a couple of long runs, between 16 and 20 miles, to get a feel for them. But for now, I suggest just build up your mileage and focus on distance not speed.

You might want to download a special marathon training schedule, there are loads around.

It's a pretty big ask, but it all depends where you are at the moment! What sort of mileage had you got up to before your injury and how were you finding it? One of the problems is that despite having 4 months, it'd be unwise to come back from injury to training at the same intensity as before, you need to slowly build up.

Beginners vary massively, some will be happy to run 5 miles having done nothing since school days... some will have to work very hard to run a mile without stopping! Keep us all updated and I'm sure everyone will offer their advice & opinions to help you as much as possible.

Jolewest... from what I know of karate, (my Son is a brown belt), it not only builds good strength into your legs, but also requires a lot of work from your legs during training. So, whilst you'll have good strength in your legs, by the same token you are stressing an injury, which will delay it's healing.

If you were fit and uninjured I would tend to agree with Katten about 4 months being enough time to train for a marathon, providing you haven't set yourself a definite time target.

However, having run about 25 marathons, I know a little about training for them and I would say that you need to be able to run more than 10 but more like 16 or 17 miles fairly comfortably with one month to go. The last 2 to 3 weeks are tapering down from the highest mileage anyway.

What I would suggest you do is look for a beginners marathon schedule that you can fit around your normal lifestyle without too much trouble. Get a small diary just for your running mileage and write the schedule in it working back from marathon day.

If you find that you end up missing too much mileage due to injury by say, March then think about pulling out.

It's said, and I can endorse it, that midway in a marathon is 20 miles. The last 6.2 can be just as tough as the previous 20, so you really need to be prepared for that.

I hope it all works out, because getting to the finish line of your first marathon is an experience that you will never forget

What else is there to add?
It is possible, with the right training. But if you feel that the adductor is "complaining" a bit too much then it's better to stay healthy and run your first marathon a bit later in the year.

__________________
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

Thank you for all the advice! My first attempt at some running was a 10k in the summer. It was a slow jog more than a run, but I managed the 10k without stopping. I felt the adductor muscles after that though! Took a lot just to lift both legs to put my socks on! Must be a muscle I never really used before?

In answer to your question Richardsimkiss, before my injury, before October I was only running 10k a week. During October I was doing something called the October Run where you log what you run/walk/cycle each day for the month. With a mixture of runnign and cycling I did (spread out over the 7 days) 22miles in the 1st week, 12 in the 2nd, 14 in the 3rd and 15 in the 4th week. So no great distances!

I have actually been living in Japan for the past year but am home for a month over christmas, so no karate at the moment Trinity! I can rest my legs! - I am striving to get past white belt at the moment - brown belts like your son inspire me greatly! And 25 marathons you say?! That is reallly quite incredible!

Because I am living in Japan it means that when I return there ion january, the place I am living is likely to be covered in metres of snow, which will make training even harder to do! - any suggestions here?!

As for the injury, I did a slow 3 mile run today, my first since October and after the first Bowen treatment, and the adductor seemed ok - only felt it once or twice, but am worried it would start to hurt if I pushed myself - so gently does it at the moment.

I will definitely pull out of the marathon if training isn't up to standard in march - I really want to enjoy the marathon and not worry about an injury. The marathon I have applied for is the Nagano Marathon - Nagano being the place the winter olympics were held in '98 I think it was.

I have a training schedule downloaded Katten, so with that I hope I can build up slowly with no injuries!

Anyway, that's the end of my short essay post! Thank you for all your advice and I shall keep you updated!

I have had a groin injury for about 13 months now and I think it's in the adductor muscles.
After trying many (not conventional medicine) different treatments, I seemed to improve a lot when last Summer, for a month, I worked in Oslo delivering newspapers!
I did most of my deliveries in buildings up to 4 storeys and without a lift.
Even though it proved bad for the kness, I think that going up all those stairs must have strengthened my adductors because I had an enormous improvement.

__________________
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

You could maybe try joining a gym with good treadmills? If it's too cold to run outside, then you have the option there, and could include some exercises for your adductors while you are there

Also, how hilly is Nagano? If it's a course with a lot of inclines, you probably should do a fair proportion of hill training.

Best of luck, I hope things go well for you