Training for a marathon. 4 weeks out from race day. Did a 7-day mountain bike trip that ended a week ago. The trip was a lot tougher than expected. No injuries, but my energy is gone. Supposed to do 2 more long runs, one of which I bailed out on this weekend because I am so spent. Winded doing simple runs. Planning on doing a 18-20 miler next weekend (3 weeks out from race) then tapering. But, I can’t seem to get my stamina back. Tried a few recovery runs and some every other day rest, but its not working. HELP!
how do you recover?
rest.
rest more.
sleep.
eat lean proteins and vegetables.
drink water.
stop stressing you’ll be fine.
Ice bath and massage.
Ice: 55-65 degrees (some will argue colder, if your not used to it 60 is plenty cold) 10-15minutes, ideally moving water, but a bath will a large bag of ice will do. It will hurt for ~4minutes, then you just get tingly.
If you have someone who can do some massage that really helps too. Get deep but dont over do it, and work out the IT bands, hip flexors, stabilizers, muscle attachments… A roller will work if you cant get hands on.
Good luck-
Tired? Rest.
Thanks for the replies. If I still am fatigued by next weekend do I do the long run?
I would get alot of sleep, thats when the body recovers the best. Most athletes really do not get enough sleep for the amound of work we do. Have you put in the runniing proir to this? If so then a longer taper might be benificial to you. The last month before a long race wont really make you faster but it can def derail you race plan. I would try to do a run once you feel better. Have you checked your resting heart rate in the morning? If its higher then normal that could be a sign of over training. Dont worry I wont ask why you did 7 days of hard mountain biking 4 weeks before a marathon. along with just eating good, how is your iron levels? Does your daily vitamin give you 100% iron for the day? That is a problem with some people and over training.
When this happens to me, I grab acouple steaks, a dvd, and relax with my girl. Spend some quality time together, then start training slowly once I feel better.
Thanks for the replies. If I still am fatigued by next weekend do I do the long run?
Um. Rest?
similar experience earlier this year training for the Miami mary when it seemed like the wheels were falling off right at the peak of my training and my long runs were sucking, a few days full rest did the trick and then when I came back I took the intensity out of a few runs/cut some of the longer runs short if i wasn’t feeling it. Had a good race for me in the end. If i were you, I would take a few days total rest (2-3 consecutive) with easy stretching, massage, eating healthy and plenty of sleep. Then ease back in with some short/mid range runs without intensity and then try the long run as planned with a plan B to cut it short if you are doing a death march. You still have plenty of time before the race and you should be able to fully recover, good luck.
MTB bike trip was a rare opportunity, so I took it. Did the San Juan Huts trip Durango to Moab. Highly recommend it. Got in two 18-milers before the trip. Most recent long run was 3 weeks ago. Fitness and endurance was on the money at that point and the week of biking upped the endurance I would assume, but wondering what it did to my speed. Been sleeping plenty. I’ll try the iron and water. It sounds like I’ll have to wait and see on how I feel for the long run next week.
All good suggestions above, especially make sure you get in enough protein and carbs. Speed should not be an issue at all. Once recovered from your trip, your speed will still be there. Besides, assuming you’re pacing your long runs appropriately, you don’t need all your speed to do the long run. If you happen to be a little slower than usual, so be it, that’s what your taper is for. Good luck.
Are you gettting enough Iron? Typical culprit when you can’t figuire why rest, massage, ice baths, protein etc. won’t snap you back. Buy a very high quality supplememt and take with food for the next few weeks prior to the race. I bet you’ll feel the benefit. Endurance athletes (especially training through a hot summer) are notoriously anemic. Might be worth getting blood drawn to check current Iron levels. Then do it again a month from now. See if any changes.
Don’t worry, it you did some 18 milers you are fine. WHen I trained for my big marathon attempt, I used longer bike rides for the long fat burning workouts anyway, to supplement my runs that were not as long as course. That week will do you great once you absorbe it. But that is the key absorbe it. It was like a stage race for you, and a week long stage race kicks your butt. It would take me at least two weeks to recover from that kind of effort, so now is the time to fine tune things. Once you feel up to it, do some race pace stuff after good warm ups. Forget about the last long run you have planned, you already did it and move on to the tune up and taper phase…Just do not force anything at this point until you feel up to it, and when you do, keep it short, endurance is in the bank…
Let us know how it goes…
15-20 min runs each day, EASY, lots of naps and going to bed early.
Do others agree that bagging the last long run is best?
Do others agree that bagging the last long run is best?
Yes. No need.
Trick here for you will be to trust that your fitness will be there when race day comes. If you have done the training you say you have, it will.
If your recovery works well you will shed your fatigue in a couple of weeks and start getting antsy in those last 10 days before your race. Be patient, resist the urge to “test your fitness”, and then let the dogs out on race day (just not in the first 6 miles, ok?).
Let us know how it goes!
You should definitely do your long run. Making yourself more tired can only help the situation.
You should definitely do your long run. Making yourself more tired can only help the situation.
