Advice for 1st time marathon (at 50)

[mtwarden]

here's to a speedy recovery Sir!

 

[2rocky]

Yep PF is a Bitch. Ice that bastard 3x a day. Stretch. Feet, calves, hamstrings. Dedicate the time you would be running to body maintenance. Find a workout you can do without aggravating your feet. Elliptical, Rowing, Swimming Biking, get a sweat going.

How are your shoes? are you being fitted at a running store? Are they doing a gait analysis? Are you using inserts for a little more support? These all will help you .

 

[Runwilderness]

I have felt your pain and I’ll second some of the comments above.

First, accept that you’re hurt. It will take longer to recover than it did to develop the injury. I tried to push through my first (and worst) case of PF. Doesn’t work. Instead it caused me to stop running for several years. Its better to run 26.2 at 52 than grunt it out at 50 and loose the rest of your year to injury.

For PF stretch and roll both you feet and you calves. It my experience the issue is tied more to tight and inflamed calves causing trickle down problems than it is tied just to your feet. Ive got a blue hard foam ball that works the calves better than the cylinder rollers. Find a good running store and they can hook you up with an assortment of torture devices for your feet and calves.

I found a strengthening routine online that has also worked for me. Go find a stair step. Lift yourself up on the balls of you both feet, but then remove one leg so your now standing up just on one foot. Slowly let your body weight pull you down until you heel is as low as it will go. I usually count to 20 or so. Use both legs again to lift yourself back up, and repeat 5+ times. You’ll feel a burn in you calves and a huge stretch across the PF.

My sciatica was linked to the performsis muscle (buried under your butt). The stretches will be easier to find online than for me to describe.

More than anything, when you’re ready to get back to training, be proactive and keep up with the stretch, roll, and strength regime. I HATE to stretch. Thankfully I have a partner in crime to nag me, and a memory of bad times to keep me focused at the slightest niggle.

(you might want to also look up IT stretches while you’re at it. Another issues better avoided than fixed)

Stay strong. Be patient. You can get it done.

 

[Highhuntin]

Hope you stick with it and finish a marathon! I did one last June, the wall is no joke! I was training for another one that should have been last week but was rescheduled for September... along with a half! So couple that with hunting season and I’m banking on injury by October!! I have heard PF is bad and can be long lasting, heal up now so it doesn’t get worse and return, my best advice is to enjoy the journey because race day goes by to quick! And listen to your body, some pains you can run through and others are telling you to rest and recover

 

[*zap*]

Hope you heal up.

I guess I look at this kind of thing as 'is running a marathon or having great fitness/being healthy more important'?

I think you can be very fit/healthy and not be able to run a marathon, and at an older age and not having run much before I would think that 18 months would be a reasonable training period for getting a marathon done but I am not a runner....so that is just an opinion based on talking to people who do run and them telling me it takes a few years to develop long distance running skills while remaining healthy. I would think that just developing the leg/calf strength to keep good ball of foot placement to avoid heel striking would take 2-3 months or so.

 

[Newtosavage]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Runwilderness, I bet you're right about the source of the sciatica. I feel it under my "butt" muscle quite often.

I really need to develop better stretching and maintenance habits. Tough to do after a lifetime of just putting on the shoes and heading out. Getting older ain't for wimps! LOL

 

[Highhuntin]

Post Stretching is necessary! I hate it also but got used to it and notice a huge difference, make sure your staying well hydrated during training.
also not sure if it was mentioned but injury’s can be related to improper Fit or worn out shoes, my wife got me into writing down my mileage ofeach pair of shoes and it adds up fast! 300-400 and they are mostly done

 

[ArrowForester]

Good on you for your outlook and goals. Hopefully you have a lasting recovery.

I am not really a runner but I try my best to jog for condition and weight control. Didn't start until I was 46 and the first three years I quit during fall hunting season and started again in the late spring. So my offering is more of an observation than advice......I had a bout of PF and heel pain after a stress fracture from overuse in my second year. Since then I have just managed it by stretching and not overdoing things. The last couple years I have tried to maintain year 'round rather than the yo-yo approach of ramping up in spring. That seems to have helped.
But the biggest difference seems to have come this year. I started to mix in trail running with some zero drop shoes. I think those shoes have helped maintain the stretch and strength in the Achilles and I havent felt any PF type issues in several months. I just jogged a half marathon on the road today without any heel/foot issues. I think my next pair of road shoes will also be zero drop. Again, not expert advice, just my experience at age 52.

 

[EastCoaster]

My running partner talked me into running a marathon a couple years ago. Once I committed (Paid) he then went on to tell me that finishing the race is easy.......completing the training program is the hard part. He was absolutely correct. There are a ton of ups and downs during training. I went through weeks of smooth sailing and weeks of icing/stretching with no running at all. Push through and just know that you are going through exactly what most new distance runners experience. You will start to understand what your body needs (Nutrition) during your first 15 plus mile training day. Everyone is different, so do you. It is quite a feeling to cross that finish line! Side note: My running partner is in his mid 50's and 250lbs......he beat my @ss in that race.

 

[KNASH]

All the stuff they have you do in PT when you're injured????? THAT'S the stuff you SHOULD be doing to avoid getting injured. Given you can't run much now, concentrate on strength and flexibility - make that your workout and goal. Treat is like it's a training plan. When you ease back into running, make the actual run only part of your workout, i.e. bike or row or swim, then run a couple, then bike or row or swim. As your body adapts, you can increase the running portion. High temps while building mileage really put a strain on your hydration, so if you can manage your exposure, do so.
Learn the difference between start up pains and pending injuries, experience is your teacher. I struggled with injuries that prevented me from running a marathon until I was 46, ran my PR at 51. So you're not too old for this. Good luck, and be smart!

 

[arock]

Getting through the program is the hardest part. +20 miles \ week is a lot and if your body isn't used to it, it can get very angry. PF can be a lot of things. It can be due to overuse, footwear that doesn't fit quite right (or running shoes that are 'dead') and\or tightness anywhere in your posterior chain can trigger it.

You could try a more a conservative plan. So if you can run now do a moc 13.1 (since it sounds like you were able to get that far successfully before) and pick a training plan that has you running 3 days a week and cross training on another one or two. After you get through that successfully, cycle out those trainers and run through another more aggressive 13.1 program. After that you should have an excellent base and a good idea on how to pace \ manage your runs to stay healthy. It may push the completion of your goal back a bit but it could also get you in a better position to achieve it. Basically all of this years marathons have been cancelled but if you still want to knock out a 26.2 on your own then a walk\run option instead of 'running' the whole time can get you done in 6ish.

I get weird looks when I say this but start practicing yoga. A little does a lot. That will help build mobility and strength and if the PF is due to something in your calf, hamstrings, glutes or lower back - it should provide some relief.

 

[Newtosavage]

Good suggestions. I'm still fighting PF in my right foot, but the hamstring/sciatica issue has improved. I haven't run since about May and with Covid, I've managed to put on about 10 lbs. since then. Definitely heading in the wrong direction.

I can't definitively trace all my issues back to all the running I did a year ago, but most likely it was just me overdoing things, and not having the right shoes or training/stretching routine or a combination of those.

I certainly was not hoping to enter the hunting season in the shape I am now, but I'm sure I'm not going to be the only "covid-fat" guy in the mountains this fall. LOL

Looks like no marathon at 50 for me. Maybe 51 or 52 will have to do.... It's not often I don't reach goals I set for myself. This one kinda stings a bit.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

I am sure you could survive a marathon with a more rapid progression and check that bucket list item off. Or, you could develop a habit that you gives you greater energy throughout the day. It does not need to be a painful chore.

Your 'engine' will quickly adapt but the supporting drivetrain needs a lot longer to strengthen. Bones, tendons, etc. take a lot longer to adapt. When this is rushed, that is when things like PF, sciatica, knee pain, etc., flare up.

The whole key to the marathon is to make running easy on your body. To make it easy, it must become part of your consistent lifestyle, something you do automatically. Avoid doing more on any day than you know you could repeat the next day. Keep your body and your mind 'wanting' for more. Start with an amount that you know you can run with good quality, feeling strong with good energy. Train your mind to associate running with feeling good and your body with moving powerfully and with assertive (proper) technique. Repeat similar daily loads for at least 4 weeks, then step up maybe 5 minutes per day. Rinse and repeat.

It sounds slow, but look at the big picture and realize if you start with 1.5 mile and 20 minutes now, you could be at 60 minutes in 8 months. On top of that, you'll be running those 60 minutes fast, feeling awesome, and you will still have great energy for anything else you want to do every day.

 

[shoeshineman]

I admit I haven't read all of this thread, but I would definitely suggest look into a "periodization" training program. When I was into road racing (bicycle) the Joel Friel bible was the plan, certainly for me. I believe that the science supports periodization as the best practice.

 

[Newtosavage]

I guess my question right now is, when should/could I start running again? My right heel hurts quite a bit every morning from the PF. After walking the dog and once I get to work and walk a bit, it gets a lot better, but never completely goes away. I don't want to exacerbate that problem, which I think I was doing last fall when I was ignoring the pain and running anyway.

After having PF for nearly a year, it's hard to see a point where I'll be able to go run and not cause it to flare back up.

 

[mtwarden]

might want to try a different shoe; sometimes a different drop, different stack height, etc will help

obviously start out slow and of a shorter duration, regardless of the injury; if the foot is feeling better a shorter walk/run outing is where I would start and see how it feels

continue to stretch/roll/strengthen the entire foot and calf- you can't let up on this