Marathon training question

[bunnyfoo]

Hi everyone!

I'm training for my first full this January but have been having knee problems since the beginning of October. My chiro who's been treating my knee with ART, Graston and eccentric exercises has asked me to lower my training miles. So I haven't been running much in the hopes of my knee healing - the longest run I did was yesterday (about 16K or 8 miles) and that felt so-so. I think I have bursitis or something else - it's a dull uncomfortable pain that I get down the center of my knee but feels different than a runner's knee pain. It's been keeping me from doing my usual workout routine in the gym as well - can't go as low with lunges and squats, definitely no weights with lunges or squats and no deadlifting either

I'm following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 plan (http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/novices2.htm) and was thinking of cutting down the weekday runs to 1-2 days at a slow pace and just keeping the LR on Sunday. I think I should be okay to jump back in at week 12. The long run is 13 miles and I should be okay with that. I have done two 30K races this year so I believe I should be okay going up to 20 miles… I guess I'm just feeling a little anxious because I feel like I should be running more than I am.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Don't you think that your chiro knows best?

 

[bunnyfoo]

Don't you think that your chiro knows best?

Yes but at some point I have to put in the miles if I want to do the race. She's concerned with having my knee heal completely but I have to balance that with wanting to run the full. I'm looking to see if there's a medium.

 

[johde]

Sorry to hear your having trouble with the knees. The "tough love" answer to the question would be to consider transfering your registration from the full marathon to the half marathon.

My next suggestion would be to try some sort of a walk/run combination and see if that helps with the knee pain. Taking frequent walk breaks might give your knee the break it needs. Maybe looking at some of the Galloway plans on the Run Disney Website and counting back 6 weeks from the 20 mile run/walk.

Trying to make the large jumps in mileage could lead to even more injury.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[J3nn78]

I am fairly new to running and this is my first marathon, but one thing really jumped out at me.
1. Why are you seeing a chiro for your knee-I would be at the orthopedist. I have experienced some knee pain (torn meniscus) and went straight to my sports doctor

Also, it is very risky to increase your mileage too much at one time. Recipe for injury