Fukuoka and Beyond
This last marathon cycle didn’t go as planned as injury hampered me on the day of execution. Actually, the training cycle went really well, it was just the race itself that didn’t turn out how we planned. After pulling out of the world champs marathon with a hamstring injury I took 2 weeks completely off and then ran 2 week of 20 to 30 miles to make sure I wasn’t making my leg any worse. During that time I was getting a lot of treatment from my wife and her colleagues from the Physiotherapy clinic she works at. Once the muscle damage had repaired, I was still left with pain doing every day activities, which was frustrating as I didn’t understand what was causing it. It was only once I went to see one of Julie’s instructors from university that he was able to really get into my leg and feel what was going on. I had hamstring tendonosis (which had been going on since April) and as well as the strengthening program that Julie had devised for me, I had to get some very sore work so break up the scar tissue that had built up. This worked like magic as one day I couldn’t run, the next day I was pain free. So after 4 week of next to no training, I had one week of decent running before heading over to the UK to run the Great Edinburgh and Great Yorkshire Runs. I was really pleased with how they went considering the time I had off and it would be a good jump start to my training. From there we got into the marathon training and things were coming around very nicely. Workouts were going very well, I was recovering well and was pain free. It was with 3 weeks to go to the marathon that I felt a twinge in my leg during a long tempo. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t run through it but it was concerning. It wasn’t the familiar pain that I had before, it had shifted to the lateral side of my hamstring. We continued to treat my leg but I wasn’t too worried as I would be starting to ease the training down a bit and I hoped that would let it heal well enough to get me through the race.
I turned up in Fukuoka ready to go and excited for the opportunity to run a great race. The front group would be running 3 minute km’s (2.06 pace) so there was no way I was going out with them. I spoke to Martin Dent from Australia and we both had the same goal of sub 2.12 so we decided to work together throughout the race. It was going really well for the first 15km until I felt the pain slowly creep into my leg. I didn’t worry about it as I was able to run through it before but the further I ran, the worse it got. We got through the half marathon mark at 65.38 and continued that pace for a while until about 28km where I was getting really sore. I knew I was done when I was putting all my weight on my good leg and limping through the next miles. At about 30 to 31km I decided that it was enough and I was considering dropping out but I felt awful last year when I couldn’t finish so I decided to slowly drag myself to the finish. That was the longest 10km of my life! It felt like it was never ending and to make matters worse, once I finally got to the stadium, I still had to run a lap of the track before I could get off my feet. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed not to achieve my goal of a sub 2.12 marathon and Olympic qualifying time. This only means one thing now…go to London again and try and do it on home soil.
I’ve spent the last two weeks recovering and cross training to make sure my leg didn’t get any worse and I’m now back running easy for this next week. The pain was still there until a few days ago when I drove down to Phoenix to see Dr John Ball and his magic hands. Again, he painfully treated me to some aggressive ART work and told me that the same thing had happened again. I had muscle damage and the tendonosis had shifted to the other side of my leg. He gave me some more exercises to add to my strengthening program and I will continue to go down to see him to break up the scar tissue around the area.
All my focus will be on staying healthy and training optimally so I can give myself the best shot at qualifying for the Olympics. I have 18 weeks until the marathon so that is a lot of time to get fully healthy and back running well before we start the 10 week marathon build up.
I’ve decided to post my daily training on twitter for anyone who is interested in what I will be doing. You can follow me at @LemonRuns and I will give updates everyday as to what I am doing and how I am feeling.
Comments On "Fukuoka and Beyond"
it's a pain
In my experience going into a marathon carrying even the slightest of injuries is a recipe for disaster. I can count three marathons I DNF'd carrying a slight complaint. For a while I had a problem with my piriformis, for example, which was manageable in 10k races, but not, as it transpired, in the marathon. Your experiences really confirm this and I hope you manage to clear all your troubles before taking a swing at getting the 2012 qualifying mark.
Alex Posted on January 4th, 2012Hey Andrew, I for one would really like to see you qualify for the Olympics and then have a great race at the Games itself. I can't help feel that you would be much better to keep the head down and just get on with it (sorry to be blunt). All the internet blogging and negative comments you are receiving will take their toll on your confidence. I can't help feel the comments you have made to the UK press prior to your last few races haven't helped when things have gone wrong in the race itself. Being out in the USA you are in the perfect position to do this, away from the rubbish that some back in the UK like to spout about you. Get fit and come out in the Spring and smash out the qualifying time (which you are more than capable of) and roll on the Games!
Fellow Scotsman Posted on December 24th, 2011John Boy - Thanks a lot. Your right, 2011 wasn't a good year for my running but i've learned a lot from it and hopefully I can put that knowledge to good use in 2012 and be the athlete I kow I can be. Merry Xmas to you too!
Lemon Posted on December 22nd, 2011Old Scottie - Absolutely. Once I get back to fully running I will be working on my 5km/10km fitness for around 8 weeks and then get more marathon specific after that. I'm running once a day and cross training also right now and that has always kept me fit in the past and surprisingly quick so hopefully that just helps transition into the faster stuff.
Getting faster first...
Andrew...are you planning to get back into 28 min 10K shape before your next marathon build???
Old Scottie Posted on December 22nd, 2011Don't think you can realistically get near 2:12 without it....
Old Scottie
Good luck
Andrew
John Boy Posted on December 22nd, 2011All the best with the next phase of training. You have had your run of bad luck and deserve a great run in London. I am surprised by some of the -ve comments on here.
Merry Christmas
John Boy
Err? - If you just read the blog you'll get a better idea of what happened.
Lemon Posted on December 22nd, 2011Andrew, first you say it wasn't right in the cycle, now you say it happened in the race? I think you are telling porkie pies and actually went into the race injured but hoping it would be 'alright on the night'.
Err? Posted on December 22nd, 2011Make sure you get it fully sorted before starting your build up for London otherwise next time it might be 3:24!
I had the pleasure of being a “training partner” (only the days I was actually able to keep up with him) with Andrew back in our FSU days, and if someone has the mental and physical ability to overcome the marathon challenges it is Andrew. I have never seen someone work harder and study the sport as Andrew does. Many people in this world do not comprehend the challenge a marathon has on one’s body. It is a science to figure out and I know that Andrew is on his way to have the breakthrough he deserves.
Eddy Rodriguez Posted on December 22nd, 2011Andrew, I wish you the best of luck in this upcoming marathon training cycle. Stay focused, determined and know that you have a group of fans cheering you on every day you go out for a run. Continue to believe in yourself and your training and the results will come along.
Talk to you soon.
Thanks Paul! There is pressure but no more than what I put on myself. I'm not someone that worries about what someone else is going to think about me if I don't perform to the level they wanted me to (it's as if people take it personally if I don't meet their expectations!), it's about how I perceive my performance. Marathon's are a completely different game to 10kms/halfs. There are so many more variables and I think that is the big attraction for me. I'm not worried if a few workouts don't go well but if it becomes more than that then there is something going wrong. BUt then there might be something else going on. This last marathon cycle I didn't have any bad workouts and yet my leg gave out during the race. It wouldn't be fun if it wasn't easy!
Lemon Posted on December 21st, 2011Big fan, love your work!
Paul Posted on December 21st, 2011Just wondered if you find pressure to do well now your a 'name' has any effect?
You have to be 100% right to run a good marathon and I think a lot of people don't understand that. It's a lot different to 10k and halfs.
Keep at it and more blogs!!
Rob - Thanks for your kind words. I'm making a lot of progress with my injury so hopefully i'll be back to a running load soon and I can start working towards London.
Lemon Posted on December 21st, 2011Huh? - London 2010, 2011, Fukuoka 2010 DNF, 2011
SoTaJ - No i'm not happy with the way things have gone so far. My 2.13 from last year was very disappointing but we will be doing thing differently in the run up to London this year to make sure I give myself every chance of running well. Maybe i'm not ideally suited to the distance but that certainly isn't going to stop me from trying to achieve my personal goals...no one else gets a say in those. Didn't Ron Hill run 18 marathons before he broke 2.10? Everything up to this point I have learned from and taken away a lot about what to do and what not to do. Failure is very motivating for me. If I get injured during a race, I can't do anything about that.
Hi Andrew, you may have started 4 and finished 3, but you have 1 DNF, 1 decent run and 2 where you finished practically walking so not a great record i'm sure you'll agree?
Seeker of Truth and Justice Posted on December 21st, 2011What do you need to do differently to improve. If i were you i would be naturally concerned going into the next one because you don't seem ideally suited to the distance.
Started 4 and finished 3 - can you give us your Marathon history please Andrew.
Huh? Posted on December 21st, 2011I know you finished 2 London's and now this one but I thought you had dropped out of 2 Marathon's in the far east. Fukuoka in 2011 and another one where you had too much coffee and went a bit doolaly?
Hi Andrew, what can you say..... youve definatly had more than your fair share of bad luck. I'm no where near your standard but can relate to the stubborness to carry on. How many runners do you know that dont have a story about when they should have stopped,lol.
Rob Seaton Posted on December 20th, 2011Great attitude and the talent is there so good luck with rehab and whenever you toe the line next i hope it goes well for you.
Excuses
Don't think you're cut out for the Marathon Andrew. If London doesn't go to plan then would you try to make the Olympic team in the steeplechase instead?
Andy McNally Posted on December 20th, 2011Thanks.
James - The 'cycle' is the training cycle, I wasn't actually riding a bike. Cycling is pretty good for you legs if you are trying to build strength and can lessen the impact on your legs if you are going to be doing a lot of mileage.
Lemon Posted on December 20th, 2011Graham - I have started 4 marathons and finished 3. That is not a stat I am worried about. It's my dream to run a really good marathon and I'm going to chase that. I know I can do it.
Tom - You're right in some ways. Maybe I should have called it quits when my hamstring worsened but it was equally important for my head to not drop out. Like anyone else running a race, dropping out of a race can be very demoralising and I wanted to get to the finish knowing that I hadn't torn anything in my leg and that I had the physical ability to get to the finishing line. I was just being stubborn.
Dave - We have done a lot of PT and ART these past two weeks and there is a lot of scar tissue that the specialists have been able to feel and try and break up. I'm down to just tendonosis so hopefully with continual treatment this will go away. I've had a lot of trigger point work done in the past and it didn't feel like that. I will ask them about what they think about your diagnosis.
Sounds like you don't really know what went wrong? The 'cycle' went well, but injury hampered you on the day? I don't remember reading anything about cycling being useful for Marathon training. It should be all about lots of road running mileage in the legs i reckon. Leave the cycling to Lance Armstrong and friends.
James Collins Posted on December 20th, 2011Hi Andy, do you worry that your record is now started 5 and only finished 2? Looks like you should stick with London and not attempt running in the far east?
Graham Robert Posted on December 20th, 2011Hi Andrew,
Tom Knight Posted on December 20th, 2011I have to ask why would you not drop out if you were injured. I know you DNF'd the previous year but surely hobbling to the end was not the most sensible thing to do. The Marathon is a beast and for you elite guys racing as hard as you do sometimes it's not going to go to plan. Race organisers understand that and you surely don't owe them by hobbling over the line. They can't be grateful that you made it across the line in such a state. By pushing yourself on an injury you might have made it much worse.
Why can i see this common sense as a 32min 10km runner but you think it's right to finish the race?
I don't mind this to sound critical, just would be interested to understand your thought process on continuing to run on an injury rather than calling it a day?
Cheers and all the best for the next one.
"next day pain free"
This is what happens when a 'trigger point' is released, not when scar tissur is broken up. Trigger points are just tiny areas of muscle in continual contraction (sometimes for years) until they are released by simple techniques you can easily learn to do yourelf. The classic text on trigger points was written by Travell & Simons - "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction", though lots of books and scientific papers have been written since showing how common these things are, and how they are usually the root cause of chronic muscle and joint pain in otherwise healthy/efficient athletes.
davekirkalnd Posted on December 20th, 2011