Can I still run a marathon?

[CarrotPuff]

I'm supposed to run a marathon on 27/03. While I was training for it, I've pulled something in my thigh (IT band maybe?) so haven't run for about a month. I'm still not 100% sure it's right.

I've built myself up to 14 miles, but obviously I can't just get back to that sort of distance straight after injury. I could probably do 10 miles next weekend at a stretch. If I build it up to 18 miles and have 2 weeks taper instead of 3, would that maybe work?

I was hoping it would get cancelled, but it's one of the qualifying ones for Tokyo Olympics, so I don't think it will be.

I don't want to just walk/run, I want to run it properly, but i feel that I don't have enough time to train properly, and would probably just end up with another injury just before the main event.

Can you afford to see a private physio? Some massage, the right stretches and judicious taping might get you through. They are allowed to see people see, though lots are doing mainly zoom.

If you just wanted to get round I'd say yes, go for it - in the knowledge you're in for a hard and difficult run, but could finish.

But if you want to run it and do it justice, I'd either defer a year or enter an autumn marathon instead. Those 18, 20 and 22 miles runs are absolutely key to a decent marathon and, if you've only managed one run of that distance in training, you'll almost definitely crash on the day, I'm afraid. (My rule of thumb is you need at least five three-hour runs in the bag, at a bare minimum, to have a decent shot at the marathon. Others say five 20-milers, which equates to roughly the same thing).

It also depends how fit you were before your injury. If you've run lots of marathons before, you might hit lucky and get round OK. If this is your first then please don't even contemplate it. A marathon is at least three times as hard as a half; and needs proper training for a reason. Bonking a few miles before the end and having to walk the remainder is not fun - I've been there!

I would say it's unlikely, if you haven't done even one 18+ mile training run yet. Those are absolutely critical to running a good race. You only have 3 weeks training left assuming you can run by next weekend. You would need to do 18/19/20 mile runs on the next 3 consecutive weekends in order to start taper 3 weeks out. You could shrink it to two to get 4 long runs in but there's no benefit really - you'll still be tired from your last long run when you hit race day.

You could 'get round' but it won't be fun and you won't get the time you want. The race really starts at mile 20 ime if you have done the training properly. If you haven't, you'll be feeling it from halfway and everything from 17 miles is going to be pretty terrible - I speak from experience here.

Thank you for your honest opinions.

It is indeed my first one, but I still want to do it justice. From looking on the website, I don't think they'll let me defer, so might have to just write it off. I'll sign up for the autumn one, although training in summer is torture! Although at least it's light and not freezing at 6am...

Physio is a good shout, although I think I'll just wait and see how it goes if I don't run for a while. It's probably something I should have done straight away, but I thought it would be alright within a couple of weeks, and before I knew it it was a month! Lesson learned!

Good call OP - writing it off is by far the most sensible thing to do. Have a crack in the autumn instead, when you will be in with a chance of running the whole thing and not crashing somewhere around the 17-20 mile mark!

That way, you can spend the next month or so getting fit, then building up the mileage slowly, until you're ready to start a proper 16 week training block in May/June.

Did you have a goal time in mind?

You'll be ok and having some miles in your legs now will really help getting through the training in the summer, so don't think of it as a total loss and be discouraged.

To go slightly against the others, if this is your first there is some value in getting through with a run walk just to see how the setup is, gain some experience, see what setup everyone else has (headphones? What nutrition do you take?, do you really need that extra layer?). So don't go for a time, just get through it and get one under your belt.

If you do this, then expect the last 10k to be tough, but at least you did it.

@Owl, (sorry my app doesn't work properly for tagging), I'm really slow so was only aiming for 4:30 and even that might have been a tad optimistic! Hopefully with more training (and weight loss, ugh!) it will be achievable.

@hendo, thanks for your suggestion, but I really don't want to run/walk. I haven't done a marathon, but this is my second training for it, and I've done a half in the past, so I have a pretty good idea about practical side of things.

Also I don't know if I'll ever want to run another one, so I'd be pretty gutted if the only marathon I've ever managed was a walk/run one.

@CarrotPuff it took me 3 attempts to go sub 4:30 so you'll get no judgement from me! The problem with reaching goals is that you just reset the goal

Sounds like you have thought about this carefully, so all I will say is good luck if you decide to go for it!

It looks like I didn't need to worry as they've just postponed it to May! So I might have just enough time to train now!

Yeah that sounds good @CarrotPuff! What a relief