Forums >Health and Nutrition>HELP! Quad pain 2 1/2 weeks out...
I am running my first marathon on 10/16/16. I have completed two half marathons in the last year. Training has been completed for the most part (missed almost two weeks this summer when best friend's dad passed unexpectedly, but I had built a couple of extra weeks in to the program to be safe in case life happened... which it unfortunately did.) I have trained by myself following Hal Higdon's plan and don't know any other runners to ask. Runs were fairly uneventful injury wise until a couple weeks ago when I experienced severe calf cramping twice during a particularly bad 18 mile run. My calves were rather sore for a good 48 hours afterward, but felt much better after a 5 mile run two days later. This past Sunday I had a beautiful 20 mile run... the longest I have ever run in my life. It was fabulous until about 16 miles and then the last 3 1/2 were tough. It was much hillier than I'm used to for the first 3 1/2 miles as well as the last 3 1/2 miles as it was an out and back run. My legs were like jelly when I finished. Over the course of the next 4-8 hours, my quadriceps started to hurt. Not just ache, but really hurt. I spent the next solid 72 hours so sore I could barely go up or down stairs or hills... and sitting down on a toilet was like a form of torture. I ran five miles Tuesday night and it didn't feel good. Last night (Wednesday) I had to do the elliptical for 8 miles as I was unable to run outside due to mitigating circumstances with my kids' activities and the weather. Today I was finally able to walk up and down the stairs almost normally and didn't have to lean on wall for dear life just to use the facilities. Tonight I ran four miles and it was also painful. The left calf was hurting while running and my quads have started to hurt once again. So my questions (FINALLY!): Should I do tempo runs (which I haven't yet attempted) on hills to help this go away or will that just hurt further? I have a 12 mile run scheduled for Saturday (Cannot do on Sunday unfortunately)... should I go back to same hilly course and only do the hills in the beginning and end elsewhere? Should I skip hills altogether for now? Should I postpone the 12 mile run for a few days or is that unwise since race day is so close? The course I'm running has a couple large elevation changes in the first 8-10 miles but then it's mostly flat. I am used to running at sea level and this race will be between 500-725 feet. Should I expect to feel any difference from that? THANK YOU for any help you can offer!!!
At this point your training is basically done. You should be into tapering mode and just doing easy runs (2 - 5 miles) to stretch the legs out and allow time for your legs to heal. For new marathoners I recommend a 3 week taper; for experienced marathoners I recommend a 2 week taper. I would skip any hill workouts and tempo runs, and just do easy runs. You can supplement the easy runs with some strides (10 x 100 meters). Yes your training plan calls for more, but struggling through the remaining workouts will just get you to the starting line injured. It is better to get to the starting line slightly undertrained.
There is no need to be concerned about the race being at a elevation of 700 feet even though you train at sea level. There is essentially no difference between those two elevations. Most people are not impacted by elevation until you get over 5000 feet.
The quad pain you are describing pretty much describes how I felt after my first marathon. It was a hilly course, and while I had trained on hills, I hadn't been pushing the pace on my training runs. You probably ran your 20 miler too fast for your fitness. I know in my case I had trained a lot of hard uphill, but not a lot of downhill. It took about a week for the pain to ease.
I agree that you should just do your runs slow and easy from now until your race to let the muscles heal.
Also, do not be afraid to walk sometimes in addition to the short easy runs mentioned by runmichigan. I've found this to be very effective when recovering from aches and pains. In addition to just getting the blood moving, I've found it can settle my nerves that I'm doing "something" without doing too much.
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
As others have said, the hay is already in the barn. I personally would advise against the Saturday 12 miler given your difficulty in recovering from the 20. Your body is telling you that you need some extra time to heal up. The good news, however, is that you don't appear to have an acute injury, just more soreness than would be expected or desired. There's a few things to think about. Was it possible that you were under-fueled for the two long runs? A 20 miler you might need 500-750 calories to stave off excess glycogen depletion. Hard running in a depleted state often leads to cramping and excessive post-run soreness. Speaking of calves, try doing eccentric heel drop exercises to help stretch and strengthen those muscles. It may also help strengthen your quads and calves if you go for a few hikes over the next several days. I don't see you getting much benefit from any additional hard workouts, just maybe do some marathon pace intervals and strides in the middle of the easy runs. A few more elliptical workouts may also help as well. Consider doing a marathon pace dress rehearsal run (i.e. 1 hour at MP) about 10 days out if you are feeling better. Good luck and please report back with your race experience.