[ad_runner]

Hi, just a quick background. Ive been a Crossfitter for 8 years and im relatively fit. In July last year I had shoulder surgery (biceps tenodesis) from which I am stil recovering. Ive started training for a Marathon with the Level 1 Marathon plan and its been going great until recently.

I am managing the weekday runs no problems and im feeling mostly ok but sometimes sluggish. However, the big issue is my long runs. The 13km and the 15km were ok. The 17k was completed however my legs were REALLY hanging on. I failed the next 19km run and yesterday I went for the 21km and had to stop at 15km due to my left knee hurting significantly. Cardio wise, I was nowhere near my limit, but my body seems to think differently. I did a 10km race (off plan) last week, which I PBd by 15 mins and felt fine during and after this. However, this week has been hard every day.

My questions is – what should I have done, and should I do? The long runs seem out of reach due to my body seeming to give up. However on yesterdays 21km, my knee started hurting at like 8km, which I know is well within my ability. Could it be im not fully recovered from the 10km race last week? Is my cardio fitness higher than my body’s capacity to run so far? I’ve never ran this much in my life. Have I increased my distance too soon, even though im following the plan (aside from the added 10km run)?

And what should I do? Keep going with the plan even if im failing the long runs? Restart it? Pause and rest a little? I just dont have the knowledge on how to proceed and I think my crossfitters mentality is a little problematic for running long distances. I have a long time until my goal race (38 weeks) but I live in the middle east and summer is way way way too hot to spend significant time running outside. I had planned to complete this marathon plan, then try to keep “topped up” during summer with treadmill work or short early morning runs – so I have time, but I dont know whats best.

Sorry for the ramble, any help will be appreciated!

TL;DR – My knee pain stopped me running and ive failed the last 2 long runs in the plan. What should I do?

• This topic was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by ad_runner.

[Germán]

Hi,

If your “A” race is still a long way down the line, I would definitely pause for a couple of days (maybe a week), and have that knee looked at. Do some strength and mobility work to strengthen those knees and prevent further injury. Maybe supplement with some Hydrolized Collagen to help with joint pain from wear and tear.
It’s not advisable to build up fitness for an event way too soon before the actual date and then try to maintain that leven of fitness. The best approach is to time your training plan and begin at the exact date so that you finish it on race week. (So for a marathon plan that would be around 15 to 16 weeks before your race).
In the mean time, you should probably focus more on building up your 10 or 21k fitness. Maybe do try one of the 21k plans to build up your endurance. At the end of the 21k plan, if there are no actual 21k races to sign up for, just run it by yourself as a sort of practice run.
Take a week off to recover and THEN start your marathon plan.

[ad_runner]

thank you!

[ad_runner]

Are there any 80/20 Warm Ups anywhere? I cant see anything on my plan or by searching. I also think im not warming up properly, and I dont know how.

[Germán]

I don’t think there are any specific “warmup” routines in the 80/20 workout libraries or training plans.
Maybe this might help:

[Charles]

Subscribers can access 52 Mobility workouts from the 80/20 Library.

I’m not currently following any 80/20 Plan, but I do select workouts from the library to meet my immediate needs.

So, for example, I have been experiencing some tight back muscles so, this morning, I selected some of the mobility movements, then did a 20 minute warmup on an indoor rower, followed by an 80/20 Foundation Run.

If you are going to try and figure this out for yourself (and not go to a PT) the first place to start is to look for any mobility and/or strength imbalance, then select movements that will address your specific issues. In my opinion, the last thing you will want to do is press on in a race plan with nothing more than a wish the problem will go away.

[Author]

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