It Must be Marathon Season!!

Training for the Phoenix PF Chang Marathon is now in full swing.  This is obvious by the number of runners logging their miles on the canals every Saturday morning.

But, that is not how I know it is marathon season.  I know it is marathon season by the number of emails I get every day around this time of year.  They go something like this:

“I read your blog and appreciate the information.  My knee has been bothering me for the past few weeks and I have “x” number of weeks until my marathon.  What can I do to get back to training?”

A big hit this year (so far) has been people emailing me regarding my “Ouch! My Knee Hurts!” article which I published back in March, asking if this would help them with their “IT-band issue” so that they can do their marathon pain free.

In reality, it should never get to this point!  While the article was written to offer some ideas for those coming back from this type injury so that they could appropriately transition into training, it was not written as a form of damage control to be used as a quick fix.

Marathon runners (and most endurance athletes really) seem to think that if they aren’t out running (or swimming or biking) that there is no way they can possibly be improving.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Obviously I am not going to down play the importance of logging time in these events, as there is training specificity that needs to be observed; however, most of these individuals have biomechanical issues and strength issues that don’t get better with all that endurance work – THEY GET WORSE!  Very few of them take care of their soft tissue problems or have any interest in developing strength, which aside from helping to improve performance, can also help to prevent injury.

Some of the benefits strength training has shown to have for endurance athletes’ are:

• Increases in Vo2max
• Enhanced exercise economy
• Maintain higher power outputs
• Enhancement in Anaerobic capacity and lactate threshold

This past Saturday was the first training run from our facility for those preparing for the PF Chang Marathon.  I gave a short lecture on some nutrition basics prior to the run:

The group leaves at 5:30am and there are individuals of all leves (walkers as well).  If you would like to come and run with the group, please email me – patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

Additionally, aside from our one-on-one training and soft tissue therapy, we are offering our small group strength and conditioning classes (3-5 per group) for $15-20/session depending on the number of times per week you are looking to train.  Please email me for availability – patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

As always, we offer a free 20min. movement screen where you can get a snap shot of how you move (or don’t move).

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com