{"id":173673,"date":"2021-06-03T13:55:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=173673"},"modified":"2021-06-03T13:55:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:55:20","slug":"marathon-training-is-not-a-sprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/06\/marathon-training-is-not-a-sprint\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Training Is not a Sprint"},"content":{"rendered":"

A smart plan can go a long way when it comes to running a long way.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhile you might be able to get generalized running tips from a YouTube video or a running magazine, when it comes to something that\u2019s specific to you, we take a comprehensive approach. \u201d — Laurie Devaney, UConn Institute for Sports Medicine<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Experts from the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine<\/a> remind those who are preparing for a distance running event \u2014 for example, the UConn Health Half Marathon<\/a> taking place Saturday, June 5 \u2014 that a well-thought-out training regimen that starts early and builds gradually is the way to go for best results.<\/p>\n

Too Much Too Soon<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your weekly plan? When are your recovery or rest days? When are you going on longer runs, shorter runs? Because you have to stretch yourself out, build an aerobic base,\u201d says Dr. Matthew Hall<\/a>, UConn Health sports medicine physician who specializes in injury prevention and co-director of the Institute for Sports Medicine. \u201cAppropriate recovery days are part of what your plan is so that you\u2019re building up over time. And then usually in that time before the race, taking it down a little bit, kind of build up and then have a little lull right before your race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running-related injuries often are the result of training errors. Part of the plan is to be aware of your current fitness level before trying to do too much too quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not unusual for people to just sign up for a race because their friends are doing it, and they really don\u2019t have that foundation,\u201d says Laurie Devaney<\/a>, physical therapist, athletic trainer, and co-director of the Institute for Sports Medicine. \u201cIncrease in volume and intensity too soon is probably one of the more common training errors that we see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Laurie
Laurie Devaney is a physical therapist, athletic trainer, and co-director of the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine. (File photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Devaney and other experts in the institute\u2019s running clinic recommend a weekly increase in mileage of no more than 10% while training. Following that pattern may mean getting started several months in advance of competitive race day in order to have that gradual buildup and minimize injury risk.<\/p>\n

Monotony Can Be Limiting<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mixing up the training routine has its benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother common mistake is running the same route, same direction, same surface all the time, so there\u2019s no variability,\u201d Devaney says. \u201cSome variability is good, and some variety in what you do also may prevent overload types of injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutrition and Hydration<\/strong><\/p>\n

These can be easy to overlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big mistake is, if you start to increase your volume and your mileage over time, your number of calories needs to increase in order to maintain and support that,\u201d Hall says. \u201cSo if you continue at that same level over time, your weight will start to drop and you may be more susceptible to stress fracture and other injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

And drinking enough water is something that starts well before you get to the starting line.<\/p>\n

\u201cHydration is hard,\u201d Hall says. \u201cHydration for the race begins the day before the race. It\u2019s not just during. If you\u2019re not well tanked up and hydrated going into the race, you\u2019re going to be already too far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Matthew Hall is a sports medicine physician and co-director of the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine. (Photo by Sean Flynn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s also the danger of overcompensating on race day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get inexperienced runners, in a longer race, who get hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, because they tend to drink too much at every water stop and they\u2019re not well conditioned,\u201d Hall says. \u201cThey take in too much water and they get hyponatremia, and they come across the finish line and they\u2019re confused, and they\u2019re susceptible to other problems that could require medical treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Respect the Thermometer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fluctuating temperatures can impact your training, performance, and safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the days before, you have to know potentially what kind of weather, and are you acclimatized to that particular type of temperature,\u201d Hall says. \u201cHeat illness \u2014 heat stroke, heat exhaustion \u2014could be an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specific to You<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether they\u2019re preparing for a competitive race or training for the start of their sports season, athletes can turn to the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine for a customized evaluation and treatment plan that can mitigate injury risk and optimize performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to get a biomechanical evaluation that tells us about some of the mechanical factors that might contribute to injury risk,\u201d Devaney says. \u201cBut then we\u2019re also going to do a full clinical exam so that we can really correlate what we\u2019ve found there, and then use that information to give them an individualized program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you might be able to get generalized running tips from a YouTube video or a running magazine, when it comes to something that\u2019s specific to you, we take a comprehensive approach. We can identify all those pieces of the puzzle and have a good solid program to offer people in a manner that really aligns with both our clinical expertise as well as best practices according to what we know from the research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A smart plan can go a long way when it comes to running a long way. Experts at the UConn Institute for Sports Medicine can help with training to both reduce injury risk and improve performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":173675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2231,2299,2287,1868,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-173673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-well-being","category-kinesiology","category-orthopedics","category-meds","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-02 16:20:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173673"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173679,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173673\/revisions\/173679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/173675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173673"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=173673"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=173673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}