In this article, I’m going show you how to prevent knee pain when running. I’ll share with you ten of the most effective techniques I’ve used with clients to help them overcome Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Syndrome) and begin to enjoy your running once again.

Of course, it has to be mentioned that while Patellofemoral Syndrome – the most common type of Runner’s Knee – is the main focus of this article, isn’t the only reason why runners get knee pain. Iliotibial Band Syndrome is another common cause of knee pain in runners, and if your pain is more towards the outside of your knee, be sure to check out this article.

That said, most of the knee pain tips below will help runners with both of these common types of knee pain…

Fix Your Knee Pain >>
Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

How can you prevent knee pain when running?

The following running tips will help you to prevent knee pain during and after running. I’m sure they will help you to reduce the stress on your knee joints.

Prepare your knees for running with a proper warm-up

You’ve heard it before, I know. But that’s because it’s true; a good dynamic warm-up before you start running has many benefits, not least that it prepares your muscles and joints, like your knees, for the upcoming demands of running.

Taking the time to preform a simple but effective running warm-up will actually do a few specific things to better protect your knees.

Firstly, the gradual increase in activity will help promote the flow of synovial fluid (think ‘joint lubricant’!) in the patellofemoral joint, where your knee cap (patella) meets the lower femur. These two bones move against one another as you flex and extend your knee, so a smooth interface between the two is important.

Next, by warming-up and activating the important muscles around your hips, your glutes in particular, you’re effectively priming some of the key muscles you need to be doing their jobs so as to provide control, stability and alignment for your knees as you run!

Even something as simple as a few sets of pre-run air squats, as I demonstrate as part of the running warm-up in the video below, will help to activate your glutes for running.

If you’ve been told you need to work on strengthening your glutes for running, you should definitely check out my 12 Week Glute Kickstart Programme.

Pick the correct running shoes for to save your knees

Picking the right pair of running shoes can be really challenging, that’s for sure! However it’s such an important part of you being able to run without knee pain.

Your knees, and the patellofemoral joints in particular thrive on stability and alignment of your knees to be able to function properly, without knee pain as you run. That stability comes from the joints above and below the knees, namely the hips, feet and ankles.

I’ll talk more about hip stability later in this article. However, when it comes to the foot and ankle, the stability provided by the inherent characteristics of your feet and your choice of running shoes will massively influence the way your patellofemoral joint loads as you run.

Because of the repetitive nature of the running gait cycle, small areas of overload around your knees (or anywhere else in your body, for that matter) caused by a bad footwear choice, will build-up over time and potentially cause you knee pain, or another injury.

The best advice I can realistically give you without seeing your feet, is to get yourself to a specialist running store. Not one of the big-box sports outlets, but a proper old school running shop with staff who actually run and geek-out about running shoes.

They’ll be able to look at your running gait and suggest the right amount of support, cushioning, heel-to-toe drop etc… you need in a running shoe to accommodate your individual biomechanics.

If you’re just getting started with running, you might be wondering whether you really need running shoes, or whether the general purpose shoes you wear to the gym would suffice… just save yourself the future pain and invest in some proper running shoes!

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Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

Hit the trails and get off road

Just a moment ago, I mentioned the repetitive nature of running. In fact it’s exactly this type of repetitive pounding that our knees get when running that can cause injuries.

Running is a load-bearing activity, and obviously harder on our knees than swimming or cycling, and that fact isn’t going to change!

But the thing we can change is the repetitive nature of the lading. If you’re only ever running on concrete, pounding the pavements, there won’t be a huge amount variation in the loading your knees experience from stride to stride. However, if you start mixing in other types of less predictable terrain, like trail running, your whole body (knees included) will get much more of a varied workout.

In fact, in my many years of treating injured runners, I’ve met far fewer trail runners with the types of repetitive overuse injuries, like Runner’s Knee, than I have road runners.

Perhaps set yourself a goal of making at least one of your runs each week predominantly off-road?

Increase your running mileage slowly

Patellofemoral pain and Iliotibial Band Syndrome are both overuse injuries, just like most other running injuries. We can talk about the biomechanical factors and importance of running in the correct footwear, but even the strongest, best equipped runner will get injured if they push themselves too hard.

Put simply; if your weekly (or session) running training load outweighs your body’s capacity to recover and repair between runs, you’re setting yourself up for an overuse injury.

Knee pain is a common symptom that runners experience when they begin to do too much running, too soon.

Here’s an article which really explains the importance of training load management in treating Runner’s Knee.

The article linked above proposes a better alternative to the classic 10% rule which is often suggested. But when it comes to progressing your training, one of the mistakes I see runners making is that they embark on a marathon training plan, without doing the preparatory work to get their weekly mileage and long run duration up to a point where starting the marathon plan doesn’t feel like a big jump.

The worst is when people leave it a little later than ideal to start their marathon training plan, and end up “panic training”, effectively trying to make up for lost time, and progressing their long runs and weekly mileage too quickly.

Give your body time to adapt to the demands you place upon it when running!

Fix Your Knee Pain >>
Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

Lean forwards slightly as you run

Okay, let’s take a slightly different approach and think about your running technique for a moment.

Researchers looking at patellofemoral joint stress in running have identified that a slight forward trunk lean when running can reduce peak patellofemoral joint stress by more than 10%.

Admittedly, it was a small study with only 24 participants, but it strengthens the concept that how you run will influence the stress and strain that joints and tissues experience as you run. Your running technique matters!

Running with a slight forward lean is certainly something that most elite runners have mastered, and helps to prevent you from over striding, by moving your centre of mass forwards, closer to over your point of initial contact.

Here’s a video I made to help you work on your forward leaning running technique:

Increase your running cadence

Sticking with the topic of running technique; one aspect of how you run that has been researched more thoroughly is running cadence.

Running cadence, or your stride frequency, is simply how many strides per minute you make.

It’s well accepted now that running with shorter, quicker strides for a given pace, is better for your knees than running at the same pace with longer, comparatively slower strides.

An increase in your running cadence as small as 5% can provide enough of a biomechanical change to your running form, that your knees experience quantifiably less loading with each stride.

You can learn more about increasing your running cadence in this article.

One last word on running cadence, before I move on. You’ll often see it suggested that the ideal running cadence is 180 strides per minute, regardless of what type of runner you are, or pace you run at.

I have real issues with this advice, especially when running at an easy long run pace!

Check out this video for a proper explanation for why 180 strides per minute isn’t a one side fits all number for best running cadence…

Protect your knees by not over striding as you run

Both leaning forwards as you run, and increasing your running cadence will help to prevent you from over striding.

What is over striding?

Over striding is when your foot strikes the ground too far ahead of you as you run, effectively increasing the impact and braking forces your body experiences with each running stride.

Your knees will be one of the first places that experience this increased impact and breaking force as you over stride.

Ideally you should be aiming to land your foot beneath your centre of mass as you run, with your foot striking the ground beneath a flexing knee, rather than ahead of a more extended knee.

Don’t worry too much about how your foot strikes the ground (heel strike vs forefoot strike). When we’re looking to prevent Runner’s Knee, it’s more important to address where the foot strikes the ground in relation to the knee and the rest of your body.

I’ve seen it myself many times in the runners that I coach; learning not to over stride is a powerful way of protecting their knees, overcoming the early signs of knee pain, and keeping them running.

It’s been well documented that the easiest way to achieve this is to increase your running cadence, as discussed in the section above!

In my experience, a lot of runners struggle to prevent themselves from over striding in two specific situations:

a) when they get fatigued on the back-end of a long run

b) when they’re trying to lengthen their stride to run faster

The solutions to these two issues?

Well, when you’re feeling yourself beginning to fatigue on a long run, focus on maintaining a good running cadence, and make short-quick strides, rather than plodding along as you get tired.

Without speeding-up your easy running pace, focus on increasing cadence to the point that it feels a little lighter underfoot. Don’t force it though!

If your problem is that you over stride as you try to lengthen your stride and run faster, watch this video…

I’m sure that’ll give you plenty to work on when it comes to improving your running technique to protect you from knee pain when running.

How can you make your knees stronger for running?

Bodyweight exercises like squats and lunges are great for strengthening the major muscle groups around your knees, to make your knees stronger for running. Single leg exercises that work your glutes and challenge your balance will also help to protect your knees.

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into the article without talking specifically about exercises to strengthen your knees for running.

As I described in the warm up section above, it’s vital to work on stability of the joints above and below the your knees, to allow you to maintain proper knee alignment and control as you run.

That said, you also need to strengthen the muscle groups that cross the knee it self and influence the patellofemoral joint. So we definitely also need to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, adductors and calf muscles!

Here’s a great selection of exercises you can use to strengthen your knees to prevent knee pain when running:

Replace your running shoes regularly

I mentioned the importance of running shoes earlier in this article, and the right pair of running shoes really can help you to prevent knee pain when running.

However, one mistake I see runners making all too often is that they don’t replace their running shoes frequently enough.

As a pair of running shoes begins to clock-up the miles, the degree of support and cushioning that they offer your feel begins to change. You simply won’t get the same support or cushioning from an old pair of running shoes, that you did when they were new.

Many running shoe brands suggest that you replace your running shoes after approximately 500 miles. I’ve always thought that this is a disappointingly short lifespan for a pair of (often expensive) running shoes, but I guess that’s just how they’re made these days!

Practically speaking, I’ve come to understand that some runners are more sensitive to what’s on their feet than others.

In saying that I mean that some runners can seemingly run in all sorts of running shoes, new and old, and never get injured. Others however, seem to almost immediately get injured as soon as they make a slight change to their running shoes.

If you identify as a less “footwear sensitive” type of runner, then you may well get a little more life out of your running shoes.

But if you’ve been suffering with knee pain when running, and your shoes are getting towards (or beyond) that 500 mile mark, it would be worth replacing them.

Fix Your Knee Pain >>
Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

Cool down properly after every run

It makes sense to me to put this point last on the list… but don’t for one second think that this is the least important!

One of the factors that can cause knee pain when running, or knee pain after running is muscular tightness that affects the patellofemoral joint.

Tightness in your quads and hamstrings in particular can have an affect on how your knee cap is aligned and how it functions, potentially resulting in knee pain.

A proper cool down after running will go a long way towards easing tight quads and relaxing tight hamstrings. You might also find it beneficial to spend some time foam rolling your quads (here’s how).

Here’s running cool down routine that you might like to try:

Conclusion

I’m sure that these ten tips will help you to prevent knee pain when running. Check out the link below if you’re currently suffering from knee pain after running and want to know how quickly most runners completely recover from knee pain.

Read Next >>
How Long Does Runner’s Knee Last?

The post 10 Powerful Tips to Prevent Knee Pain when Running appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.

Learn to run like Kenenisa Bekele with this breakdown of his iconic running technique.

In the video above, I analyse Kenenisa Bekele’s running technique and discuss what runners like you and I can take away from watching one of the fastest marathon runners in the world. I’ll explain how we can apply these observations to our own training, and each become better runners.

Kenenisa Bekele is one of the all-time greatest distance runners. The footage used for this running analysis video shows him winning the Vitality London Big Half in 2020 with a course record time of 60 minutes 22 seconds.

Fix Your Running Technique >>
Free Training Guide [PDF]

Lots of different factors contribute to Bekele’s prowess as an endurance athlete. One such factor is his great running form. Kenenisa Bekele provides a great example of proper running technique for distance running, that we can all aspire to!

The five aspects of Kenenisa Bekele’s running form I highlight in this video are:

1. FOOTSTRIKE & STRIDE ANGLE

You’ll see that Kenenisa Bekele runs with a midfoot strike, rather than running aggressively on his forefoot, as you might expect from a sprinter. Neither does he land on his heels, as the majority of runners do.

Bekele runs with a midfoot strike, landing close to beneath a flexing knee, rather than overstriding.

He creates a long stride without overstriding, and is able to do so because of the stride angle he creates at the hips – the separation between peak hip extension and peak hip flexion, at terminal stance (the point that his trailing foot leaves the ground).

Such a large stride angle allows him to cover more ground during flight phase.

To emulate this, you can focus on exercises that help to improve hip mobility, and running technique drills to help you “run from the hips”. Hill sprints are a fantastic way of achieving this.

What is Overstriding? Distance Running vs Sprint Technique <- Learn how to find out whether you’re overstriding…

2. STRIDE WIDTH & FOOT PRONATION

Kenenisa Bekele runs without allowing his feet to cross the midline of his body, rather than displaying the type of crossover gait which sometimes occurs as a result of poor core and hip stability, and is also quite commonly seen in forefoot striking runners.

Why is Stride Width Important? <- Learn more about stride width here…

You can see that Bekele strikes the ground with his feet in a supinated position. His feet then roll inwards through pronation during the “loading response” period of his stance phase.

This is completely normal; pronation is something we all do to a greater or lesser extent when we run and walk. His transition from supination to pronation is more pronounced on his right side.

3. RUNNING CADENCE & GROUND CONTACT TIME

Maintaining a high running cadence (stride frequency) not only helps you to prevent overstriding it also allows you to keep a short ground contact time. When you maintain a short ground contact time, your limb stiffness is increased. This increase in limb stiffness allows for a more efficient transfer of energy throughout the body, and into the ground as you run.

Kenenisa Bekele has a running cadence of 180-190 strides per minute with at his half marathon race pace (around 4:37/mile).

How to Increase Your Running Cadence <- Learn simple techniques to improve your stride frequency (cadence)

4. VERTICAL OSCILLATION (BOUNCE)

The world’s best distance runners tend to run with very little “bounce”. They waste little energy moving up-and-down and channel all their effort into efficiently moving forwards.

Kenenisa Bekele is no different. Running with a fast cadence and short contact time will help you to reduce your vertical oscillation and bounce less when you run.

Fix Your Running Technique >>
Free Training Guide [PDF]

5. RUNNING ARM ACTION & UPPER BODY ROTATION

The gentle and relaxed torso rotation you see in Kenenisa Bekele’s running form is a form of counter-rotation to balance out the action of his legs and pelvis. With his upper and lower body working in an opposite rotational pattern, it allows him to use his core muscles more effectively to help drive himself forward.

For more information about how runners use the anterior oblique sling, check out this previous video: Eliud Kipchoge Running Technique Analysis

I can’t wait to see Kenenisa Bekele running the London Marathon 2020 later this year!

Let me know how you get on with trying to apply these principles of Kenenisa Bekele’s running technique to your own running.

Good luck!

Read Next >>
Proper Running Form: Six Ways to Run More Efficiently

The post 5 Ways You Can Run Like Kenenisa Bekele: Running Technique Analysis appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.

In the marathon training Livestream above, I share five of the biggest mistakes made by runners of all types (and particularly first-timers) during marathon training season.

I wish I had been told these realities before my first marathon back in 2011! However, if you follow the marathon training tips in this video, you’ll be able to run stronger and faster on race day.

If you’re currently training for a marathon, be sure to avoid making these common training errors to stay running injury free and keep building your fitness consistently in training for your marathon.

1. Give Yourself Adequate Recovery Between Runs

Not respecting the need for proper recovery between tough marathon training workouts is a big mistake! In your weekly training schedule, be sure to leave as much time as possible between sessions that are particularly intense, like hill reps or interval workouts, and your longer marathon training runs.

Free Marathon Training Plans <- If you're looking for a marathon training plan, check out these free programmes

2. Don’t Play Catch-Up on Missed Sessions

While all the sessions on your marathon training plan are of course important, some are ultimately more important than others.

Try not to miss any training sessions on your beginner marathon training plan… but if you do absolutely have to, be sure to make sure it’s your midweek easy runs that are sacrificed in place of a rescheduled long run.

Of course, sometimes life gets in the way (work demands, family commitments, illness…). If you have to miss a run or two, don’t stress about it and suddenly start juggling your week so that you can catch-up on runs.

Doing so will inevitably result in you sacrificing recovery time between runs and increase the likelihood of you picking-up overuse injuries like ITB syndrome or shin splints.

Instead, identify your key sessions – when training for your first marathon, this is the weekly long run – and make a commitment that “no matter what, you’ll find a way to get the long run done each week” even if you have to sacrifice a midweek easy run to make it happen.

3. Not Taking Easier “Adaptation” Weeks

Going hard every week of your marathon training plan, until taper is never a good idea. This is as true for seasoned marathoners as it is for first-timers!

Remember, every fourth or fifth week of your training plan should have you easing the training load significantly, so as to allow your body to recover properly before you push hard again for the next block of three or four weeks.

These easier weeks (or adaptation weeks) will allow your body to recover properly from the stresses of training hard in the preceding weeks, and put you in a better place to push hard for the following cycle of three or four in your training plan.

This type of training periodisation in your marathon plan allows you to follow a sustainable rhythm of building cumulative training load, then de-loading and recovering, and will help you both physically and mentally to reach marathon day fit, strong and un-injured.

4. Resisit the Temptation of Panic Training!

More is not always better!

As mentioned above, sometimes life gets in the way, and we suddenly realise that our marathon is only 5-weeks away, rather than 16-weeks!

Training often then goes into overdrive in an attempt to make up for the lost time.

If you find yourself in this situation, you should focus on building mileage in the weeks you have available and adjusting your marathon goals accordingly.

Runners who try and overreach with the training time they have remaining are setting themselves up for failure and frustration.

Training for a Marathon in 5 Weeks <- For a good example of this; here's how (and why) I trained for Berlin Maraton in five weeks!

5. Don’t Try to Fit Too Many Types of Session into a Given Week

Consider training on a 14-day cycle, rather than a 7-day cycle if you want to find a way of incorporating track intervals, hill reps workouts, tempo sessions and other types of quality work into your marathon training week. Trying to fit all these sessions into a 7-day window will leave too little time for rest and recovery.

Good luck with training for your first marathon!

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The post Five Essential Training Tips I Wish I Knew Before My First Marathon appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.

Running Technique Analysis of Brigid Kosgei

You may have seen Brigid Kosgei win the women’s race at Chicago Marathon this year (2019) with an incredible world record time of 2:14:04, absolutely obliterating the long-standing previous record of 2:15:25 held by Paula Radcliffe.

I always find it fascinating to study the running styles of elite athletes (here’s my analysis of Eliud Kipchoge’s running form), to gain insights into how they run so efficiently.

Well… if not EFFICIENTLY then definitely EFFECTIVELY!

Brigid Kosgei is, in fact, a great case study to demonstrate how a runner whose technique is far from what might be perceived as “textbook”, can still perform to the very highest level in the world of distance running.

There’s hope for us all!

Running Technique Quick Guide >>
Free Download [PDF]

Notes on Brigid Kosgei’s Running Form

There are a number of aspects of Kosgei’s running techinque that I want to highlight, and points from the video above that I want to re-iterate.

Specifically the way in which she heel strikes, her lack of hip stability (and subsequent hip drop) and her very pronounced swiniging arm action.

Let’s take a look at these traits one-by-one…

Kosgei’s Foot Strike

It’s clear to see that Kosgei run with a heel striking running gait, which certainly is contary to what some people will have you believe in suggesting that “all elite Kenyan runners forefoot strike”!

What’s clear to see, however, when it comes to Brigid Kosgei’s heel strike is that it occurs close to beneath a flexing knee. Achieving this landing position relative to her centre of mass allows her to run without signifigantly overstriding.

Even when she’s running all-out at world record marathon pace!

This type of “light” or proprioceptive heel strike allows Kosgei to run in a way which is natural and sustainable for her body without being hindered by the braking forces that come with a more typical “heavy” overstriding heel strike, as we see from many recreational runners.

Don’t Believe the Heel Strike Hype <- Learn more about a proprioceptive heel strike here

Hip Stability & “Hip Drop”

Watching video footage of Brigid Kosgei running in slow-motion from the front (or rear), it’s clear to see a noticable hip drop, or Trendelenburg sign in both left and right side stance.

This indicates that glute medius in particular isn’t doing a great job of providing lateral stability around the standing hip.

I have no knowledge of Kosgei’s injury history, so I’m unable to make any sensible comments about how this does or doesn’t affect her.

Clearly she’s able to log the miles in training from week-to-week to get into world record form, so I’m going to assume she’s not suffering from any significant running injuries!

However, aside from theoretical injury risk, this type of poor hip and pelvic control when running can have knock-on consequences for the upper body and arm carriage.

Simply put, her arms and torso have to alter their natural running action to create a counter-balance for the movement around the hip and pelvic region.

Which brings me on to her very distinctive running arm swing…

Arm Swing & Torso Rotation

When we all run (and walk for that matter), our arms fulfil an important role in providing a dampening mechanism for the rotation of the torso.

In fact it’s the rotation of the torso that counters the opposite rotation of the pelvis on each stride.

If you didn’t have your arms swinging efficiently by your side as you run, you’d feel much more rotation through your torso.

Try it – next time you’re out for a run, cross your arms behind your back and keep running.

You’ll immediately feel as if you’re rotating more from side to side with each stride!

Understanding this rotation and counter-rotation should hopefully help you appreciate the way in which, if there’s excessive movement around the hips and pelvis, the arms will try and counter-act the movement to find overall balance.

That’s exactly what appears to be happening with Kosgei’s running style.

Now the question is: What would I do about her arm swing as a coach/therapist?

As described in the video, even if I did see her arm swing as being “inefficient” I certainly wouldn’t ask Brigid Kosgei to change anything consciously with her upper body. Her arms are doing what they need to do to find balance, as a result of the instability around her hips.

Instead, I’d use the observations made about her arm swing as a clue as to where the weak links might exist, and what to work on from a strength and conditioning perspective.

I’d maybe get her working on a little more hip stability work.

Then again, she just smashed the world record… so what do I know?!

Applying the lessons from studying Brigid Kosgei’s Running Technique

As ever, there’s a lot to learn from watching elite runners, and of course running technique is just one piece of the puzzle. I haven’t even touched on footwear, which is hot topic right now with the Nike Vaporflys, her physiology, or training of course.

When it comes to taking what we learn and applying it to our own running, sometimes we can be really specific with one really tangible tip (like running with a “short lever” arm swing).

This time, I feel the biggest take-home learning point is more holistic…

While we can see that Brigid Kosgei’s running technique ticks many of the usual boxes in terms of not particularly overstriding, running with a high cadence, and minimising vertical oscillation, she also has a very unconverntional running style in other ways.

It just goes to reinforce the idea that there is no single “best” way to run, and that moreso we should be looking for the best way for our own individual bodies.

Read Next >>
ELIUD KIPCHOGE RUNNING TECHNIQUE ANALYSIS

The post What Can You Learn From Brigid Kosgei’s World Record Breaking Running Form? appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.

The simple answer is: Yes, most runners will be able to continue training with IT band syndrome.

However, if you do continue to run with iliotibial band syndrome, while you’re unlikely to do any long-term damage, you will most likely delay the time it takes your body to make a full recovery.

Running through IT band syndrome, while possible if you’re willing to endure some discomfort, will extend the time it takes before you can once again run without knee pain.

If you’re currently suffering from iliotibial band syndrome, you’ll be all too familiar with the pain around the outside of the knee.

You’re also maybe wondering if you can continue marathon training with iliotibial band syndrome.

Every year, lots of runners successfully train for, and complete marathons despite suffering from iliotibial band syndrome. However, you will most likely need to adjust your marathon training plan, and race goals to take the injury and its symptoms into account.

Later in this article, I’ll explain how you can adjust your training plan to enable you to continue marathon training with IT band syndrome.

First, let’s begin by getting a better understanding of the injury itself…

Fix Your Knee Pain >>
Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

What is Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

Iliotibial band syndrome is an inflammatory response of the fat pad between the insertion of the iliotibial band – a thick layer of connective tissue – and the bony prominence around the outside of the knee called the lateral femoral condyle.

As an overuse injury, IT band syndrome often strikes runners as they increase their training load in preparation for an upcoming event, such as a marathon or half marathon.

Historically, we thought of iliotibial band syndrome as an issue of friction (repetitive bending of the knee), but more modern evidence suggests it is more an issue of compression.

What Causes IT Band Syndrome? <- Learn more about the common causes of iliotibial band syndrome

Image via @afranklynmiller. Illustrated by Levent Efe

IT band syndrome is relatively common in endurance athletes, especially distance runners and cyclists due to the repetitive nature of both the running and cycling leg action.

Symptoms typically present on the outside of the knee, rather than around the kneecap, and once aggravated generally become more severe as a given workout progresses in duration.

Running a Marathon with Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Let’s get to the big question for those of us with training for a marathon, half marathon, or similar running event…

Will running through IT band syndrome cause you further damage?

The answer to this question is actually very simple:

As uncomfortable as it may be, running through the pain of IT band syndrome is unlikely to cause you any further damage.

Think of iliotibial band syndrome as an issue of irritated tissue, rather than one of damaged tissue.

Continuing to run with iliotibial band syndrome is unlikely to result in further tissue damage, but may make your symptoms worse in the short-term by continuing to irritate the already inflamed fat pad.

My typical analogy here is to think about scratching an insect bite:

Scratching an insect bite rarely makes things better. In fact, we often regret doing it, and would have been better leaving the insect bite alone to let the body’s natural healing processes occur!

So, what can you do to encourage the healing process, treat the pain, and reduce the irritability of your IT band syndrome?

Below I’ve detailed a simple approach you can take to treating IT band syndrome…

Four Steps to Healing Iliotibial Band Syndrome Quickly

As with all injuries, a treatment plan for IT band syndrome needs to be designed for the individual. That said, these simple steps will usually be involved:

1. Reduce Your Training Load to Give Your Knee Pain a Chance to Settle

Whether, we’re talking about iliotibial band syndrome, patellofemoral pain (runner’s knee), or many of the other common “overuse” running injuries, training load management is essential to get your pain under control.

A reduction of your training load will help reduce the aggravating factors for your symptoms, and put your body in a position to heal more effectively, and reduce the irritation.

Of course, this is difficult advice to hear if you’re training for an upcoming event…

If you’re keen to continue training for your upcoming marathon, for example, try shortening the length of your runs but increasing how often you run.

Be sure to remember the following:

• The pain of IT band syndrome is usually aggravated by longer runs.
  Once severely irritated, your knee will take time to settle down before you can recommence your training.
• Weekly mileage is arguably more important than your long run duration when it comes to marathon training.
  However, You can keep your weekly mileage high with more frequent shorter runs, without aggravating your knee with longer sessions.

Training Load Management for Runner’s Knee <- Learn how to manage your injury without having to stop running completely

2. Get Pain Relief for Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Bearing in mind the inflammatory nature of the IT band syndrome, taking advantage of anti-inflammatory strategies are an important step to take in managing the injury.

Ice & Cryotherapy for Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Exactly how and why ice and cryotherapy works is very much still up for debate, but using an ice pack local to the irritated area can usually help with pain relief for IT band syndrome.

Anti-Inflammatory Medication for Iliotibial Band Syndrome

I usually advise that runners discuss a short course of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen or equivalent) with their GP or pharmacist and if symptoms are severe or irritable enough, a guided corticosteroid injection may be warranted.

Cortisone Injections for Runner’s Knee? Here’s What You Need to Know… <- Learn more about steroid injections for knee pain here

3. Increase Your Muscular Strength & Endurance

Building strength and endurance in key muscle groups around your knees and hips is a vital part of the rehabilitation process for runners dealing with iliotibial band syndrome.

Here’s a simple IT band syndrome rehab routine you might find helpful:

Muscles such as the quadriceps and glutes, and hamstrings will often require strengthening by way of a exercise-based rehab programme. In addition to strength, stability exercises will help your body control stress and strain on the knee as you run.

Check out the following link for more details about rehab exercises for runners who suffer from knee pain…

Fix Your Knee Pain >>
Free Rehab Guide [PDF]

4. Improve Your Running Technique

You may want to also consider changing the way that you run, to help you recover from iliotibial band syndrome.

This process isn’t straightforward, but if your symptoms are related to flaws in your running form, this may be something you need to change.

Most runners with ITB syndrome will benefit from either increasing their running cadence (step rate) or step width to help reduce excess strain on their IT band.

Proper Running Form: 6 Ways to Run More Efficiently <- Check out this article on how to improve your running technique

How Long Should You Rest From Running with Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

This question is, again, always specific to the individual runner. My answer will usually vary depending on the point in their training at which the pain of their IT band syndrome begins to become uncomfortable.

Some runners may need to rest completely from running for a period of time; while others may only need to reduce their running volume.

It all depends on how severe (how much does it hurt) and irritable (how long does it hurt after aggravation) your symptoms are…

If your symptoms are both severe and very irritable, a period of 2-4 weeks is usually sufficient to reduce/rest and allow other treatments to take effect, before you can consider gradually returning to running again.

If you absolutely have to keep running, this can usually be achieved with the help of an injection, but be warned, symptoms will always return if a complete rehabilitation approach is not applied.

As I always say: Rest from running alone isn’t sufficient… You have to work on the underlying weak links that predisposed you to iliotibial band syndrome in the first place.

Read Next >>
Discover the Underlying Causes of IT Band Syndrome

The post Can You Run with Iliotibial Band Syndrome? appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.

Training for your first marathon can seem very daunting. Trust me, I’ve been there!

Once you know many of the common mistakes made by first-time marathon runners, you’ll be able to avoid them and focus your marathon training efforts in the right places to achieve success on marathon day.

This video featuring five marathon training tips for beginners would be a great place for you to begin…

I’ve created this “ultimate guide” to accompany you on your marathon training journey.

In this article, I’ll be exploring the following topics in more detail:

1. How to Choose a Marathon Training Plan
2. Staying Injury Free During Your Training
3. Advice to Help You Through Long Training Runs
4. How to Stick to Your Marathon Training Plan
5. What Training Gear You Will Need

You might want to grab a coffee, as I’m going to break this down into quite some detail…

How to Select Your Marathon Training Plan

Picking the right marathon training plan to guide you through the process of training for your upcoming marathon is a crucial step in ensuring your success.

While you may not end-up following your chosen plan to the letter, setting off on this journey with a marathon training programme that doesn’t suit your needs, could potentially set you up for disappointment further down the line.

Let’s take a moment to look at what we need to take into account:

Beginners Marathon Plan: What Should You Look for?

There are a huge variety of free marathon training plans available online, many of which are specifically written for first-time marathoners. In deciding which might best suit you, a good place to start would be to ask yourself the following questions:

• What has your average weekly running mileage been for the last two months?
• How many times per week have you been running on average in the last two months?
• What’s the longest run you’ve completed in the last two months?
• What’s your ultimate goal for this first marathon? More on goal setting in a moment!

Having answered these questions, you’ll be more able to be realistic about your current level of training.

Many of the injuries sustained by first-time marathon runners, like shin splints, come as a consequence of increasing weekly mileage, long run duration or running frequency often a combination of the three too quickly. This is why it’s so important to choose a training plan that starts you off at a training load that your body is able to manage, then builds your training gradually across the duration of the programme.

Here’s an example of a free beginners marathon training programme [PDF] that I have created for you to download and follow.

How Long Does it Take to Train for a Marathon?

Most regular runners can successfully train for a marathon in twelve to eighteen weeks. You may well have noticed that there are marathon training plans available that span different time-frames. The training plan I linked to above is a sixteen-week plan, while some other plans are twelve or eighteen weeks long. The answer to how long it will take you to train for your first marathon really depends on your starting levels of running fitness.

This is why you’ll notice that in my beginner’s marathon training plan, there are a set of pre-requisites which should be met before embarking on the sixteen weeks of focused marathon training.

If you meet the pre-requisite levels of running fitness, then you will certainly be ready for your first marathon after sixteen weeks of following the running schedule. However, if you need 3-4 weeks to build up your running, to be ready to start the marathon training plan, then sixteen weeks could easily turn into twenty weeks.

Goal Setting for Your First Marathon

On a cold winter’s evening, it’s the motivation that comes from having set an inspiring goal that gets us out of the door and running. When it comes to marathon training so it is very important to set yourself meaningful goals.

These goals don’t always have to be time-related; in fact, for your first marathon, I’d rather you were more process orientated in your goals than outcome orientated. If you focus on successfully ticking off each of the long runs week-by-week during training, and on executing your pacing and nutrition plans on race day, the finish time will look after itself.

The only outcome based goal I really want a first-time marathoner to focus on is the goal of finishing strong and being able to look back a few days later and say “yeah, I’d do another”!

How Much Running Should You Do Before You Start Marathon Training?

It’s important that you have achieved a pre-requisite level of running fitness ahead of getting started with a given marathon training plan. As mentioned above, you don’t want to fall into the “too much too soon” trap by having to ramp your training load up too quickly at the start of the programme.

As a good rule of thumb, in the six weeks prior to the start of marathon training, your weekly running volume (miles per week) should be at least 90% of the weekly mileage stated in the first week of your marathon plan.

Similarly, your long runs in the weeks ahead of the start of your programme should have reached the distance/duration of the first long run stated in your marathon programme.

Time or Distance Based Marathon Plans?

As you start looking around at different marathon training programmes, and I suggest you compare a few before committing, you may notice that some stipulate specific distances you need to run each day, while others are time-based in their approach.

Both types of programme work, and have their own benefits. However, if you consider yourself to be a slower runner, you might want to take more of a time-based approach, particularly on your long runs.

There’s a point of diminishing return when it comes to the duration of your long run. For different runners, that point comes at different times. For some, it’ll be around the 3:00-hour mark, while others will be able to tolerate and recover well from a 3:30-hour long run.

Running beyond that point, you’re increasing the risk of injury, and placing more stress on your body than you need to; stress that you will take longer to recover from!

Unfortunately, nothing but experience will tell you what your body is able to cope with. My own cumulative experience of working with thousands of runners over the last decade tells me that it’s sensible for a beginner marathon runner to cap their long run at 18 miles or 3:30 hours, whatever comes first!

As such, for a runner pacing their long runs at roughly 11:45 minutes per mile or slower, time on your feet should be the main consideration, rather than focusing on distance. Building up to a 3:30 hour long run across the programme will work well.

The legendary running coach, Jack Daniels describes this concept well in the video below. Although I do feel a lot of slower runners struggle mentally with capping their long runs at 2:30 hours as he suggests, knowing that they will possibly be looking at a finish time of double that on race day.

The mental side can’t be overlooked. It’s a fine balance!

An effective way to both limit the long run duration, and build the resilience in your legs and time on your feet is to run “big training weekends” where you run 10-12 miles on the Saturday and 18 miles on the Sunday. This long run on tired legs mimics the demands of a longer training run well, while potentially reducing injury risk.

Do You Need to Run a Marathon in Training?

This is one of the most common questions I hear first-time marathoners asking. It’s always been a misconception that you have to run the full marathon distance in training.

Hopefully, the points made above paint a clear picture of the increased injury risk of running beyond 3:00-3:30 hours in a given long run. Faster runners will be able to cover a lot of distance in that time, but for many first-time marathon runners, this will cap the long runs around the 18-mile mark.

As I discussed in this post on Facebook, you’ll get more benefit from increasing your weekly mileage, than by dragging out the long run duration.

Is it OK to Walk?… and What is “Jeffing”?

It’s completely understandable to want to run every step of your first marathon, and a great achievement for those who do. However, it’s absolutely fine to walk at times. It makes you no less of a runner!

In fact, there have been some very fast marathons run using variations of Jeff Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run Method. The fastest I have found cited is 2:33 hours by a male runner who interspersed 15-second walk breaks into each of the first 20 miles of his race!

That said, I often suggest a more achievable approach of using a 9 minute : 1 minute ratio of run-walk for first-time marathon runners.

The principles of run-walk-run include:

• Continuous use of a muscle will result in quicker fatigue
• Run-walk-run enables better control of effort and fatigue

As a quick and important side-note: If you’re thinking of using run-walk-run for your marathon, be sure to practice the strategy on your long training runs, rather than saving it for marathon day itself.

A run-walk-run strategy isn’t something you should revert to when you get tired, instead it’s a strategy you should employ from the start as a means of reducing fatigue.

In the same way that they say “when you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated”, when you feel like you can no longer run non-stop, the damage is done!

On that note, it’s important to appreciate how much of a mental game distance running is! Here are some mindset tips and strategies you can use to help you keep running with you get tired: How to run without stopping.

It’s also easier to take-on race nutrition and hydration during a walk break, than it is when you’re running… which is a clear bonus!

What Type of Fitness Do You Need to Run a Marathon?

When it comes to marathon training, there are all kinds of training sessions and running workouts you’ll find in different training schedules. These can vary from the long slow distance (LSD) runs to lactate threshold workouts, with lots of others in between!

Each of these different types of running workout has its own purpose, and target specific energy systems to develop different types of running fitness.

Whether you’re a first-time marathoner, or more experienced runner with many marathons under the belt, the aspect of your fitness that will most affect your marathon performance is your level of aerobic endurance.

This type of fitness is developed through mile-after-mile of easy (think: ‘conversational’) paced running, which is one of the big reasons why the weekly long run is so very important. Another reason being that those long runs help build time on your feet and resilience in the legs.

If you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you’ll soon be training for your first ever marathon. Whether you’re stepping up in distance from regular 5-10km events, or perhaps you’re run a few half marathons, the demands on your aerobic endurance are going to be significant in weeks and months to come. The good news is that your body can and will adapt, and develop the required endurance base!

More experienced marathon runners may well already have a significant base of aerobic endurance built-up, carried over from training for previous events. For these runners, more emphasis can be placed on “speed work” like interval sessions and tempo workouts each week. Think of these sessions as “fine tuning”.

For you as a first-time marathon runner, I’d rather see you focus your efforts on building aerobic endurance throughout your marathon training programme; lots of easy paced running with a focus on building your weekly mileage and long run duration.

Remember – the biggest pitfall to avoid is the “too much too soon” trap! Ramping-up your weekly mileage and the amount of intense running you’re doing at this same time will have you treading a fine line between training hard and injury. Your focus for this first marathon should be to build mileage safely and develop the endurance required for the 26.2 mile distance.

What Kind of Speedwork Should You Be Doing Before Your Marathon?

Speedwork can be a valuable tool for your marathon training success. However, I’d argue that for your first marathon there’s no need to be hitting the track to do 400m and 800m repeats, or similar interval workouts.

In my experience, the most appropriate types of speed training for first-time marathon runners come in the form of tempo workouts and hill training.

There are many different definitions of what constitutes tempo effort running. The description I feel best describes what you should be looking for when it comes to tempo effort running is:

Running at the hardest effort you can maintain for sixty minutes.

I often describe this as feeling “sustainably uncomfortable”!

An example of a suitable tempo workout would be:

• 1 mile easy paced warm up
• 2 miles at tempo effort
• 1 mile easy paced recovery
• 2 miles at tempo effort
• 1 mile easy paced cool down

Simply put, this kind of session teaches your body to run more efficiently at faster paces, both physiologically and psychologically preparing you to make target marathon pace feel more comfortable… relatively!

How to Predict Your Marathon Finish Time

Having just mentioned “target marathon pace”, I should really mention a useful free tool that is available to help you estimate not only your projected marathon finish time but also the training paces at which you should be running your different types of session.

Jack Daniels’ VDOT calculator is worth checking out, as it lets you input a recent time over a known distance, and comes back with training paces and estimated finish times for multiple distances, including the marathon distance.

One word of caution though… when using the VDOT calculator, be sure to input a true recent finish time and NOT your dream marathon finish time. While reverse engineering the process like this is tempting, it’s more likely to result in you over-reaching in your training, trying to hit unrealistic training paces for your current fitness level.

That’s how runners get injured!

Instead, base the training paces on your current level of fitness.

The pace will improve in time, as you get fitter!

How to Train for a Marathon Without Getting Injured

Running injuries like shin splints and ITB syndrome are some of the biggest challenges us marathon runners face, not to mention the source of frustration and pain. Factors such as running biomechanics, strength and stability all come into play when determining how and why a runner has become injured during their training, however, the most common cause of these injuries is training errors.

There are a number of common training errors which many runners become guilty of during marathon training, subsequently increasing injury risk.

Here are a few examples of such marathon training errors:

1. Running Too Much, Too Soon

When training for your first marathon, it can be all too easy to fall into the trap of increasing your training load too quickly, especially when you can see the date of your marathon getting closer and closer in the diary.

For those of us who have perhaps left it a few weeks later than would be ideal to start training properly, the temptation is to ramp the mileage up quickly to “get back on track”. The risk in doing this is that you’ll be increasing the demands on your body, faster than your body has the chance to adapt and grow stronger.

The whole idea of training is to make use of the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand). You place stress on your body, in this case, the various demands of running, and in response, your body will adapt to be able to better cope with these demands next time you stress it similarly.

The SAID principle works, just so long as:

1. You don’t over-do the “imposed demand” aspect in a given time frame, and instead, look to make incremental increases over a sensible period.
2. Enough time and the right environment (nutrition, sleep, etc…) is provided for your body to recover between workouts. It’s during these recovery periods that adaptation occurs within your body.

When we break these rules, the stress we’re placing on the body begins to have more of a cumulative effect, while the body’s capacity to recover and adapt fails. That’s when injuries happen and marathon training comes crashing off the rails.

Of course, the challenge is that we all have different bodies, athletic histories, and levels of resilience to training load. The best thing you can do is evaluate where you are now in terms of weekly mileage and only increase by ~15% per week at most. Be sure to also schedule an easier “adaptation” week every fourth or fifth week of your training plan. This adaptation week with reduced weekly mileage will allow your body to recover from the previous few week’s training, before pushing yourself again during the subsequent few weeks.

2. Inadequate Recovery Between Runs

As mentioned in the previous point, physiologically speaking it’s not while we run that our fitness levels improve, rather it’s after the workout, while your body gets a chance to rest, recover and adapt.

You could train like a hero, but if you don’t give your body time to recover between bouts of exercise, you won’t see the results you expect. Worse still you’ll probably get hurt.

When it comes to recovery, there’s more to consider than just taking a little more time to rest between runs (although that’s obviously a key part of it!).

If you’ve just finished a long run, perhaps the worst thing you can do later in the day is a high-intensity gym session a few hours later, or perhaps the following morning. You may be up for it mentally, due to the ‘easy’ nature of the long run, but your body will still be in the early stages of recovery. By all means, go to a yoga/pilates class or any non-weight bearing cardio exercise. This kind of active recovery workout may actually promote recovery.

3. Poor Balance of Running Intensity & Volume

Be sure not to fall into the trap of thinking that every run you do has to be hard work, otherwise it “doesn’t count”. The same goes for weekly mileage. It’s important that you’re doing both hard sessions and high mileage weeks, but both at the right time and in the right amounts!

For beginner marathon runners, I’m usually more interested in seeing their weekly mileage increase over the course of a marathon training block, rather than pushing the speed work. At most you should be doing only one-speed session per week.

Injuries often occur when runners attempt to both increase weekly mileage (training volume) and intensity (doing more speed training than they’re used to) at once. Most first-time marathon runners will benefit most from improving their endurance base by increasing weekly easy running mileage, rather than trying to squeeze more speed sessions into each training week.

Matt Fitzgerald’s 80/20 Running is an interesting read on this specific philosophy.

4. Neglecting Strength & Mobility Training

There’s no getting away from it; running is a high-impact activity, and logging a lot of miles will take its toll on your muscles, joints and bones. It is so important to make time for regular strength and mobility training. Regular strength, stability and mobility workouts will help build resilience as a runner and make you more resistant to injury.

Here is an article on strength workouts for injury-free marathon training

5. Not Performing Regular Maintenance

Rather than waiting for an injury to strike before you get professional treatment, it may be worth you considering soft tissue treatments like a sports massage. Hands-on treatment once every fortnight or so can help you stay injury free by working any imbalances and niggles before they become full-blown injuries.

If regular trips to see a massage therapist aren’t your cup of tea, self-massage techniques such as foam rolling are a fantastic option in helping you stay uninjured. Here’s a selection of foam rolling techniques for runners.

6. Not Listening to Your Body

This is the point that underpins every other piece of advice in this section.

Learning to listen to your body as a runner is so very important. When marathon training, you’re logging the miles in your legs and putting your body under significant stress – we need this stress to create adaptation and improve fitness over time.

At times during your marathon training block, your body will be trying to communicate with you – whether that’s in the form of getting a slight cold or an annoying twinge in your knee. These might be nothing, or might be the first signs of a more significant problem. We’re all different, but the best rule of thumb is to get any slight problems checked-out before they get serious enough to stop you running.

How to Master Your Long Marathon Training Runs

The vast majority or marathon training programmes are built around the weekly long run, helping you build endurance and strength. These long training runs are an essential part of your preparation, but can also be rather intimidating. There are however a number of things you can do to make an 18 mile run (for example) a far more achievable, enjoyable experience, not something you need to become stressed about.

Consider Running with Friends or a Local Running Club

By far one of the best ways to stay motivated to get your long training runs done is to run with friends or a running club! Getting your long runs done with other people is so valuable as it:

1. Gives you a degree of accountability – if you’ve made plans to run together, you’re more likely not to procrastinate!
2. Provides the opportunity for conversation during the run, providing a welcome distraction to make the miles pass quicker.

Dressing Appropriately for the Long Run

Even if it feels cold when you step outside, as a rule of thumb, it is always best to dress for the middle of your long run because your body will soon increase in temperature 2-3 miles into your run.

If you do need to dress for cold weather, it’s always better to layer-up with multiple garments, rather than wearing a light top and a heavy jacket over the top. That way you can remove layers stage-by-stage, rather than being left in an all-or-nothing situation.

Long Run Nutrition & Hydration

Getting your long run nutrition and hydration strategy right is something that will require a little trial and error! It will take a few attempts to see what sources of nutrition work best for you on your long runs. and if you are using gels for your source of energy, finding what brand works best for you.

Here’s a great interview with elite runner Tina Muir with practical tips for long run nutrition and hydration:

How to Pace Your Long Marathon Training Runs

I’m often asked how the long training run should feel. The pace of your weekly long run should feel “easy”. I know that’s a very subjective measure, so a better way of describing the effort level is that is should feel like you’re able to maintain a flowing conversation throughout every stage of your run. At no point should you feel out of breath.

There are ways of estimating what pace this easy pace should equate to; using a recent 10k, 10 mile, or half marathon race result can be useful when parsed through training pace calculators such as Jack Daniel’s VDOT.

Another good rule of thumb is to think of your long run as being a session where, by the end, you’ll feel the fatigue in your legs (and perhaps core region), rather than you feeling your lungs working hard!

Target Marathon Pace Blocks & Fast Finish Long Runs

This may not be something you want to incorporate into training for your first marathon, but adding sections of target marathon pace running into your long runs will help you get comfortable with the required race pace. Given that the majority of your long runs should be slower than target marathon pace, adding blocks of 2-3 miles running at target marathon pace in the middle of your long run will help you get used to running at the faster pace on tired legs.

The same principle applies for “fast finish” long runs; if you can pick up the pace to target marathon pace for the last 6 miles of an 18 mile long run, your confidence will certainly be boosted come race day.

Sticking to Your Marathon Training Plan

It’s completely normal for us runners to have to deal with not only the threat of injury and illness but also the pressures of everyday life. Not being professional athletes, we all have work demands, family commitments, and other factors that add complexity to your schedule are all to be navigated from week to week.

Here are a few tips you can use to successfully find a balance between your running and things that life throws in your way!

Don’t Play Catch-up

If “life” does get in the way, you get injured or are sick for a couple of days, don’t try and keep up with the training you were doing previously. Even though you may feel like you can still run the same mileage and/or pace, your body may say otherwise.

Here is an in-depth post on how to avoid panic training!

Respect the “Neck Rule”

Especially if you’re training through the winter for a spring marathon, you may find yourself picking up a cold at some point. Symptoms can vary to include nasal congestion, a sore throat, a cough and/or respiratory problems. It’s hard as a runner to know what you can train through, and when you should rest.

There’s a simple rule you can apply: as soon as symptoms move below the neckline, you should stop running until the symptoms have passed. Reason being is that you could potentially make yourself much worse due to putting a strain on your respiratory system.

Anything above the neckline, stick to easier mileage, for now, there is no point risking worsening your illness by worrying about performing more intense workouts. Keep the legs ticking-over until your symptoms pass. Of course, hydration, nutrition, sleep, etc are all more important than ever at this point!

Hierarchy of Sessions

When it comes to the order of priority sessions in your marathon training week, the long run is king. It’s a runner’s bread and butter and builds the aerobic endurance needed to run 26.2 miles. Looking back at the point above about not playing catch-up; if you need to miss a session in the middle of the week, let it go. Just know that the most important session, the one not to be missed, is the long run. If you have to reschedule a long run, this is the only type of session I usually encourage runners to “find a way to” to get done!

Adjusting Your Expectations

Sometimes training doesn’t go to plan, missed days turn into missed weeks, and that marathon finish time that you wanted when you started training is now an unrealistic target. Knowing when to adjust these expectations is important to avoid disappointment, and to make sure you get your pacing right on the day.

This is where training events can become really handy. If you plan a half marathon for about six weeks before your marathon, you’ll get an objective indication of your level of fitness at that point, and will be able to see how well you’re on track (or otherwise) for your marathon goal.

What Marathon Training Gear Will You Need?

One of the most appealing aspects of running as an activity is how lightweight it is in terms of equipment needed to not just get started, but get good! This is particularly true in comparison to cycling or skiing for example. As long as I have my running shoes, I’m good to go!

That said, there are a few pieces of kit you will either definitely need (like shoes) or want to consider when embarking on a marathon training programme…

Picking Your Running Shoes

The world of running shoes can be an absolute minefield. It can be very easy to get sucked into the hype of in-store gait analysis, but at the end of the day, you have to choose a running shoe that is comfortable for you. After all, you are going to be logging hundreds of miles in them in the coming weeks and months.

Running shoe selection is best described as “an art guided by science”, as a good sports podiatrist friend of mine puts it. Frustratingly, the flimsy science that most running stores base their gait analysis service on, in an effort to select the right shoe for your foot, provides very hit and miss results.

This video presentation on running shoe selection will hopefully help you in making a more educated decision when it comes to buying your next pair of running shoes:

Running Shoe Rotation Strategies

Having two or more pairs of running shoes on rotation can make a real difference in terms of the stresses and strains placed on your body during marathon training. In my coaching experience, particularly if you’re prone to overuse injuries from the knee downwards, varying the shoes you run in may create a more varied workout for your feet and legs. This is better than reinforcing the same loading pattern run-after-run in the same shoes.

The variety found from shoe rotation may help you avoid some of the common overuse injuries we see in runners.

I recorded a podcast episode on Shoe Rotation to Prevent Running Injuries that you may find interesting.

Do You Need a GPS Watch or Heart Rate Monitor?

Wearable fitness technology is constantly evolving, and now we have devices that can provide us with all manner of metrics about our training, and even running form. The depth of data available is all really interesting to a geek like me, but in no way essential.

At the time of writing this article, I run with a Garmin 235, a mid-range running watch with GPS and heart rate monitor.

If you’re looking to run your first marathon, I would recommend investing in a running watch to track your mileage and pace. Although that said, you can get exactly the same basic data from smartphone apps like the Strava app, without the need for an additional device purchase.

That brings me on to my favourite use for the data you create when running. For me, it’s less about knowing my “ground contact time”, or “vertical oscillation”, and more about being able to track my fitness and objectively see progress. Integrating the data with Garmin Connect, or Strava is a fantastic way to visualise your training and create a dynamic training log. This is a HUGE motivation tool for me.

As far as heart rate monitors go; most running watches will have a heart rate monitor built-in. Whether you choose to use the data or not is up to you, and is in no way a pre-requisite to successful marathon preparation. If you’d like to learn more about heart rate training, here’s a great resource from Jason Fitzgerald.

Personally, I’ve found heart rate monitoring most useful for making sure that I don’t run too fast on my long slow runs. Keeping the pace/effort appropriately easy is key to getting the aerobic benefit from these runs. Objectively setting an upper limit that you allow your heart rate to reach on the run is a great way of doing this!

Ladies: Invest in a Sports Bra

A long time ago, I worked in a specialist running retailer and went on various staff training courses: shoes fitting, running watches, etc… The most alien course to me as a male employee was sports bra fitting. Male and female employees were split into separate groups and had very different training days. The female group had a day of practical learning, where we were very much on a theory course!

Key points I took from the day were:

• How very important sports bras are for many female runners
• The huge difference a good sports bra can make in terms of running comfort
• That many ladies seem unaware that running shouldn’t be uncomfortable, and that a good bra can make all the difference

If you’d like to learn more, check out this video on how to get the right fit for your sports bra. Here is a video on the importance of a sports bra, and here is an in-depth article on sports bras vs normal bras.

Final Thoughts on Running Gear

There are so many bits of kit you *could* go out and buy, and why not! The most important piece of advice on running kit when it comes to running your first marathon is to make sure that you test everything you intend to use on marathon day, well in advice. Practice with your shoes, clothes, nutrition, hydration, everything!

As a good example that there’s no single right way to do it, my good friend Paul Addicott ran his first marathon dressed as a rhino!

Check out Paul’s post on running a marathon.

What Questions Do You Have?

If you’re training for your first marathon, good luck! I’m sure there are lots of unanswered questions about your training and marathon day itself.

I’d love to be able to answer your marathon training questions…

Leave your questions in the comments below.

The post How to Train for Your First Marathon appeared first on Kinetic Revolution - Run Strong, Injury Free - Running Blog.