Advice; running when not fully fit...

[T40ORA]

I've posted this on Runners World but thought I would post here too, in case there are some medics viewing.

The short of it is that due to tearing a muscle in her right calf twice (and the snow over the last 8 days)my wife has not managed to get enough training in for her second marathone, scheduled next Saturday. To add insult to injury she now has a really bad cold and chesty cough - like she smokes 20 a day!

She's managed a longest run of about 13 miles since her marathon on the 26th September due to the calf problems and the snow. The physio had originally said that she should be OK to run next Saturday as long as her training was nice and steady, no rough terrain and no sprinting. Her calf is still tight after any run, and is visibly swollen/larger than her other one.

My question is, purely from a health perspective, what is the advisability of running for 26 miles, having only run a max distance of 13 over the last 11 - 12 weeks, with a weakened calf and having just recovered from a bad cold and chesty cough (assuming it has cleared)? I know the advice that if it is in the chest you should rest.

Logic/gut feel whatever tells me that she is mad to contemplate this (I don't have a cold or an injury other than my fecking hip wearing out but having only got up to about 15 miles in my training before being snowed off I've already decided to give it a miss) but as with all husband/wife scenarios she won't listen to my thoughts/advice.

Would it be dangerous/ a bad idea for her to do this, or am I being alarmist?

Medics - your thoughts please?

TIA

[996 sps]

Logic would say for her not to do it, I ve no doubt you ve heard this before but the tear could become worse and instead of her being out for 6 weeks it could be 6 months.

If she has a personal reasons why she must complete it i.e. charity raising or motivation via other sources then i d be icing for 20 mins every 90 mins, getting some deep tissue massage. Training wise i d get an aqua belt and hydro running to death, loads of flexibility light calf strengthening exercises. Then come the day of the event get tape/strapping done to off load the calf area which is injuried.

Not advised but up to your good lady but I used to dose myself up with painkillers during events if needed.

Hope that answers your question, there is plenty of marathons to complete if there is no essential need of doing this one.

[T40ORA]

What about her cold and cough? Her breathing is onviously compromised at the moment. Or would her inherent level of fitness see her through. The chest, claf AND lack of preparation together worry me.

[ewenm]

Missing training this close to the race is not an issue. Nothing she can do now is going to improve her time, only detract from it.

Of bigger concern is the breathing. I wouldn't start a marathon if I had lung/chest issues. There are lots of marathons out there if you avoid the big must enter months in advance races.

Edited by ewenm on Sunday 5th December 21:19

[goldblum]

I ran a half marathon in October after having gone three weeks with no run at all.My speed was very good (10 mile pb in fact!) but my lack of stamina told and

'the wall' hit me at 11 miles and nearly doubled my mile times thereafter.Three weeks previously I'd done 15 miles pretty quick no probs.

However...

I'd just got over a sore throat/cough two days previously and decided to risk it - bad idea.I felt terrible for 2 weeks and my training has only just recovered now.

Felt like I'd been hit by a truck!

[996 sps]

T40ORA said:

What about her cold and cough? Her breathing is onviously compromised at the moment. Or would her inherent level of fitness see her through. The chest, claf AND lack of preparation together worry me.

You put that the chest had cleared in your first post, she ll know if she can do it or not, there are plenty of marathons to enter if she does not feel well enough.

[T40ORA]

996 sps said:

T40ORA said:

What about her cold and cough? Her breathing is onviously compromised at the moment. Or would her inherent level of fitness see her through. The chest, claf AND lack of preparation together worry me.

You put that the chest had cleared in your first post, she ll know if she can do it or not, there are plenty of marathons to enter if she does not feel well enough.

Sadly, she is sometimes not totally rational about what she can do compared to what she wants to do. Which is why I started the thread to get some advice; to either put my mind at rest or give her some data to analyse (she's an SDI green, Kolb reflector/theorist or pyscho-babble aside likes to process lots of data!).

BTW I said "assuming" her chest has cleared, which I think is unlikely as she is still coughing like a 20 a day smoker.