Running the Virtual London Marathon #40thRace

Image courtesy of Virgin Money London Marathon.

Running the Virtual London Marathon #40thRace

Inevitably, as with pretty much every event ever scheduled for 2020, the London Marathon has been rescheduled and changed format to allow for the safety measures needed to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic. If you hadn’t heard, it is going ahead on its rescheduled date of Sunday October 4th 2020 in various formats.

The elite race will be held in a closely controlled biosphere environment on a closed lapped circuit in St James’s  Park. Those with a place in the mass-participation 2020 event can take part in The 40th Race by running the famous 26.2 mile marathon distance virtually, anywhere they like from 00:00 to 23:59:59 BST on Sunday 4th October. If you don’t have a place yet, there are apparently still charity places available (at time of publishing this blog post). You can search for them with this link.

Ways to run your #40thRace London Marathon

Without the build up on the day, forty thousand fellow runners and the crowds cheering you on, the motivation to start and complete your remote marathon could be difficult to come by. You could just step out of your front door in your standard running kit and run your marathon, but why not mix it up a bit? You don’t even have to run it all in one go.

We’ve found some ideas to make it more fun and help with motivation at the same time.

You could:

• Get a household member  to drop you off somewhere else and you can run the distance home – it’s quite a motivation to know that you’ve got to get home.

• Run to a destination 26.2 miles away, having arranged to meet someone with a medal and a space blanket to collect you at your finish point.

• Set up a route that goes past the houses of some of your friends so they can cheer you on, fill up your waterbottles or have a good chat with you.

• Run a route which takes in local landmarks or tourist attractions for some interest (and good photos?).

• Get your friends to run or walk a few miles or the whole route with you, socially distanced, of course.

• Use the full 24 hours! Run a mile every hour (plus a couple of extra miles in one of the hours) and use the rest of the hour to do all those small jobs you never get around to such as hanging pictures, cleaning your car, weeding your front garden etc – just like Beau Miles did in his 24 hour marathon challenge.

• Run your marathon in fancy dress, even if you hadn’t been planning to this year. Do train in your outfit to check that it’s ok to run in though!

We really shouldn’t need to say this but we will - do remember to stay socially distanced and within Government rules at all times. Stay hydrated and well-fuelled and look after yourself.

Don’t forget to consider your post race recovery as well. Emily, our sports massage therapist and resident triathlon coach, gave us her Top Tips For Marathon Recovery last year.

Have a great #40thRace!

Don’t forget that we’re open for face to face consultations at The Lansdowne Club and virtual consultations from the comfort of your own home via Zoom so if you’ve got any niggles or injuries, call us for an appointment on 02030 12 12 22.

Words by NoviceRunnerNik, image courtesy of Virgin Money London Marathon.

Injury of the month: marathon injuries

Injury of the month: marathon injuries

With the London Marathon* approaching fast it’s a critical time for participants as they increase their running distances preparing for the gruelling 26.2 miles ahead.  It’s a time when niggles may well turn into more significant injuries so it is key to be aware of some of the common injuries; how to spot them and what to do to try to avoid them progressing and ensure you get to the starting line but more importantly the finishing line!

Here are two of the main injuries we see related to marathon training:

Shin Splints

Shin splints is a bit of an umbrella and non-specific term which refers to pain in and around the shin. There are two main areas which cause problems.

Anterior shin pain located in the muscles at the front of the shin occurs when there is excess load in these muscles and they can become inflamed, as can the fascia (the surrounding tissue around the muscle).  Typically this will be painful when pointing the toes and ankle up and during running, to the point where it can cause you to stop.

The other area is on the inside of the shin, MTSS (Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome). Again the muscles and the fascia become overloaded and inflamed and here the can affect the bone as well. The tension from the soft tissue can place load on the bone which then becomes inflamed and in more severe cases can lead to stress fractures.

Resting pain, pain at night and significant pain to touch the shin may indicate a more severe injury. Poor biomechanics, inappropriate footwear, tight calf muscles, poor stability and excessive training loads are contributing factors.

ITB friction syndrome / runner's knee

Although not exclusive to runners, the above pathology is seen mainly in runners and in particular longer distance runners.  The actual cause of the pain itself is still uncertain but the consensus is that there it is from excessive friction between the tendon on the outside of the knee (Iliotibial Band tendon) and the structures underneath it attaching to the outside of the knee. 

The friction is mainly caused at about 30 degrees of knee flexion which is the approximate angle the foot hits the floor when running.  The pain is very well located to the outside of the knee, can be sharp and stabbing like.  The pain often comes on after a specific time or distance of running and can be severe enough to cause you to stop. As it becomes more intense, it may even be painful to bend the knee and not just be painful with running. 

Again, contributing factors can be, weak gluteal muscles, tight thigh and anterior hip muscles, poor running biomechanics, and inappropriate increase in training loads.

Treatment

For both of the above injuries it is important to get an early diagnosis as this will help prevent the injury from worsening. The quicker earlier intervention is implemented the better the chance that the injury can be managed for the rest of the training until race day.

A physiotherapist will be able to assess the injury and assess what the contributing factors are by having a detailed assessment of the body, the way it moves and also look at external factors such as training methods.

With not long to go, it may well be a case of reducing the training and substituting some runs with some rest and gym sessions to work on problem areas. Marathon runners often over train the running aspect and neglect the strength and gym work which is crucial to maintaining good biomechanics and reducing the load on sensitive structures.

As well as correcting any imbalances with hands on treatment, a physio will put together a rehab plan with exercises and self help advice to ensure all areas are covered.

As always, prevention is better than cure so if you'd like us to check out any issues or if you'd like a pre-marathon sports massage, call us on  02030 12 12 22 to make an appointment.

* Other spring marathons are available.

Words by Alex Manos.