Hitting the Training Wall

Last year at this time, I was busy training for the Portland Marathon - and by busy, I mean, trying to crank out the miles quickly since I decided in July that I would go for it. I was adding a fairly modest 1 1/2 miles per week on the long run, but I didn't have the base, and I wasn't going slow enough. (There is a great advantage to running with the training groups, and that is that they keep you from making silly mistakes like this!) I struggled with injuries and burnout. I did a 16 miler the third week in August, and then I hit the wall.

That 16 mile run was so painful that I quit running for a week. I hobbled on sore hamstrings and cursed the idea that I still needed to do at least an 18 and a 20 before the race. I was done. Modifying my training plan, I reasoned that if I ran a couple of runs of 13 miles, I would at least have an easy first half, and I could power my way through the rest. But as school started up again, I only made it out for one more 13 miler (again, very painful), and then three weeks before the race, I stopped altogether. I had hit the training wall, and I wasn't getting up.

I did make it through my marathon, but just barely. I was fine for the first 13 miles, and then it all went downhill. What shocked me most was how much walking could hurt after so many miles - I always figured that I could at least walk and feel okay. Nope. Everything hurt, and crossing that finish line after all those miles was bittersweet. I didn't run the marathon that I wanted to, and my undertraining was very evident.

Since last year's marathon, I have learned a lot about training. Here are a few tips to keep you from hitting the training wall and failing to properly prepare for the distance:

1. Run far and slow.
The conventional wisdom seems to be to run about 1:30 to 2:30 per minute slower than your desired race pace. This allows you to cover longer distances with less fatigue. It also trains your body to burn fat instead of glycogen, helping you to sustain the effort. Perhaps more important than covering the miles in the marathon is to run for the amount of time that you will take to cover the course - if you want to run a 4 hour marathon, make sure you get in a four hour training run.

More information on long runs

2. Give yourself enough time.
Committing to a marathon really takes months of preparation if you haven't been running regularly all along. Many marathon training programs are five months long to make sure that you have enough time to increase distance, rest, and recover from overuse injuries that may crop up along the way. You might be able to pull off a marathon in three months, but it probably won't feel good!

3. Find a running group.
For me, this has been the biggest boost to my running. Having friends to put the miles in with helps them to pass more quickly. You get the cumulative wisdom of the group as well, which can be helpful when injuries pop up or the training wall sets in.