Training Through a Running Injury: Sprinter to BQ Week 3

Nigel Walker
Nov 3 · 3 min read

Welcome to Week 3 of the Sprinter Boston Marathon Qualifier series where a former sprinter attempts to run Sub 3:00 in the Marathon to qualify for Boston.

This week I have come to terms that I am going to treat the tendonitis in my left knee as a serious injury. Yes I can continue to keep training on this injury, but I do not want to keep aggravating it.

It’s best to stop now and take care of the injury than being forced to stop running entirely. The 4 miles I ran on Monday were very painful and made me take a step back to get a different vantage point.

WEEK 3 TRAINING LOG. MOST CONSISTED OF CROSS TRAINING ON THE BIKE AND ELLIPLTICAL. 4 MILE RUN ON MONDAY AND 1 MILE RUN ON SUNDAY

I realized that taking some time off from training is not the worst thing. Sometimes injuries are a blessing in disguise because it forces you to take a well needed break from running. You now have the space to focus on things that you have lost focus on such as mobility, strength and cross training, which allows you to come back even stronger.

By focusing on mobility, strengthening of the hip flexors, core and glutes I will be able to improve my running economy and run faster at lower heart rates and lower perceived efforts.

These training elements are critical considering my goal race pace to go sub 3 is around 6:45 per mile and I want to be as efficient as possible at this pace for the entirety of 26.2 miles.

Injuries are a part of the sport of running and how you manage them determines not only how you will perform in the short-term, but also you longevity within the sport.

I’ve known many talented runners who have quit due to repetitive injury issues and it’s always sad to see them leave the sport that they love. Therefore, to ensure I get to the start line 100% healthy, I am going to ensure I slow and gradual progression back into running.

Just because I am not running 40+ miles a week right now does not mean I have to lose my fitness. I can still strengthen my heart and lungs by doing cross training and strengthen key running muscles by doing various strength and mobility exercises.

The moral of the story here is to listen to your body and do not submit to the pressure of what other people are doing on Strava or what anyone else says. Only you know your body and how it responds to different training stressors.

Next week I am going to continue to do more cross training and add in some more running (approx. 10 miles) to slowly ease back into the Sage Running Aerobic Base Building Plan.

If you want to follow my training more in-depth, follow me on Strava and YouTube .