Tired legs, tired body

by Blake Parry
(Chandler, AZ)

Tired legs and body at week 12 :

"Hi Marius,
I have been following your 3:15 marathon training and I am fast approaching the tapering phase of week 12. My question/concern is how worn out I feel right now...my legs are heavy and I struggled on my half marathon run recently. I finished in a disappointing 1:43, well short of where I want to be. I don't know if the warm/humid conditions had anything to do with it or not. I did do a 9 mile run with 30X1 minute (:30 second recovery) workout two days prior to my test half marathon.Any words of advice? I am really hoping to qualify for Boston in the St. George Marathon in one month. Thanks, Blake"

Answer: Hi Blake and thanks for your question.

Now, you are just done with the absolute hardest part of the 100 day plan and you are probably right on the edge of overtraining.

My advice for you is this :

Right away, take two days off running. Cut out on of the hard workouts this week in that process

Then :

1) Run EVEN easier on the easy runs. After each run, do not do any strides or anything like that. Do not pace up at the end of these runs.

2) After each hard workouts, remember to do the special strides SS*. These will help you ALOT to freshen up the legs

3) The next two weeks get two sessions of hard massage weekly. MUST be on the days after hard workouts, NOT on the easy days. On the easy days (easy runs/day off) After that, no more massage as you get close to the race.

For most this is enough to turn things around.

Also, get a blood check at your doctor for ferritin levels.

This should be enough to get you there again!

all the best,
Marius