Unable to run 3 weeks before the marathon

by Hans
(Ringerike, Norway)

Unable to run 3 weeks before the marathon :

"Hi.

I'm doing the sub 3.15 plan, and I'm just finished the 12th week.

Yesterday I had a hard interval session , and today my achilles is extremely sore (never had this problem before).

If the marathon was to day, I wouldn't be able to run at all!
To day is Friday, and on Sunday I'm suppose to have a 2H 30M easy run.

What do you recommend ? Will I loose much progress if I rest 4-5 days/ skip some sessions in the tapering phase?"

Answer: Hi Hans and thanks for your question.

First of all, you should always take an achilles injury serious. Because it can lead to chronic problems you want to get on anti-inflammatory medication immediately - while it is in the acute phase. Contact your doctor and discuss with him a 7-14 days period with Voltaren tablets, which is the most effective in most achilles cases. You want to use this parallell as you use an anti-inflammatory gel on the area.

This is the #1 priority and the sooner the better.

In terms of your running :
You should rest for 4-5 days initially, then GRADUALLY start running again. You will not lose much at all, it can even be positive. Do NOT try to do catchup on the longer sessions. You have to play this by ear, day by day. The tapering period is luckily much easier vs. the marathon specific weeks, so you should be ok. No problem skipping some of the workouts there, as your base is well tuned after the initial training weeks.

I wish you all the best!

kind regards,
Marius