Marathon Training and Acupuncture

The big news this week is the New York Road Runners (NYRR) announced this year’s NYC marathon will allow 33,000 runners on November 7. Runners who selected this year as their preferred option will have guaranteed entry into the race. 

Big 6 WMM Races

The 6 World Major Marathons (WMM) is made up of the following races:

• Berlin

• London

• Chicago

• Boston

• Tokyo

• New York

Marathon training for 2022 Races

According to a study, 30% of runners training for a marathon will experience a race-related injury. Runners that run more than 40 miles per week during their training are also at increased risk for injury. People with a prior running injury, insufficient training, or lack of running experience also had a higher risk of injury.

Another study tracked first time runners participating in the New York City marathon. It showed that almost 10% had a major injury that prevented them from completing the race. Runners that ran 4 or more training runs per week were more likely to get injured. Runners with previous half marathon experience and a longer longest training run were less likely to get injured.

Some runners may have already started their training program in anticipation of their races, while others may just be starting as they receive confirmation of where they will be running. The past year has made it difficult to run and train with others and not everyone may have the running base they hoped to have prior to starting their training. Some runners may be doing more than one major marathon this year which makes for a tight turnaround.

It’s a good idea to have acupuncture during your marathon training cycle and for recovery afterwards. We can help you be at your best by providing acupuncture treatments for running injuries, injury prevention, and improving workout recovery. 

Some common running injuries that our acupuncturists see include:

• IT band syndrome

• Plantar fasciitis

• Shin splints

• Piriformis syndrome

• Runner’s knee

• Hip bursitis

• Hamstring strains

• Other muscle strains and muscle tightness

• Ankle sprains

• Hip/knee/ankle/foot/toe pain

Getting Ready for your Marathon

Preparing for your marathon should include more than just your training plan. Recovery is an extremely important part of marathon training, especially in the 6-8 weeks before the race when both training volume and intensity reach their peak and then taper off. Recovery includes getting enough sleep, eating well, cross training, and taking care of your body.

Acupuncture can be a vital part of the recovery process by helping to release muscle tightness and restore range of motion to areas that get tight as a result of running lots of miles.

Addressing Muscle Tightness to Prevent Injury

Muscle tightness that accumulates during marathon training can lead to muscle imbalances that can affect the way we move our body. These imbalances can cause more stress on areas that have to compensate for muscle tightness or weakness and can eventually lead to overuse injuries when the strain placed on them is too great for the body to handle.

The muscles in our body work like a pulley system. There are many muscles that attach around each major joint in our body and they all work together to move us in an efficient and pain-free manner. When a muscle gets tight (from poor posture, overuse, or trauma mostly), it shortens and pulls on the structures it attaches to and restricts range of motion in the affected area. This makes that muscle lose some of its function and means that other muscles have to compensate for our body to perform the desired movement.

Over time, that tightness can lead to changes in how we move our body, and cause friction at the joint where the tight muscle attaches due to it pulling on it from its shortened state. The body responds by creating pain to alert us that something isn’t right and by that point it can take time to undo the things that have led to the pain.

What to do when tapering for a marathon

Tapering is about more than just relaxing until race day. It’s important to let your body recover from all the training miles while also keeping your running fitness and strength up. Quality miles are key and at a certain point, less is more. If you’ve been dealing with pain or injury during your marathon training, there is often a choice that needs to me made in the last few weeks about whether to complete all the miles in your training plan and go into the race injured but in good shape, or to run a little less and let your body recover. If you have an overuse injury, then chances are that you trained a little too hard and your body is telling you to back off.

Our general recommendation is to go into a race with a healthy body that may not have completed all their assigned training miles, that to have completed all of the training plan but not be feeling your best on race day.

A good training plan finds a balance between this and that’s why there is a taper period for 2-3 weeks before the big day for many training plans. This is to allow your body to recover from the physical stress of training for a marathon while keeping as much of the fitness gains as possible so you can perform your best on race day.

Here are some things to do while you are tapering:

• Focus on sleep - at least 80% of your sleep need each night if you use a Whoop or fitness tracker

• Eat well

• Incorporate strength training and physical therapy to address any weakness

• Get acupuncture and massage to keep your muscles loose

More About Acupuncture for Runners:

Running Coaches for Marathon Training

Besides getting regular acupuncture, working with a running coach may be especially beneficial during this year’s training cycle because without a solid running base, runners will be more susceptible to overuse injuries and increasing their training too quickly. Running coaches can help structure individualized training plans and make adjustments as needed during the training cycle while still keeping the big picture in mind. 

If you are looking for a running coach here are some highly regarded ones in NYC that we highly recommend:

Best NYC Running Coaches

Adidas Runners NYC
Jessie Zapo @jessiezapo

Benjamin Saah Run Coaching & Strength Training 
Benjamin Saah @benjamin_saah

Finish Line PT
Emmi Aguillard @emmiaguillard_dpt
Samantha Jacobsen @sjacobsen_dpt

Jonathan Kline Run Coaching & Strength Training
Jonathan Kline @jakeyell1960

MotivNY PT
Francisco Balagtas @iamfranciscob

Nike Running NYC
Jes Woods @jeslynnyc

Profunctional Running PT
Jason Lakritz @profunctionalrunning

We hope you have a great training cycle for this year’s races!