Many half marathoners assume that if something doesn’t hurt it isn’t a problem. But…unfortunately your body doesn’t work that way. If you never truly took care of them-apart from waiting until the pain went away- old injuries don’t really disappear. They just learned to wait in the background until the training stress turns the volume back up and BOOM, you’re back to square one.

How Past Injuries Matter Affect Half Marathon Training

That ankle sprain from years ago, the runner’s knee you rested for a few weeks, the hamstring strain that still feels tight with hills, or the hip strain that still barks at you years later.

When it comes to old injuries, even when pain is gone the lingering effects remain. During easy runs, you might not notice these. During tempo runs and long efforts at race pace, your body definitely does.

• Strength asymmetries
• Reduced joint mobility
• Subtle changes in stride mechanics
• Overreliance on one side during fatigue

Treat Strength Training As A Necessity

For half marathoners, strength training isn’t about lifting heavy every day or replacing mileage with hard weight room sessions. It’s about addressing the major muscle groups of the lower body and building them up to tolerate the long miles you’ll inevitably encounter.

Effective strength work should:

• Build leg strength for late-race endurance
• Restore balance after old injuries
• Improve ability to absorb force (think calves, hips, quads, and hamstrings)
• Help you maintain form when fatigue sets in
  
  

Just 2 sessions per week of 30 minutes each can reduce your injury risk and improve running efficiency. That way you aren’t feeling constantly beat up and deflecting shots from the injury fairy.The ultimate goal is arriving at the start line healthy and confident, and leaving the race feeling happy with your performance.

Now what should a typical day for strength training look like? Well for each runner that will depend on your current training practices, experience with weight training in the past, prior injuries, and how far out from race day you actually are. Like mentioned before- 2 sessions per week can be plenty to get the stimulus we need. Here is an example of a program I recently programmed for a runner that was 8-12 weeks out from their half marathon, that has recently rehabbed from a hip strain.

Day 1:

Dumbbell Split Squat- 4 sets of 6-8 per leg (pick a weight that allows you to do no more than 10 reps)

Double Dumbbell RDL- 4 sets of 10

Front Foot Elevated Heel Raise- 4 sets of 6-8 per leg

Side Plank Leg Lift- 3 sets of 8 per leg

Day 2

Trap Bar Deadlift- 4 sets of 6-8, building from 60-75% of 1RM

Goblet Squat Pauses- 4 sets of 5, pause for 5 seconds each rep

Single Leg Calf Eccentrics- 4 sets of 6-8 per leg

Barbell Toe Taps- 5 sets of 30 seconds each with 60-75% bodyweight

And as 1 FINAL reminder. Old injuries and strength gaps don’t care about your race goals. They WILL show up when the miles get hard and accumulate. If you can do a lot to build a little strength now, you’re not just reducing your overall injury risk, you’re protecting your training, your confidence, and your performance on this race day and many more to come.

If you got done reading this article and you're training for a half marathon, dealing with old injuries, and wondering what YOU can do to keep yourself healthy, CLICK THE BUTTON and set up a call with one of our doctors of physical therapy to see if you're a good fit for our program.