How Much Hurt is Normal After Running a Marathon? -PTN Cranberry Twp. PA

You have worked really hard preparing for the Pittsburgh Marathon and hopefully you reached your PR time! If you haven’t then you are well on your way of achieving success for your next race. There is one thing that is clear after the race…..

No matter how much training that you do, and how well you prepare, your body has sustained micro-trauma to your muscles, connective tissues and bones. You may have muscle soreness,  pain in your ankles, hips,  knees or low back and this is expected.

But regardless of how you have trained there is a certain amount of trauma to the body that can not be avoided regardless of running skill level and this trauma has to be healed in a way that will not create complications in your body in the future.

Micro-trauma creates a process in the body called inflammation and this process is normal in the body. This process acts to regenerate the body but after an event like a marathon the body is overwhelmed and needs assistance to make sure the repair process does not have adverse long-term detrimental effects. If this process is minimized then it will add to a runner’s longevity for future races.

Here are 3 things to consider if you are having pain:

1)  Pain in a limb is going to happen after such an extensive amount of pressure, tension and force that was placed on it repetitively from running 13.1 or 26.2 miles. The turn around time can be from 1-3 weeks depending upon your level of running, distance and training.

2.) If you can not place weight on a limb or you do not have full range of motion in your limb then there should be more suspicion that more could be damaged than your average “wear and tear”.

3) If pain or lack of function in the body persists beyond 2-3 days without “getting 5-10% better” then high suspicion of more damaging injury should be considered and you should seek medical attention.

Here is a special opportunity for those who have just run in the Pittsburgh Marathon….

Because we understand running and preserving a runner’s longevity we are offering physical therapy evaluations for conditions of pain that have not resolved.

Click here to reserve a physical therapy evaluation specific to runners.