WASHINGTON (THE WASHINGTON POST) – Preparing for a marathon often involves months of gruelling training and commitment. But injuries and other responsibilities can sidetrack even the most dedicated runners. Sometimes, runners may have to withdraw from the race and stop training – even if the decision is agonising and difficult.
“Nobody wants to pull out of something they were training so hard for and so excited about,” said Greg McMillan, the founder and head coach of McMillan Running, an online coaching business and training program. But, “if you have an injury, it’s only going to get worse in the marathon.”
The Washington Post asked running coaches and runners for advice on how and when to know to call it quits.
You have persistent injuries
Listening to your body is critical. It can be dangerous to run through an injury, coaches say.
McMillan recommends doing a body check and asking yourself questions like: Do I have an injury that’s getting worse? Am I having to modify my stride because of it? If that’s the case, withdrawing from the marathon would be the safer option.
Brooke Murphy, a 44-year-old from Frisco, Texas, was training for the Dallas Marathon last year when, just a month before her race, she started feeling pain in her hip and iliotibial band. Her injury improved with physical therapy but eventually returned.
After weeks of deliberation with her coach, Ruth Atkinson, Murphy switched to a half marathon. Her first marathon would have to wait.
“It was really hard because I was obsessed with needing this goal,” Murphy said. “I just decided the risk was not worth it. There will always be another race, but you only have one body.”
For Shyam Krishnan, on the other hand, deciding to withdraw was easy. The 52-year-old Potomac, Maryland, resident had registered for the Marine Corps Marathon in 2021 and 2022 but skipped both races due to injuries to his Achilles tendons.
“Both times the recovery was six to eight weeks of no running at all,” he said. Krishnan deferred his registration the first time and transferred his bib the second year. This year, training has been going great, Krishnan said. He hopes to complete his first marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon this October in under four hours.
Your long runs are feeling too difficult
Whether you’re running to just complete the marathon or have a specific time goal, certain training markers can indicate whether you will be able to run the full 26.2 miles on race day, coaches say.
If you’re only trying to finish, you should be able to run for at least one hour and 45 minutes, said James McKirdy, owner and head coach of McKirdy Trained. Ninety minutes is around the time where the body’s glycogen depletion takes a toll on the body, he said. If you can’t run this long, “you might need more time to develop both your aerobic system and your muscles to handle the fatigue,” McKirdy said.
For runners with time goals, McKirdy recommends making sure you train at a pace and volume that matches your actual fitness. Forcing yourself to train at a pace that is unsustainable can lead to injury, McKirdy said.
You can calculate your training pace via calculators online, such as VDOT O2.
You’re not building up mileage
Atkinson, a running coach with McKirdy Trained, said that it makes her nervous if a runner can’t cover the distance of a marathon in a week. Many marathon training programs require runners to gradually build their weekly mileage and get their body used to spending hours on their feet.
“If an athlete can’t consistently hit 25 to 30 miles a week for a couple of months and we don’t have time to continue to accumulate some fitness,” she said, “that would be when I say, ‘Okay, we need to make the hard decision: We either need to fully commit or this isn’t the race for this year.'”
McMillan views marathon training as a body of work and emphasizes week to week consistency. “Don’t worry about one workout not going well,” he said. “But if you’ve only gotten in 50 per cent of the long runs, that’s not good, right? Your mileage has been erratic.”
Devin Nihill, a 27-year-old living in Montreal, planned to run a sub-three-hour marathon at the Chicago Marathon this October before a left knee injury in August caused her to miss the rest of her training. She was supposed to peak at 60 miles a week, but after her injury, could only run up to 10 miles a week. “I just knew the training volume wasn’t there,” Nihill said. “I wasn’t able to run without pain.”
She recently decided to withdraw from the race. “I want running to be something that I carry with me throughout my life,” Nihill said. “Now, it’s finding other ways to stay active.”
You’re struggling to stay motivated
Feeling unmotivated and lacking a sense of joy may also be a sign to withdraw.
“Everyone has days where you don’t want to get out of the door,” Atkinson said. “But if you find that it’s feeling like a chore day after day for multiple weeks, then it might be time to push the reset button.”
A pros and cons list can also be a useful tool when deciding whether to race.
Murphy, the runner from Texas, said that her list helped provide clarity. For the pros, she listed that she would feel accomplished and be able to check off the goal of running her first marathon. The cons were the possibility of injury and getting a “DNF,” which stands for “Did Not Finish.”
“To me, having that DNF was worse than not even starting it,” she said.
Know that there are alternatives
Runners can still make the most of their race entry.
Some races, like the Marine Corps Marathon in DC, allow you to defer your race entry to the following year for a fee. Others, like the Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon, let you cancel your registration with a guaranteed entry for next year, but participants will need to pay the entry fee again. Runners may also transfer their entry, but make sure your race allows it.
You can also consider dropping down in distance like Murphy did, or sign up for another race.
“Every runner has their own path,” Atkinson said. “It’s okay if you decide that right now, it’s not the time for you to achieve your goal.”
