Ask Rich: How Can a Physical Therapist Help Train for a Marathon?

Here is this month’s Ask Rich question:

QUESTION: “Recently Mitch Landrieu ran the NY Marathon. I heard that he enlisted the help of a physical therapist. Tell me, how can a physical therapist help train someone for a marathon? Can a PT help a beginning runner like me?”

Great question!

First of all, what a great representative for New Orleans! Mayor Mitch Landrieu completed the New York City Marathon wearing a Forever New Orleans t-shirt.

Not many people can just get up and run a marathon. It takes lots of training and preparation. Think about it, try hopping on one leg for 2 + hours and see how you feel. Now do it again with the other leg.  Imagine the pounding and the strains on your body. The mayor reportedly logged more than 600 miles on the road in preparation for the race. That’s a lot of wear and tear. How did he manage to handle this kind of stress?

Commitment, determination, and enlisting the support of professionals like physical therapist Gini Davis.

Training for a marathon not only means putting in the actual hours of training. Training also means preparing your body, nourishing your body, and healing your body.  Training professionals must consider factors like muscle balance, strength, flexibility, running mechanics, rest/recovery time, and also be able to handle the bumps and bruises along the way. The longer and harder the competition, the smarter and more efficient the training must be. Having a physical therapist in your corner to handle all of these issues is well worth it.

In addition to providing injury rehabilitation, physical therapists are uniquely trained to be experts in human performance. As such, therapists are well equipped to provide athletes with the tools needed to reach their goals. With years of education in human movement, physical therapists have the ability to address and consider a multitude of factors that will affect a runner.

So yes, physical therapists are absolutely the right team of professionals to help you reach your performance goals.

Time is too important for inefficient training. Enlist the experts to train smarter, not harder. For more information on running, training smart, and peak performance check out our Running FIT program. To find out how we can help you, contact us for a free consultation.

Congratulations to Mayor Mitch Landrieu and physical therapist Gini Davis for “pushing New Orleans up.”

Photo: Steve-h