Almost a month, twenty-five days to be exact, has passed since my incredulous race of 2019, the Erie Marathon. Most of physical demands from the race have faded. A slight twinge in my right ankle lingers. Time to say goodbye to the memory and move on.
As for the “Dead Leg Syndrome” I experienced during the race, only plausible explanation I could find was over-training.
No question I trained hard. But what differ this time from the previous year were: 1) my rehearsal race (A-10) was too close, 2 weeks prior, to the marathon, 2) my tapering did not go as traditionally designed. I kept up the intensity of my running during the last three weeks. And 3) quality of my sleep was below par.
These factors contributed to my body not fully recovered in time when the marathon rolled around. Hence over-trained. It is the closest explanations that I found and will be included for improvement in my next marathon training.
