Marathon Runners and Lateral Band Walks!

We’re officially in peak marathon season! 

At the time of this writing, the 2025 Chicago Marathon has already happened and the Marine Corps Marathon is tomorrow. We also have NYC (a world major), Richmond, and Charlotte to come, along with dozens of others.

Phil struggling to stand up at the end of the 2023 Richmond Marathon (bib 4334), having ran a 3:36:22.

We at Premier Physical Therapy are so thrilled and privileged to work with 20+ marathon runners this year! Each Fall, we see a similar pattern; these runners have been working their tails off with weekly mileage often over 50 miles per week, plus their physical therapy home exercise program (of course!), plus independent strength training, yoga, and recovery work. Meanwhile, most of these people are not professional athletes so they’re also juggling their job and family responsibilities, too. It’s a lot! I can personally attest to that.

So as we approach race day for these runners, a lot of PT visits are spent with manual therapy, stretching, and corrective exercises to get them ready, rather than heavy strength work. We’ll get back to the off-season heavy strength work, of course, once races are completed. 

In the meantime, here is my advice to you: if you are running a Fall marathon, I’d highly recommend you complete your lateral band walks BEFORE AND AFTER your runs. 

Think about it. Your body is tired from all of your runs and other physical exercise. Most runners don’t develop knee, hip, or foot pain at the beginning of runs. Instead, these issues tend to pop up and worsen once you’ve hit the 10-15 mile mark or more. This is because your form changes as your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems fatigue. The solution? Teach your glutes to be strong when they’re fatigued!

This is applicable to most athletes, not just runners. For example, in soccer players, most ACL tears occur during games in the second half or towards the end of the first half (when you’re fatigued and thus changing body mechanics to accommodate). If we work on glute and hamstring strength and endurance, in this particular example, your ACL injury risk goes down! Of course, consult with your physical therapist before modifying your exercise regimen, as the above advice may not necessarily apply to you.

Your hard work will pay off this marathon season, everyone! Congratulations in advance and good luck in your races!