Boston Marathon training notebook: Lessons from physical therapy

So today was *** really big day, it was the first time I’ve run since getting injured. It wasn’t much, it was only 1.3 miles, it was on the treadmill, two minutes walking, one minute running basically did that for five sessions. But really it’s something that mentally I wanted to know that I could do. Uh I got injured about three weeks ago today and that evening when I was googling my symptoms, I was convinced that either my arch, my foot was gonna collapse if I kept going um the days afterwards, I was convinced there was no way I was able to run boston. But you know, seeing the doctor, seeing my physical therapist saying, hey listen, you are gonna be able to run it, but it’s gonna take some time, you’re really gonna have to work hard with the physical therapy and that’s what I’ve been doing. But I really was looking forward to today. Um The key thing is going to see how I feel in the next 48 hours with *** tendon, I guess it’s really key to give it 48 hours because you can feel fine, but you got to see if there’s gonna be swelling tomorrow the next day. I have my handy dandy uh little note card of basically, we’re gonna go phase one, phase two, phase three until eventually I’ll be kind of, you know, running back to normal, but in the meantime it’s gonna be more physical therapy really, working on all the muscles throughout the leg, the glutes, the calves, um the hips, the core, basically everything except for that tendon really kind of still kind of protecting that. But doing stretches as well and that’s really gonna be kind of the key and really what’s been kind of eye opening for me is you know, I had this idea of again what you know, training for the marathon would look like, I thought I’d be running *** ton and I certainly was. But every story I’ve kind of done about the marathon, every person I’ve talked to including the physical therapist I’m working with, they just stressed that people kind of overlook the strength training. I was interviewing *** physical therapist at mass General today who talked about that. The majority of people training for the marathon at some point are gonna pick up an injury and that’s the first thing he talks about is the strength training. So that’s what my team was saying today, shout out to the team at boston, physical therapy and wellness, they’ve done *** great job and uh yeah I’m feeling great, I’m really excited about it. This was kind of the positivity I kind of needed to, you know know that the april 17th, you know, I think I will be able to get through it, obviously knock on wood, see how I feel in the next two days after the swelling but feeling really good right now and uh fingers crossed

Boston Marathon training notebook: Lessons from physical therapy

Updated: 2:53 PM EST Jan 27, 2023

It’s been a long road over the past few weeks, but WCVB reporter Matt Reed is once again making strides toward his goal of running in the upcoming Boston Marathon.He shared earlier this month that an injury forced him to dramatically rethink his approach to training for the April race. Concern about the tendon took him off the street and put him into physical therapy. “It’s been kind of eye-opening for me,” Reed said about his physical therapy experience. “I had this idea of what training for the (Boston Marathon) would look like. I thought I’d be running a ton, and I certainly was, but every story I’ve done about the marathon and every person I’ve talked to — including the physical therapist I’m working with — they stress that people kind of overlook the strength training.”With that advice, Reed said he’s making progress. Friday, for the first time in weeks, he ran. It’s a moment he said was important to maintaining his positive mindset during this long process. “I really was looking forward to today,” he said. “The key thing is, I’m going to see how I feel in the next 48 hours.”Reed said he’ll be on the lookout for swelling — “Knock on wood,” he said — while continuing to work on a program laid out by his physical therapy team.

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

It’s been a long road over the past few weeks, but WCVB reporter Matt Reed is once again making strides toward his goal of running in the upcoming Boston Marathon.

He shared earlier this month that an injury forced him to dramatically rethink his approach to training for the April race. Concern about the tendon took him off the street and put him into physical therapy.

“It’s been kind of eye-opening for me,” Reed said about his physical therapy experience. “I had this idea of what training for the (Boston Marathon) would look like. I thought I’d be running a ton, and I certainly was, but every story I’ve done about the marathon and every person I’ve talked to — including the physical therapist I’m working with — they stress that people kind of overlook the strength training.”

With that advice, Reed said he’s making progress.

Friday, for the first time in weeks, he ran. It’s a moment he said was important to maintaining his positive mindset during this long process.

“I really was looking forward to today,” he said. “The key thing is, I’m going to see how I feel in the next 48 hours.”

Reed said he’ll be on the lookout for swelling — “Knock on wood,” he said — while continuing to work on a program laid out by his physical therapy team.