Do’s and don’ts: Preparing for the El Paso Marathon to prevent running injuries

The El Paso Marathon is coming up, and one expert shares what to do and not to do in order to prevent any injuries during the race.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jason Vourazeris from Del Sol Medical Center says about 25% to 36% of runners will face an injury at some point.

According to Dr. Vourazeris, runners can experience medical issues from nausea, overexertion, dehydration and toenail injuries, to orthopedic injuries like tendonitis and hip fractures.

The biggest issue runners face, is knee pain. This is due to an overuse of the knee.

Dr. Vourazeris says that the most important thing for the average runner to prevent injuries is their training regimen. He advises not to increase your running regimen more than 10% at a time.

"So if you're running 20 miles in one week and you run 30 miles the next week, that's going to be overtraining and you're going to put yourself at injury," said the surgeon. "Runners who haven't been running long distances, they start and they go too fast. And those are the patients and runners that develop injury."

ABC-7 spoke with co-founder and runners of the Run For It El Paso group to ask them how they're preparing for the marathon.

"For me, I've been slowly training since October. I've been doing, like, one to three runs a week since then, and then starting January, I kind of picked up a little bit," said Brenna Vaughns, who started actively running since the end of 2023.

"The mileage has increased, nutrition has gotten a lot better. That's very important," continued Vaughns. "I think a lot of people miss out on that, and I know I did last year, so I wanted to correct those mistakes this year."

The main thing that can lead up to injuries during a marathon is not taking enough time to prepare for it.

"So you don't want to run every day, and then some days you might want to do a cycle, you might want to go for a swim, definitely want to incorporate weight training," Vourazeris explained.

The doctor also said that one of the best ways to prevent injuries while running marathons is to incorporate weight training into your routine, which he says is often neglected.

"I did the same thing and kind of got progressively more into the mileage starting at 10 to 15 miles a week, building up to a point where you're doing 30 to 35 miles a week," said Bryan Novak, another runner in the group who started running five years ago. "Increase nutrition, increase hydration, and then I get actively worked on each week to stretch out muscles that I don't usually stretch on my own."

Both Novak and Vaughns have implemented strength training into their routines as they've learned through some injuries they've experienced — pulling hamstrings, rock-hard cramps, knee pain, bruised toes due to unclipped toenails and unfit shoes for running.

Another thing Dr. Vourazeris advises: Fueling your body properly the night before the race.

"You want to eat well the night before, don't go in on an empty stomach," said Vourazeris. "I know sometimes we get so nervous and and we can't eat before, but you want to really have your body ready to go and have it fueled up for that long run. So that's important to to remember not only before the race, but after the race."

He said it's important for runners to eat good carbohydrates and proteins after the race since the body gets exhausted and needs to restore its energy.

Run For It El Paso said they're loading up on pasta for an early dinner Saturday night to get some rest and fuel before the big race.

Dr. Vourazeris reminds runners to warm up before the race, like going on a light jog.

It's also crucial that runners listen to their bodies when they're in pain or exhausted, especially symptoms that linger and don't go away.

Lightheadedness and nausea are signs to stop.

"It's normal to hurt afterwards to to wake up a little sore...," continued Vourazeris. "If you wake up and it's really painful to walk and that doesn't go away throughout the day, or you have an injury that keeps you from running, or you have to cut your run short because you're hurting... Those things should really be checked out by, by orthopedic physician or a primary care doctor."

Most injuries aren't felt right away, they can show up at the end of the marathon or even the next day.

"I've seen things is even as complicated as like hip fractures..." said Vourazaeris.

The best piece of advice Dr. Vourazeris gives — don't push your body if it's trying to tell you something.