Faced with the coronavirus, marathon runners must run in their garden or do muscle maintenance. - VS and J. Chiu / SIPA

  • Faced with the confinement imposed due to the coronavirus epidemic, marathon runners adapt their preparation.
  • A sports coach and a physiotherapist advise to postpone your goals in the medium term.

The madness of jogging seizes confined France. Madness simply strikes some marathon runners. Many of them these days are taking on incredible challenges, like a marathon on the balcony (ouch on their knees). This Saturday, three Toulon students will perform in their garden "the ascent and descent of Mont-Blanc" by chaining 481 back and forth.

They want to raise funds for the Hôpital de France foundation and the Jérôme-Lejeune foundation. And, incidentally, let off steam and go beyond. You may not have a steep garden, but perhaps a marathon looming on your post-containment calendar. A coach, a physiotherapist and a passionate give some advice.

Gilles Dorval, sports coach: "Give up until summer"

The cascading cancellations of marathons force this trainer, based in Nantes, to do distance coaching. "I advise my clients to give up until the summer," explains Gilles Dorval. A marathon requires a lot of training and when you can't go more than a kilometer from home, there is no solution. "

🏃‍♂️ The Ministry of @Sports_Gouv responds to the craze for #jogging 🏃‍♀️ and specifies the real rules #coronavirus #confinement # confinementjour3 #coronavirusfrance #sport https://t.co/yTKEYj9dw7 pic.twitter.com/ ovYemo0h6r

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) March 19, 2020

It must be admitted, according to him, that the work done before the start of containment is lost. "In running, there is no untraining until a week off," said the EPS teacher. As the scientific council estimates that the confinement should last "at least six weeks", you might as well mourn. And adopt this little program:

  • Pumps, abdominals, sheathing, dorsals for muscle building.
  • Home trainer, treadmill, exercise bike or other elliptical training equipment for cardio. “But it will never replace running. Otherwise, the yellow jersey of the Tour de France would win the Paris marathon, ”concludes Gilles Dorval.

Virginie, six marathons on the clock: “Do with the means at hand. "

"The coronavirus crisis forced me to reorganize and to do with the means at hand," explains this 35-year-old runner, who "hopes to do [her] seventh marathon in late June, hoping that we are from here there "unconfigured". His advice: "Do with the means at hand." I run in my garden, I did a half-marathon last Sunday. I made a trench in the garden, it avoids mowing the lawn after all. On the CrossFit side, my box sends us adaptable sessions every day at home. "

Pascal Ravier, physiotherapist: "Do not rush on a goal"

"There is no urgency to train," says Pascal Ravier, physiotherapist in Marseille. "I advise to continue a physical and sporting activity by following the instructions of the government", begins this specialist. Since the start of confinement, he has been tele-consulting from his garden - only acts of respiratory care, for disabled people, for example, remain authorized. “People who are bored at home should not get into intense sports all at once. It is also a stress that we give to the body, ”he recalls.

Our file on containment

When the confinement is finished, you will have to be nice with its carcass. For Pascal Ravier, “if the confinement ends in a month and the runner wants to resume the sport with a marathon, I think that it will not be necessary to do it for the purpose of performance. Rather with the goal of finding his feelings. "

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Coronavirus: The Ministry of Sports responds to the craze for jogging and clarifies the real rules

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  • Containment
  • Coronavirus
  • Sport
  • Marathon
  • Running
  • Paris Marathon
  • Jogging