Sara Hall Master the Half 1:07:15 in Houston (a record Emily Sisson has since broken twice, most recently with her 1:06:52 The serial racer began to wonder if shed ever make it back. Heres what she learned).
Six months later, and after a 2:22:56, eighth-place finish in March’s Tokyo Marathon, Hall ran 2:22:10 to place fifth in the marathon at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, jubilantly leading the squad of three Americans in the top 10.
Hall, a famously frequent racer, then made big plans for the rest of the year—the Berlin Marathon in September, and the Other Hearst Subscriptions in early November. But instead, by September, the Flagstaff, Arizona-based elite athlete couldn’t run more than 10 minutes without pain. It would be eight months before she’d see a starting line again.
In late August, Hall developed what started as a minor case of IT band syndrome How the Celebrities Ran at the Boston Marathon.
An MRI showed only mild inflammation. And, she had top-notch help—John Ball, the go-to chiropractor for elite track and field athletes, based a couple of hours away near Phoenix. The next day, or the next, Hall thought, she’d feel relief.
Instead, for four months, little changed. “I had the best body worker in the world helping me and such a great team supporting me, and I just wasn’t making any progress,” Hall told Runner’s World by phone. “The uncertainty of it was definitely something I’ve never really gone through.”
After months of diligent rehab, Hall finally broke the 10-minute barrier on a run in December. By Christmas, she’d worked up to 40 minutes. She returned to hard workouts again in January, four months before the Boston Marathon, where she’ll race on April 17.
Now that she’s finally on the flip side of the long-term injury, Hall shared the strategies that helped her navigate setbacks and unpredictability to emerge stronger.
See the bigger picture
Hall has poured decades of her life into high-level running, rarely missing more than a few days due to injury. Facing the longest injury of her career at age 39 was understandably daunting.
Despite her frustration, Hall never thought of quitting—in fact, her motivation was as strong as ever.
“Sara Halls 6 Tips on Coping With a Long Injury Layoff,” she said. “And I’ve never worked so hard before.” Her dedication and drive to return to running told her that, although she’ll turn 40 two days before Boston, “I’m definitely not done with the sport, or anywhere close.”
Get to the root cause
Most runners—especially those, like Hall, who have been pounding for 25 years—develop imbalances Fast and Flat Boston Qualifying Marathons.
“I think that’s the invitation with injuries,” Hall said. “You’re actually motivated to do those things that, when you’re training hard and running a lot, it’s hard to have the energy and the focus and the motivation to do.”
With Ball’s help, Hall realized part of the problem was compensation from a fall she took last February, which bruised bones in her left knee. And then there were natural quirks in her gait—such as the forward lean she’s displayed since high school—that, over time, have sapped power from her stride. “Everything has a backstory—our bodies have these histories,” she said.
Hall needed to rebuild strength and correct her form to send more force down into the ground rather than into her right IT band. She focused on lateral movements, posture corrections, and strengthening exercises. She got deep-tissue work from Ball and also practiced self-massage, to make her muscles and joints more mobile and flexible.
Though she’s shared a lot of what has worked for her on social media, Hall notes that optimal strategies are highly individualized, even for runners with the same condition. Taking an inquisitive, curious approach to finding them can shift your mindset from despair into action. “I focus on what I can do, rather than be held back by what I can’t and get discouraged and paralyzed,” she said.
Use an injury mantra
Though her motivation was strong, the months of rehab work with little payoff still felt like a grind, Hall said.
Self-talk kept her on track: “Every day, I would tell myself, ‘I’m building something,’ even if I don’t get to see it yet,” she said.
Know when to cross-train—and when to back off
Early on, especially when she still planned to race New York, Hall spent hours aqua-jogging and rowing. These movements didn’t irritate her IT band, so she figured it wasn’t setting her back. Plus, she hoped it would help her maintain her fitness for racing.
But three months in, as the injury lingered and she withdrew from Berlin and New York City, she and Ball decided the extra movement might be delaying her recovery.
is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster whos contributed regularly to cross-training. It was challenging: “I have never gone more than a month without doing any kind of cardiovascular activity,” she said. “But at some point, you have to assess how quickly you want to get over this.”
When she resumed training this year, Hall found herself pleasantly surprised at how quickly she returned to her previous paces. “I think sometimes we just picture ourselves going to zero,” she said. “But that’s not really how fitness works.”
Bring joy to the process
While she missed cross-training when she couldn’t do it, Hall—like most runners—would much rather be on the road or trail. “When you’re injured, it’s all these things you don’t enjoy, and you don’t have that thing you enjoy to look forward to,” she said. “That takes a toll.”
To reduce it, Hall aimed to brighten each workout by creating playlists to boost her mood and stuffing Werther’s candy into her sports bra, promising herself a piece every few minutes. “Be kind to yourself, and do what you can do to make it more fun and easy on yourself, mentally or physically,” she said.
Lean on your community
Running is a primary social outlet for elite athletes as well as midpackers, and Hall found herself feeling disconnected at times. She appreciated running buddies who reached out when they didn’t see her. “Do that for your friends—be that person who really shows up for them by checking in on them, even if it’s just a text,” she said. “That helps a lot.”
Hall normally spends hours driving to workouts with her husband and coach, Ryan. Instead, as she rehabbed, she was on the road to Phoenix to see Ball. She and Ryan made sure to deliberately set aside separate time for their marriage, planning non-active adventures—such as dinners out and trips to Sedona—to stay connected.
Hall also had a built-in recovery partner: her daughter Mia, a high school senior who will run at N.C. State next year. Mia fell and hurt her knee soon after her mom did last year, and this year, she developed an IT band injury, too. “We were doing a lot of the same exercises together,” Hall said. “She got to watch me, what I was pouring into it, and I saw her have that same drive.”
Back on the Line
Though the process also took months for Mia, both Halls are on the upswing now. The elder Hall returned to competition at the Lisbon Half Marathon on March 12, where she ran 1:09:31 to place 11th in hot conditions. She’d hoped to close faster, but said she’s happy with the effort—and to have raced hard, then jumped back into hard training, with no IT band problems.
Currently, she’s in Ethiopia, finishing out her Boston preparations and visiting friends and family. (The Halls’ four daughters were born there and adopted in 2015.) Hall’s training cycle has been shorter than normal, and she’s still substituting cross-training for some of her easier miles. But long runs of up to 26 miles, including a 23-miler with double the uphill and almost double the downhill of Boston, have brought her confidence. She also plans to race the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on April 2 as a final tuneup.
What Hall hopes she’s constructed—now that she’s finally starting to see the fruits of her labor—is a body capable of achieving a podium finish at the Boston Marathon this April, then continuing, through the 2024 Olympic Trials marathon and beyond.
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
