Doctor’s Orders: Prepare Mentally, Physically for Dallas Marathon

The journey to winning the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival in 2015 began with a father’s example.

Dr. Logan Sherman remembers his father running the Dallas Marathon and then finding a similar passion in middle school.

The sports chiropractor has since developed a training regimen that has allowed him to win three half-marathons in addition to that 2015 race. 

“It’s a transformative experience,” Sherman said. “The one thing that I believe puts the Dallas Marathon ahead of other races is that we aim to create a 100% satisfaction of our guest experience. We want everyone to walk away talking about how much fun they had during our race.”

Before the fun comes hard work.

“When I was training for a marathon, I would carry a base of 100 plus miles per week,” Sherman said. 

He recommends beginning training for a half-marathon 14 weeks prior and a full marathon 16 weeks prior. With each grueling week, it is necessary to keep the body healthy.

He’s a fan of using foam rollers, a performance and recovery deep tissue massaging tool, before and after running. He also advocates strength training to avoid injuries.

“As a sports chiropractor, I find that most of my clients who come in for an injury are not performing strength exercises outside of running,” he said. “When I was training, I would carve out three to five days for lifting weights. I credit strength training to my relatively healthy career.”

While physical training is key to recording a good time, mentally preparing for a 26.6-mile-long course is just as important. 

“The training in and of itself helps people mentally prepare for it,” Sherman said. “The excitement of the race day and the spectators cheering you on in the middle of the course really takes your mind off of what you might be going through at the moment.”

Sherman still thinks back on a pro-tip he received when he first started. 

“My favorite piece of advice that I was given prior to my first marathon, the 2009 Dallas Marathon, was from the ‘96 Dallas Marathon champion, Dr. William Moore,”  Sherman said. “He told me through an email the night before the race, ‘patience, patience, patience.’ You should be very comfortable in the early stages of the race and your pace should be almost conversational.”