JIM SPENCE: Relaxed build-up served me well in Dundee marathon – but over-worked United at risk of hitting wall

Jim Goodwin is right to express concern over the number of games his Dundee United players have faced in recent weeks.

All athletes will tell you that rest is as big a part of maintaining top fitness as training and competing is.

Proper recovery time to recuperate and heal from injuries, knocks and strains is vital.

It’s counterproductive for teams and individuals not to have sufficient intervals between matches.

The constant stress on the body eventually catches up on even the fittest athletes, and body and mind stop performing at maximum efficiency.

Despite traditionalists claiming it was tougher in their day, I suspect modern players are competing at a more constantly high tempo than ever and, when their schedules are overloaded, as they have been in recent weeks, stresses on the body, leading to breakdown, becomes a major problem.

United will have played seven games in 20 days after Saturday’s fixture at St Mirren, with players running on average around seven miles a game.

In a bruising contact sport, with constant stress on the joints and muscles from both sprinting and distance runs, maintaining peak performance week-in, week-out becomes almost impossible.

There’s a world of difference between an amateur runner and a professional footballer, but here’s a wee personal vignette to illustrate why not overdoing it is crucial.

I was training for the first Dundee marathon and putting in about 60 to 70 miles a week.

The week leading up to the race and feeling good, I continued that mileage to the day before the marathon.

On the day, I hit the wall 18 miles in; completely knackered.

I finished in just under three-and-a-half hours.

The next year, having taken advice from much wiser runners, I cut the miles right back and only did a couple of short runs the week of the race, and none at all for three days before it.

In fact, at the Angus hotel, at the pre-race pasta night, I had a few pints of Guinness.

On the day, I finished in two hours and 51 minutes – and as fresh as a daisy.

So I’m in Jim Goodwin’s camp when it comes to not overloading the boys with games.

Mind you, I’m not advocating they go on the Guinness the night before matches!