I slept like a baby last night. But woke up this morning in pain! My hip flexors and my right glute muscle just cramped up and got so stiff. I am walking kinda funny. I feel like I need to keep moving though and get to the gym, because prior to this race, I had taken 2 whole days off...SO I feel kind of mushy!
I found some great advice for marathon runners looking for tips on what to do after the race and here are some great ones!
What you do the first few hours and days after a marathon is as important as what you do immediately preceding it. This period is critical to your recovery and your future running. The best aid to recovery is a good training program before the marathon. A training program with a good mileage base leads to faster recovery.
Recovery Factors
There are a number of factors that are important in recovery. The most important of these are muscle soreness, fatigue and feelings of depression. The recovery period and activities should take these items into account. Some general recommendations will be given. These will be followed by recovery progressions.
Delayed muscle soreness after exercise has been described often. The soreness is a feeling of stiffness and soreness that begins 8 or more hours after exercise and may last 3-4 days (sometimes a week). Researchers propose several causes:
- Damage to the muscle tissue itself. May be due to depletion of energy reserves or actual degeneration of muscle fibers.
- Accumulation of fluid and breakdown products in the muscle.
- Muscle spasm.
- Overstretching or tears of the connective tissue.
The soreness may be a result of one or more of these causes depending on the individual, his state of training and the activity. The most likely causes after a marathon are depletion of energy reserves and the accumulation of fluid in the muscles.
Pain relief can helped by icing, massage, light activity and slow gentle stretching. All of these things work by increasing the circulation to the area. The increased circulation takes away waste and extra fluid and brings new nutrients. Drinking fluids will help flush the waste products from the body.
Recovery Immediately After the Marathon
A cool down after finishing is important. It may be difficult to do this depending on the finish area. Try an easy jog or a walk of 10 minutes or so. Fainting, leg cramps, and/or nausea may result from stopping suddenly or lying down. Do not stretch now. Your muscle are exhausted and you may activate the stretch reflex leading to cramping or injury. Take advantage of massage if offered. Ask for ice to massage any sore areas. Drink lots of fluids, especially ones rich in electrolytes such as orange juice or tomato juice (now is the time for electrolyte drinks vs during the race). Try to drink at least 6-8 ounces of water every 1-2 hours. Eat something as soon as you can. Many marathons provide "goodie" bags or meals for finishers, take advantage of these. A large balanced meal may be the best since it will probably contain some of everything you need to replace. Avoid long soaks in hot water which may cause swelling and lead to delayed muscle soreness. If you feel like you need a nap, reward yourself with one. Try to take a 10 to 15 minute walk later in the afternoon to keep circulation going.
The Day After the Marathon
Post race depression is quite common. You usually feel a real "high" after finishing especially if you've done well and can talk to other runners and share experiences. The next morning the fatigue and soreness may make you wonder if the marathon was worth it. This letdown is a normal response to meeting your goal and not having a new one. Don't make any plans or predictions until the end of the week. Take time to assess your performance, see if you followed your plan and write down both the good and the bad things that happened. Review your training diary to see what worked well for you and try to pick out any mistakes.
Any exercise you can do will promote circulation and aid healing and recovery. If you feel like you can run, find a flat soft surface to run on such as a track. Start slowly, you may be quite stiff. After running a short distance, your legs should loosen up and running will feel better. This sensation will persist until your muscles start to fatigue and then they will start to stiffen back up. When you feel this begin to happen or if something hurts, you've had enough. When in doubt, don't run any more than you did the day before the marathon (about 10 to 15 minutes). If you feel too sore or stiff to run, take a walk or ride your bike or go swimming for 20 to 30 minutes to get your blood flowing. If anything hurts, ice it after your workout. The long soak in the tub may be OK to take today. Eat anything that looks or sounds good to you. You probably need it and you certainly deserve it. Your whole body will feel fatigued, plan to take it easy and go to bed early.
| Weeks After the Marathon | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Training Goal for Week | Recover as quickly as possible. | Resume regular running | Get your legs moving fast again. | Consolidate fitness gained during marathon training. |
| Key Ways to Meet the Week's Goal | Combine minimal, easy running with walking and other forms of cross-training, such as easy cycling or water running, that will improve blood flow to your legs. Get a massage and try to get extra sleep. Eat frequent high-carb meals to replenish your energy stores. | Stick with easy runs from 20 to 60 minutes long. Run mostly with friends and maintain a conversational pace. Wear a heart-rate monitor and don't go above 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. | After one run, do six to eight 100-meter pick-ups, focusing on a quick turnover while remaining relaxed. Do the middle few miles of another run at your marathon pace. | After warming up on one run, do an unstructured fartlek workout, with six to 10 surges of 30 seconds to three minutes, and with as much recovery between as you feel you need. Do a long run that's between 2/3 and 3/4 of your normal premarathon long run. |
| Mileage Goal for the Week | Up to 25 percent of average premarathon mileage | 25 to 50 percent of average premarathon mileage | 50 to 70 percent of average premarathon mileage | 60 to 80 percent of average premarathon mileage |
So, OFF to the gym I go!
