Recovery Tips Post Marathon
You have just put your body through a massive amount of stress and it's important to allow for appropriate recovery. Recovery is a crucial part of any intense training plan and unfortunately, it is often forgotten about or neglected. Adequate recovery helps decrease injury and increases the body’s ability to get back to running efficiently in the coming weeks and months after the marathon.
Crossing the finish line
As soon as you reach the finish line, as tempting as it is to fully stop or drop to your knees, try your best to keep walking for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow your heart rate to drop gradually, for circulation to return to its resting state and to flush your muscles of all the lactic acid they have built up during the run.
Food
Try to eat something small within 30 minutes to an hour after finishing the marathon. Refuelling is best immediately after exercise as the body is eager to absorb energy. Try to eat easily digested calories to maintain blood sugar levels, increase glycogen and repair muscle tissue eg. Bananas, yoghurts and high carbohydrate foods. Eat your bigger meal later in the day when your appetite returns.
Throughout the day continue to snack on small meals that include carbs and protein for recovery. Make sure you also drink fluids regularly throughout the day to gradually rehydrate. You burned a lot of energy running and lost a decent amount of fluids.
Rest
Training for the marathon and the marathon itself causes inflammation in the muscles. This significantly impacts muscle power and endurance for up to 14 days post-marathon. Your immune system is also compromised, increasing the chance of you catching a cold or flu. Resting as much as possible post-race and eating healthy and nutrient-rich food is important to bring your immune system back to normal.
Don’t worry about losing fitness during your recovery phase. It is much more important to allow your body full recovery to avoid carrying an injury into your next training phase.
Training
Rest initially for a few days followed by light activity eg. swimming/cycling. Light massage and gentle rolling this week will also aid muscle recovery.If your body is feeling good, start slowly and gradually increase distance and intensity over the week. If you are still experiencing the odd niggle or feel fatigued, continue with light activity and go for short, light jogs. Try not to do competitive runs in the 6 weeks following the marathon.
If you experience any post-marathon niggles that don’t seem to be settling within the first 5-7 days of rest, contact us here for an assessment and treatment as appropriate.
Sports Clinic
Our sports clinic is lead by Elizabeth Bovich and David Richards. Together they have an extensive sports background with high level athletes in Ireland and the USA.