9 steps to recovery after a marathon
9 Things you can do to help your body and mind cope and speed your recovery.
OK my friends, you have just run a hard 26.2 mile race. You have been training for this event for 3+ months. You gave it everything and left it all on the course. Now what? How do you recover physically, nutritionally and mentally to keep your mojo going?
There is an intertwining of physical, nutritional and mental activities that you can pursue holistically to speed your recovery, get back on your feet and avoid the post marathon blues. These are all interrelated but for sake of simplicity let me break them out so you can use them in your next race.
Physical
When you cross the finish line of a marathon your legs are going to be tired. Your joints and connective tissue may be sore. You may have muscle cramps. You have over-fatigued major muscle groups and they may be spasming as a result.
You muscles are full of crap. They are full of the waste products produced by having to work so hard for so long. It’s like they got very busy and didn’t have a chance to take out the trash for a couple months.
- Keep moving. When you come across the finish line keep moving, don’t stop or sit or lie down. If you stop you will get sick and your muscles will lock up. Keep moving.
I know you’re tired. I know it’s hard. I know it hurts. But you have to keep your legs moving for a few minutes or worst case they’ll spasm and lock up with cramps, and best case they’ll constrict, preventing blood flow and recovery.
- Get a post-race massage. A good physio or certified massage therapist knows how to give a post-race massage. This is not a deep tissue massage. This is a ‘flat’ or ‘pressure’ massage where the therapist pushes the junk manually out of the major muscles. This simple thing will greatly reduce muscle soreness and speed recovery.
- Consider a soak. There are arguments over what works and what doesn’t. You certainly want to avoid hot baths or prolonged hot showers because this will make the existing swelling worse. I will take ice baths after long hard workouts to relieve the swelling. Some people swear by Epsom salts baths. Test it out in training, check with your coach and see what works for you.
- Wear compression. I race in compression sleeves so I’m usually looking to get out of them after the race. Some competitors swear by the healing impact of wearing compression gear following a race.
- Stay active. The week following the race don’t sit around. Many plans and pundits will say you need to take 2-3 weeks completely off. That’s BS. Depending on how beat up you are consider which activities are best for you. Only do those activities that don’t hurt too much. Don’t run, unless you’re very fit. Active recovery will help you heal and make you stronger.
- Go for a walk and take your dog out for some fresh air.
- Get on the bike for a low intensity, high RPM spin to get the blood moving and help get that crap out of your muscles without weight bearing damage.
- Do some easy swimming if you have access to a pool.
- Work on some core strength routines.
- Do plenty of long deep stretching or yoga.
Nutritional
You just finished a marathon! Surely you can eat whatever the heck you want, right? Well, yes, I’m not going to begrudge you your celebration foods of choice but you still have to keep in the back of your mind that what you put into your body greatly impacts the quality of your recovery.
- Settle and replenish. When you cross that finish line you may never want to look at Gatorade ever again. Chances are you’re going to be several minutes away from your own sources of food so you will have to choose something the race offers. Focus on simple foods that settle and replenish.
Right after you’ve finished is when you may have some stomach problems. Once you stop moving all that blood starts to pool and you may immediately get nausea, or it may hit you at any time over the first 20-30 minutes.
For this reason I would caution you to choose wisely. Get some cold water and sip it slowly to start countering the dehydration, don’t chug or gulp or you may see it again. Choose a food that you know goes easy on your gut. I like to take a piece of banana because I find it settles my stomach. Some people like pretzels.
I would recommend against any of the shakes, milks or sports drinks that they may be shoving at you from the finished line. Most of this stuff is processed crap anyhow and isn’t good for recovery. Just because it’s being offered and it’s free doesn’t mean you should take it!
- Rebuild. Once the first wave of nausea has passed you can start to take in foods that will help your recovery. I’m not going to get into a nutrition debate, so let’s just leave it at you should get a good, high-quality source of carbohydrates and a good, high-quality source of protein.
Whole foods are always better than processed crap. You might have a nice pre-made smoothie waiting for you to start things off on the right foot. Or some fruit and veggies. Once you’ve got some good stuff in, go ahead and have a beer and some junk food, you earned it. J
Mentally
One of the biggest issues people deal with after completing a marathon is a loss of direction. You have been focusing on the big event for several months. Now you’re done. Now what? People call this the ‘marathon blues’ or the ‘post-marathon slump’. How can you avoid it?
- Write down your race. Capture what went well and what didn’t and why. How was your race strategy and execution? How was your nutrition? Capture it so you can go over it and learn from it. Share it with your coach.
- Set your next goal. Don’t leave yourself up in the air. Script out a routine that will take you through the recovery and on to your next training cycle. Have a training plan for the week or two after the marathon with specific activities to keep your mind engaged and on purpose. Use this opportunity to work on things that you haven’t had time for, like stretching and yoga.
Look out on the calendar 2 or 3 months and sign up for another event. It doesn’t have to be a marathon. It can be any event that gives you a ‘clear horizon’ to plan for and look forward to.
If you have a goal, you have a purpose and you won’t be lost in the post-marathon blues.
Recovery is just another phase of the training cycle. Save yourself some time and heartache. Do the little things that will help you recover and set you back on the path of success for your next event.