When athletes complete a marathon distance usually their thoughts are not focused on the importance of their recovery; or in the choices they will make with their nutrition on the following days and weeks after their marathon. Once they have crossed that finishing line they are usually excited and relieved that they have finished. Nutrition and exercise are usually the thoughts most athletes focus on during their training and give little thought to these key items once the goal has been accomplished. Yet the only way to reap the benefits from your efforts in a marathon is to do the right things following your marathon. With this in mind many athletes who have not taken proper care of their bodies once completing the marathon seam to never want to do another marathon again or worse yet never return to a regular exercise routine. To avoid this happening to you I would like to share some tips on how to gain extra strengths from your accomplishments of completing a marathon and how you can enjoy many more marathons in the future.
One major factor on post-marathon recovery is on how well you prepared yourself for your marathon. Doing the proper training is the first key to a speedy recovery. If you have not done the work before hand you will feel the effects on your body no matter how much rest you take or how good you may think your nutrition is. Everyone wants to gain from their marathon experience so it is with the proper training, nutrition and a recovery routine that you will have your next training program starting at a new level of fitness.
During the first three days following your marathon is a time for your body to take a complete rest. At this time you should continue to drink plenty of water as you had been before your marathon; this will help reduce any inflammation you may have and help your body continue to keep its regular metabolism. Stretching will help with any stiffness you may have in your muscles and also help with removing the build up of waste products. Icing is another benefit to also keep in mind during those first three days following your marathon.
Nutrition should be light on your digestive system. The stress of a marathon on your body slows down your metabolism; which makes digesting heavy proteins an added stress to your body. Keeping to smaller portions but eating more frequently during those three days will help rebuild your glycogen stores and help increase your energy level. Remember you are rebuilding muscle fibers and tissues that where torn down during the efforts of your marathon so good nutrition is essential for proper repair to those aching muscles.
There should be minimum changes to your overall nutrition following your marathon as to how it was during your pre-marathon training. The only major difference should be in the portion sizes because of the reduced volume in your workouts and energy expenditure. Many athletes think they can eat what they want following a marathon. And yes, we have definitely burned up many calories while out there on the roads. However the choices in those calories are what really count’s especially if we have plans on returning to an exercise routine stronger and faster than we were before our marathon. What you choose to eat in the days following your marathon will have direct consequences on the strengths that you gain and the speed of your recovery. Concentrating on eating lots of fruits and vegetables and reducing the high fats and heavy proteins will make the difference. Your body will thank you for it and your running will improve.
Each week you can add an extra 15 minutes to your aerobic workout. The rule of thumb I have mentioned before is to allow yourself a week for every hour it took you to complete your marathon; this will be the time needed in your active recovery routine. During this time you are only doing aerobic workouts based on your level of fitness and resuming the high intensity workouts only after completing the weeks needed in recovery. So let’s say your marathon takes you 4 hours to complete. Following those first three days of complete rest your weekly routine should go as follows, week one longest run 30 minutes, week two longest run 45 minutes, week three longest run 1 hour and week four longest run 1:15minutes. After this time you may add interval workouts and hills to your overall training program.
Starting back too soon with both high intensity workouts and long runs will not allow your body to fully recover from your marathon. Many athletes make this mistake coming off a personal best time in their marathon and begin training for their next marathon way too soon. However the excitement and their fitness keeps them going for a couple of months or so and then they find themselves struggling with their workouts both mentally and physically. This usually starts taking place just as the mileage increases again. At this point the damage has already been done and in most cases they will get injured or drop out of the marathon they had been training for. The rest they had avoided in the beginning became a forced rest down the road. As a coach I have witnessed this many times. I give the advice and not all times is it taken; however the lesson is learned the hard way.
It is four week since I competed in the Dublin City Marathon on October 25th and I am happy to say I have followed my own advice. I am now running faster in my workout than I was before my Dublin marathon and I am looking forward to my next marathon coming up in the New Year. The proper rest and nutrition really makes the difference.
Happy running,
-- Coach Murphy