Tag: marathon recovery

Post-Marathon Recovery Tips

On By idratherbestrongthanskinnyIn marathon training, race recap, runningLeave a comment

Right after/the night after

  1. Don’t stop moving: Across the finish line, it’s important to keep moving. Sitting on the couch for the rest of the night will only create more stiffness. Make an effort to walk around and take breaks from sitting and resting to keep your blood circulating and reduce future muscle soreness. 
  2. Refuel and rehydrate: Refuel with water, nutrients, and electrolytes throughout the rest of the day (and the week after). Focus on replenishing carbs, protein, and electrolytes your body used for fuel during the race. Research shows perceptions of fatigue and soreness 72 hours post-marathon were reduced with protein intake immediately after a marathon.
  3. Avoid excessive alcohol: Yes, you want to celebrate with your friends, but alcohol is dehydrating and can slow recovery, so go easy. 
  4. Get a good night’s sleep: Muscle repair and recovery happens most when we sleep, so prioritize getting 7-8 hours.
HelpfulHurtful
-Electrolyte, carb and protein  consumption
– Compression socks or boots
– Epsom salt bath
– Hot bath
– Ice bath
– Legs up on the wall
– Mobility routine		– Sitting down and not moving for the rest of the day
– Aggressive stretching or foam rollingGoing for a run to “flush out the legs”
– Ignoring nutrition and/or rehydration
– Drinking sugary sports drinks and excessive alcoholIgnoring pain signals

<1-2 weeks after

  1. Protect your immune system: A marathon puts a lot of stress on your immune system, leaving you susceptible to infection or illness for up to 72 hours post-race (called the ‘open window’ theory). Staying hydrated, warm, and prioritizing recovery can help you avoid getting sick. 
  2. Wear supportive footwear: Your feet go through a lot on race day, so wearing supportive footwear in the days and weeks immediately after the race can help reduce additional impact.
  3. Continue practicing good nutrition and hydration.  
  4. Continue practicing good sleep hygiene. 
  5. Return to gentle foam rolling: Return to soft-tissue work as tolerated. 
  6. Engage in low-impact cross training activities: Think walking, cycling, and swimming. These types of movement can help improve blood circulation, reduce post-marathon stiffness, and re-introduce movement back to your body.
  7. Avoid returning to training too soon: Respect the effects of the race on your body. It can take your body over three weeks to fully recover from an all-out marathon, and up to two weeks to recover from a half marathon. Research shows that inflammation from a marathon can last up to two weeks, and biomarkers that indicate muscle damage and inflammation stay elevated for up to nine days post-marathon, so it’s important to give your body the rest it deserves. We advise taking AT LEAST 3-5 days completely off, and running at a reduced volume and intensity for at least two weeks. 
  8. Gradually return to strength training after 7-10 days with lower reps and lower volume. See #7.
  9. Listen to your body: Every one recovers differently. Just because you see your running buddies returning to running doesn’t mean you are ready to run, so take stock of how tired you feel, your resting and working heart rate, and other helpful information (number of hours of sleep, Garmin recovery scores, etc). 
  10. Seek help if needed from a physical therapist or another movement professional.
HelpfulHurtful
– Gentle foam rolling and mobility
– Low-impact cross training (walking, cycling, swimming, yoga)
-Listening to your body		– Returning to training too soon
– Ignoring pain signals
Talk to a physical therapist if…
– You’re limping (while walking, running, or both)
– You’re having trouble performing daily activities
– It hurts to put weight on one limb
– You’re still experiencing nagging pains 10+ days out from the marathon
– Your pain levels are >5-6 out of 10 on a 0-10 scale 10-14 days out from the marathon
– You completed your goal race (congrats!), are looking to train for your next race, but are looking for guidance and body maintenance along the way
– You’re interested in performance training to take your training to the next level

How long does it take to recover from a marathon?

On By idratherbestrongthanskinnyIn marathon training, runningLeave a comment

Running a marathon can take a huge toll on your body, as the physical act of being on your feet for hours at a time requires strength, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity and tons of willpower. So if you’re someone who just ran the Philadelphia marathon (or New York City, or Chicago, or Los Angeles) you may be wondering: How long should you rest after a marathon?

While there are tons of training plans and regimes to help you tackle those 26.2 miles, there are unfortunately way less “recovery plans” or programs — only very expensive recovery tools. To help out runners looking for recovery advice, I turned to the latest research studies to find out.

One of the best ways to determine how your body is recovering is to measure the response of your blood biomarkers. While this isn’t feasible for everyone, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research analyzed blood levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TNT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in 86 runners 24 hours before a marathon, immediately after the race, and 24, 48, 96, and 144 hours post-race.

Lactate dehydrogenase, an indicator of tissue damage, normalized after 192 hours, or 8 days. Creatine Kinase, another indicator of muscle damage, peaked at three hours post race and normalized after 144 hours, or six days. High-sensitivity troponin T, used to detect cardiac tissue damage, normalized after 96 hours or  4 days.

The first three biomarkers normalized after 8 days, but C-reative protein, a biomarker for inflammation, reached its peak at 24 hours post race, and despite decreasing slightly, it was still high 8 days after the marathon.

So, what does this all mean?

Although everybody (and everybody’s body) is different, researchers of this study suggest run coaches should avoid scheduling training sessions that elicit more muscle damage — including running and strength training — during the immediate 96 hours, or four days, after a marathon. As creatine kinase levels are only just starting to decrease, athletes are at a risk of developing rhabdomyolysis if they push themselves too hard. If you’re a workout junkie or just need to move in the week after your race, aim for something low-key and low-impact, like a yoga flow or a float in the pool.

Runners can also expect to experience inflammation for more than a week after the marathon — which means your body isn’t ready to dive back into an intense training program just yet. To avoid chronic inflammation, you’ll want to continue to take it easy and give your body the rest it needs (and deserves!) for up to two weeks. Stressing your body and extending the life of inflammatory biomarkers can have negative effects on your muscle’s ability to heal, and your immune system.

It would be nice to know when C-reative protein levels actually normalized in this sample size, but that’s just one limitation of this study. And while its findings are consistent with previous research, it’s important to remember this is also just ONE study, with a specific demographic of runners. It’s important to listen to your own body, especially as you ease back into workouts after a respectable time off.

So, now that you know how long your body takes to return to baseline, it’s time to determine how to be proactive about your recovery. There’s another study (and post) for that.

Stay tuned!

//

Bernat-Adell MD, Collado-Boira EJ, Moles-Julio P, et al.. Recovery of Inflammation, Cardiac, and Muscle Damage Biomarkers After Running a Marathon. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2021; 35 (3): 626-632. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003167.