How to recover from a marathon like a boss

I’m headed to the gym to run after a few days off.

Yesterday afternoon I needed a little Mexican flavor in my life so I ate a jalapeno.

No, no, I didn’t.  I went on a 3.6 mile walk with this sombrero.

No, no, I didn’t walk in my bikini… and the world let out a collective sigh of relief.

MARATHON RECOVERY

A couple days ago I linked to a Runner’s World article on marathon recovery, but since I’ve continued to receive questions, I’ll tell you what I do to recover (it might be a little repetitive).

*Refuel right away within an hour or half hour if you’re really bombdiggity.

Chocolate milk is great or any other low-fat protein and carbs beverage if you’re not into cow juice.  The key is getting those nutrients into your body and muscles quickly.

I never want to eat right after a race; the harder I run, the less appealing food sounds so a drink is a lot easier for me.

*Stretch it out.  You will feel better the next day if you stretch.  End of (boring) story.

I first focus on what’s tight – after NWM, it was my hamstrings.  And then I always stretch my hip area because that’s what gets tight first with Piriformis and that crap.

This post shows the hip stretches I do.

*Ice.  You will feel better the next day if you ice.  End of (boring) story.

I told you it’d be repetitive. 

Take an ice bath – it helps with soreness and inflammation.  I’m terrible at taking ice baths so I usually use ice packs on my hips and knees, but soaking your whole lower body in ice for 10-15 mins minutes is going to help you recover quicker.

Get in the tub of cold water first (that covers your legs) and then dump as much ice in as possible.  Wear a sweatshirt or something warm on top, drink a mug of hot coffee/tea and have a magazine, your phone or something to distract you.

{Ice bath, ice trash, whatever you choose.}

*Use an electrostimulator to help increase blood flow, flush out lactic acid, recover faster.

I have a Compex machine and I used it before and after San Fran.  You can check out more of the clinical research behind it and the pro athletes using it (hello Mark Sanchez, you foxy minx) here.

If you don’t have one (the one I have is the same price as a 910XT Garmin), you can also get a massage the next day, foam roll or use The Stick to achieve (somewhat) similar results, although you’re not going to be able to make your muscle contract at a frequency of 9Hz decreasing every 2 minutes to 1Hz. <— boom, how smart do I sound?!

*If you have compression, wear your compression gear post-race.

Studies show that compression gear helps with recovery so now’s the time to put on your socks, sleeves, or tights.  It will help get the blood flow moving and reduce muscle soreness.

If you don’t have compression clothing, you can sit up against a wall and put your feet up for 10-15 minutes.  or just lay there for like 2 days.

I pack one pair of compression socks for the race and then another dry, clean pair for afterwards.  Sweaty socks don’t do my grunge feet no favors.

*If you need pain relief, use an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen.  Remember, crack is whack… and doesn’t help with muscle inflammation.

You can also try a pain relieving muscle cream like BENGAY (I’ve never tried the pain relief massage gel but it looks kinda cool) or a Salonpas pain patch on sore areas.

*Rest, cross train lightly, and eat.

You’ve put your body through a huge physical feat – it needs rest to heal itself so try to catch as many ZZZZs as possible in the following days post-marathon.

Move your body; don’t just go comatose for me, baby.  Take a walk and keep moving your body in low-impact ways (swimming, biking, elliptical), but take some time off from running.  The standard rule is to take one day off for every mile you’ve run so 26 days of non-running for a marathon.

Last, eat up.  The day after a marathon I am ravenous all day long.  Feed your body, refuel it.  Have a celebratory post-race meal and then have some healthy meals, but don’t get all whacked out because you’re nonstop hungry the next day.  It’s ok and normal.

*Listen to your own body, not what I do, what your bestie does, what Emily and Jef do.

You know yourself better than anyone else – if you recover quickly and feel awesome, sign up for another race.  Maybe you’re burnt out and need extra time away from running.  That’s ok too!

I felt great after Chicago and ran the next day.  After San Fran, I felt sore, tight and achy and took 2 days off from running.  Your body won’t always respond the same every time so listen to it, respect it and be proud of your race and accomplishment!

Do you have any marathon recovery tips to add?

Tagged as: compex, compression, how to, recovery, refuel, running info, running tips