Post Marathon Recovery
Post Marathon Recovery
Running a marathon puts a lot of strains and stresses on the body. Here's advice on how to recover effectively, avoid injury and get back to training as quickly as possible.
Well done! You’ve completed a marathon, and felt the euphoria of crossing the finish line. Now what?
Here are 5 tips from Jane Hodgson, a Chartered Physiotherapist specialising in running injuries from Physiobench to discover how to facilitate your recovery to ensure you are back out training and injury free as quickly as possible.
1) Recovery starts at the finish line
- Take the space blanket at the finish, take it. It may take a while to find your kit and you will cool off surprisingly quickly.
- If possible keep walking and moving around for 10 to 15 minutes- It will take a while for your heart rate to drop back to normal. Keeping walking around allows this to taper back more gently. If you do sit or lie straight away there is a short term effect of more blood pooling to the legs increasing the risk of you fainting
2) Replenish your stores immediately
- Eat a high carbohydrate snack within 30 minutes of finishing. Something like a banana or sports bar is ideal. Carbohydrate taken soon after finishing is absorbed more effectively.
- Over the next few days you can expect to feel more hungry than normal – your body is trying to replenish its reserves. Maintain a health diet but eat whatever you crave, carbohydrate is important, protein helps with muscle recovery, fruit and veg will help to replace minerals and nutrients.
3) Replace your fluids and check your urine
- Whatever the weather you have run in, you can expect your fluid levels to be depleted. This is exacerbated in hot conditions.
- Start sipping fluids as soon as you finish. Don’t overload yourself with fluids, but keep sipping steadily over the rest of the day.
- Look at the colour of your urine. Your urine should be a pale straw colour. A deep yellow colour means you are dehydrated – take more fluids. Urine with no colour means you are overloading with fluids, cut back on the intake.
- Pass urine within six hours of the finish. If you have been replacing your fluids, but have not passed urine within 6 hours of the finish you should seek a medical opinion – your kidneys may not be working.
- Restrict your alcohol & caffeine intake – it has a dehydratory effect. If you feel like toasting your achievement with an alcoholic drink, do – you deserve it.
4) Return to running slowly
- The main rule here is to listen to your body. Allow your self a period of rest. Most people only walk or stagger in the first week after the marathon.
- Reverse taper your training – Start with a short slow run and gradually build up.
- Consider replacing your shoes. Your shoes by now will have done a fair mileage. They have probably lost most of their shock absorbing properties. Switch over to the new shoes by alternating runs between the new and old, then gradually build up the runs in the new pair, decreasing those in the old.
5) Beware of picking up bugs and infections
- Your immune system will be depressed in the first couple of weeks after such an extreme exertion. Help it to recover quickly by having a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg for vitamin replenishment.
- Get plenty of rest – you will probably need to sleep more than your normal.
- If you do get ill - give yourself time to recover before restarting training.
Web: http://physiobench.com/injury-advice/1/Running-injuries
Email: martyn.hodgson@physiobench.com
About: Physiobench is unique in being the first practise to provide online physio treatment and advice to clients throughout the world. The physios have many years experience of treating patients in hospitals, private clinics and sporting settings.
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