Post Marathon Recovery: Essential Steps for Optimal Healing | Chuze Fitness

First of all, congratulations! Running a marathon is a truly incredible accomplishment. But no matter how rigorous your training, running 26.2 miles takes a huge toll on your body.

When you run, your glycogen (or sugar) levels decrease, your cortisol (or stress hormone) levels increase, your blood flow increases, and your muscles are subjected to constant microscopic trauma.

Your body will slowly repair itself in the days and weeks following the big event, but this imbalance leaves you more vulnerable to injury. Fortunately, this guide provides essential recovery tips to ensure optimal healing after your marathon.

Replenish your nutrients

A 26.2-mile run is an extreme test of endurance. After a marathon, it’s essential to replace lost nutrients with a balanced meal so your body can recover properly.

The following are the best foods to eat after a marathon:

• Carbohydrates – You may be familiar with carb-loading to improve your athletic performance before a race, but eating carbs after this Just as beneficial. Carbohydrates are essential for restoring your glycogen levels and rebuilding your muscle proteins.

• Protein – Like carbohydrates, protein helps repair your muscles and is important for recovery. Eating protein after running also helps relieve fatigue and muscle soreness. For best results, you need a mix of carbohydrates and protein such as milk, bagels with peanut butter and chicken with rice or pasta.

• Salty foods – Salt helps to restore electrolytes you lose while sweating. Some salty post-race snack options are pretzels, trail mix, jerky, and pickles.

• Supplements – A balanced diet will help meet your nutritional needs, but vitamin supplements such as glutamine, omega-3, magnesium and vitamin D are an effective option to meet your nutritional needs. You can also find these vitamins in fruits such as bananas, oranges and berries.

Running speeds up digestion by increasing your blood flow, so it’s best to eat within 30 minutes of your run for optimal nutrient absorption.

Hydrate

You lose a lot of fluids while running. After the run, don’t forget to rehydrate with 16 to 24 ounces of fluids for every pound of body weight lost during exercise. You can do this by drinking water or by taking a sports drink rich in electrolytes.

Remember, don’t drink alcohol Very Drink a lot of water at once, as this can flush out your electrolytes. The goal is to maintain a fluid balance that can reduce muscle pain and aid in the distribution of nutrients throughout your body.

Passive retrieval

After you finish your run, it’s important to rest and give your muscles time to recover to avoid the risk of injury. To do this, try these passive recovery techniques that involve gentle, therapeutic activities.

Drag

Stretching is one of the most effective ways to relax sore muscles and maximize recovery after a marathon, but static stretching may be too intense for swollen muscles after a race.

Instead, perform dynamic, low-impact stretches to minimize injury. Additionally, wait a few hours for your muscles to re-hydrate and recover before resuming static stretches and foam rolling.

Massage

The day after a marathon is the best time to massage those sore muscles. Massage is beneficial for your health as it increases blood circulation and flushes out the lactic acid and waste products in your muscles, reducing pain.

Dip in cold water

Immersing yourself in cold water, like an ice bath or cold shower, has similar benefits as stretching and massage: it helps flush out lactic acid, increases blood circulation, and aids in the delivery of nutrients to the muscles.

These effects help reduce muscle pain and delayed onset muscle soreness.

Sleep

After a run, the first thing you might think of is a nap. Fortunately, sleep is an essential factor in muscle recovery after exercise.

Sleep regulates hormones that aid muscle repair and growth. Good sleep can also speed up the healing process by replenishing glycogen stores that restore your energy.

Set new goals

When you’ve put in months of hard training and energy for a big day, you may feel depressed when it’s over. In fact, feeling depressed after a race is a common experience among runners. But, luckily, there are ways to deal with it:

• take a break – Take 5 to 7 days off from running. By implementing a recovery period and giving your body a chance to recover, you are taking care of your body to ensure you can continue training in the future.

• Start running slowly – It’s tempting to resume the training you’re used to, but this can lead to injury. After your days off, start with short, easy runs.
• Create new goals – Create new goals to keep yourself motivated, like participating in a future race or taking up a new hobby.

And of course, don’t forget to celebrate your incredible achievement.

Keep running with Choose Fitness

Running a marathon is a true test of endurance that requires determination. Very Rest and recovery time. As your body heals from the micro-traumas of intense exercise, you can help it along by supplementing your nutrients, hydrating, and implementing passive recovery strategies.

Additionally, you can achieve long-term running success with Chuz Fitness and start running safely. We believe gyms should be friendly, clean, and accessible to everyone, no matter your expertise. So, whether you’re a marathoner or just starting out, you can start a supportive fitness journey by joining the Chuz Fitness family today.

Source:

National Library of Medicine. Marathon training and immune function. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17465622/

Nutri Advanced. Best supplements for marathon runners. https://www.nutriadvanced.co.uk/news/best-supplements-for-marathon-runners/

Runner’s World. What causes DOMS and what can you do to reduce it? https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/a41869140/doms/

Annie is the Vice President of Fitness at Choose Fitness and oversees the group fitness and team training departments. She has had a 25+ year career in club management, personal training, group exercise, and instructor training. Annie lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and son and loves hot yoga, snowboarding, and all things wellness.