Post Marathon Tips

There is a lot of talk of prep before your race; what to wear, what to eat, training programmes etc. But do you know what to do once it’s over?

Here are 3 tips that could help you continue feeling your fittest and strongest ready to get to day-to-day life.

1: Keep moving!

As much as you feel like you want to spend the foreseeable lounging around, marvelling at the achievement you’ve accomplished (which you absolutely do deserve), do remember to keep moving. Sticking to a strict training programme gives you a strong mentality that can be hard to maintain once the goal is achieve because, frankly, your exhausted! However, keeping your body moving will help aid recovery.

• Straight after the race, walk around for 10-15 minutes to keep the blood flowing and flush out any unwanted by-products e.g. lactic acid.
• In the days following, try to minimise impact on the body by opting for relaxing forms of exercise; swimming, walking or light cycling on flat routes with some mobility work to keep the joints fluid and avoid stiffening up.
• After a few days, get those trainers laced up for a light, recovery run around your local area for 20-30minutes. Remember this is still ‘rest’ but it’s the integration of active recovery that makes for efficient rest.

Without movement, you can inhibit your ability to perform in the weeks following and allow injuries to creep up and settle in. Recovery runs, for example, can prevent muscles getting too stiff and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). If you’re not quite ready to take on anymore pavement pounding, a recovery sport massage is effective in helping alleviate post-race soreness, reduce inflammation, and promote overall relaxation.

But what is ‘normal’ soreness and what might be a sign you need to seek professional help We asked for some advice from the physiotherapists around the corner at ‘Physio on the Green’ to shed some light on this.

“[DOMS] can be expected between 12-24 hours after exercise and can last several days. It is usually a positive sign that your body is adapting to a new stimulus… a massage is incredibly effective at reducing the symptoms and duration of DOMS, allowing you to return to normal activities sooner. It is important to note that pain that lasts longer than 4/5 days may be a sign of injury to the tissue or bone, which needs to be assessed by a Physiotherapist.”