October 2002

Previous issues

Each month we offer a new article by Kitty Consolo, Ph.D.   Kitty is a veteran runner and exercise physiologist.  She has been running and racing since 1975, and has won over 400 road races ranging from the mile to the marathon and went to the first women's Olympic marathon trails in 1984. Kitty has a PR of 2:42.46 for the marathon and 35:02 for the 10km,  She now enjoys shorter races and masters running.

Enjoy, and please let us know your thoughts about the Runner's Corner!

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Maximize Your Marathon Recovery

October is a major marathon month for many runners and several runner in Ohio are focusing on the upcoming Columbus marathon.  Assuming that you had adequate training for your marathon, this month's runner's corner will help you maximize your marathon recovery.

When you first finish a marathon, you're faced with the hard reality that simply stopping does not relieve the pain and fatigue that you feel.  To help yourself recover, it's important to understand the causes of your fatigue, namely dehydration, glycogen (stored carbohydrates in the muscles) depletion and micro trauma to the muscle and blood cells.  The pain of dehydration and carbohydrate depletion sets in during the race and after; the pain from micro trauma begins then too and often worsens for the next few days.  However, there are many things you can do at different time periods to hasten your recovery and to prevent further injury during this fragile time.

Within 30 minutes of finishing

During this time it is extremely important that you focus on rehydrating and reloading your body with carbohydrates.

Do the following:  Drink lots of water but also fluids with some glucose, electrolytes like sodium, potassium and calcium and some protein.  A banana is a great source of potassium.

Avoid:  Avoid caffeine-containing substances and alcohol.  Both of these substances are very dehydrating and alcohol inhibits B and C vitamins which help you counter stress and fight infection.

You are very susceptible to infections and new injuries particularly in the first 2 weeks following your marathon finish.

The next 48 hours

During this time you should still focus on rehydrating and reloading your body with carbohydrates.  You also want to get a lot of rest and mildly stimulate your circulation by swimming or easy walking if you can but take care not to train or deplete your muscles further.

Do the following:  Continue with lots of fluids and carbohydrates as mentioned above.  Also add quality essential amino acids found in egg whites, tuna, salmon and skinless chicken.  Your muscles are damaged and need repair.  Continue to avoid alcohol and caffeine.  It may sound tough to do, but these substances create much more muscle damage. 

Perform light activity that does not cause pain.  Moist heat and warm baths can feel good but take care to follow these with cool water to avoid increasing inflammation in your legs.

Take care not to take a lot of anti-inflammatory medication especially if you have acid reflux, liver or kidney problems.  Avoid acetaminophen as it causes liver damage. 

Avoid:  Do not stretch your muscles while they are sore!  This soreness is not due to lactic acid but fiber damage and dehydration which takes time to repair and rebuild.  Stretch only when you are no longer sore and only after you have warmed up to a sweat by light walking or jogging.  If you are too sore to do these activities, then definitely do not stretch.

Stay away from hot water immersions like hot tubs during this time as you can cause further inflammation and new injuries.

The Next 24 hours

Years ago everyone advised taking an easy day for every mile raced.  I still agree with this and strongly suggest you avoid any speed work or racing during this time.  Once your muscles no longer feel sore, there is great temptation to jump into speed work again or race but I can not tell you how many runners have ended up with a serious injury during this time and then had to back off their entire season.

Do the following:

Have fun with your exercise and running.  Do cross training, biking, hiking swimming.  Run with someone slower than you.  Do things you didn't have time to do while marathon running such as camping or fishing.

Continue to eat and drink as discussed above though now if you must, add the caffeine and alcohol back in moderation .

Add stretching after an aerobic warm up as long as there is no pain.

Add whirlpools and hot baths.  Still cool down your legs afterwards.

Avoid  Racing and speed work

If you are finding your recovery going slower than you wish and have followed the above advice, ask yourself if you trained adequately for the marathon.  Often times not training enough (and overtraining) can lead to a difficult recovery.  You may want to make some training changes next time.

See you on the roads!