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Marathon Recovery Guide

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One of the most common mistake runners make in the days and weeks after their marathon is simply running too soon after the race. Racing on Sunday and then going for a run later that week isn’t the best way to recover from the race or to set up the next training cycle. This is what most runners don’t understand: if you want to be able to train injury free in the next training cycle, you need to properly recover from your marathon.

This does not mean that you are sedentary. You’ll be in the pool, you’ll cross train, you’ll do core strength, hip strength and hip mobility, as well as doing rope stretching daily. Your desire to be active will be meet, just not in the form of your daily run.

The recovery phase that I use with my clients is a full 28 days. By the end of the 28 days you’ll be ready for a 10-mile run. At the end of the first week you’ll go for a run, with more running each week between the first week and fourth week.

You have to trust that 28 days of proper recovery is going to set you up for a great training cycle for your next race. The flip side is, many runners get back to training a week after the marathon. They are able to run for a few weeks, yet when they increase their mileage or intensity, they get a “niggle,” for the simple reason that they didn’t recover properly. This runner will often ignore the niggle and keep training… and end up with a full blow injury in the ensuing days. There is no need for this to be your story. Take 28 days to recover rather than a week or two.

Be smart, be patient and trust that a 28-day recovery is simply part of smart marathon training.

You can also listen to a podcast on Marathon Recovery on the Run Faster Podcast (episode #10)!

(To learn about Lunge Matrix/Leg Swings (LMLS), Strength and Mobility (SAM), and Active Isolated Flexibility (AIF) visit: http://bit.ly/2gAr31V)

You can purchase the Simple Marathon Book on Amazon by clicking here.

 

MRG- Option 3

 

This I Believe (second draft)

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The following the newsletter that I sent out to subscribers a month ago.  I shared the first three parts of it here and I thought I would be appropriate to share the rest of it.  I hope you enjoy it.  You can join the newsletter at the bottom of this post.

There is a project called “This I Believe” – http://thisibelieve.org/ – that is based off of the same series done by Edward R. Murrow.  Here is my list as it applies to training.  It is not a comprehensive list, but it’s close.

I believe if an athlete wants to run faster, they need to run.  The Law of Specificity for a runner means that you have to spend a significant amount of time running to get better at running.  Now, the ratio of running to non-running work may (and probably should) change throughout the life of a given athlete.  Early in a career, when the athlete doesn’t have a very good aerobic foundation, more running needs to occur.  When the athlete is in their late thirties and beyond, a bit more general strength (potentially weight room work) and a bit less running is probably the best recipe for success.  But the bottom line is that if you want to improve as a runner then you have to run.

I believe that the long run is the key workout for developing the aerobic metabolism (though many would argue that threshold training is better). [Read more…]

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