Forums >Running 101>What are the best recovery methods after you have trashed your legs in a long race??
A lady at work mentioned 'ice baths' too, is it too late for that, or would that still be effective 2 days post race?
I am not an expert; all the comments indicate this is most valuable shortly after, but I did not have one till 2 days after a marathon & it seemed to help. Also had the sports massage 2 days later, and I think that helped a lot. My calves were especially trashed; the massage actually hurt them more, but when it was done it was a huge improvement.
Dave
I got home from a day of limping around work, came home... Going upstairs at the house, not much an issue, going downstairs... Tough! Had to use the rails to aid. I am certain there is probably more muscle tear damage than I have ever had before, because I flat out pushed myself 110% in the last 6 miles of that race, had to hit the goal.
But today, I set to some self-massage on the legs, then I got the roller out and did some rolling on that, really got the legs loose. Those 2 things alone did wonders after several minutes of each. I was surprised how much good it did. I got out and ran 4 miles at a pretty decent pace near 8:20 minute miles, which was surprising considering the condition I was in just a few hours ago. So legs went from 'rocks' to pretty loose after this run on day 2.
And now, the Yuengling.... And I will see if I can talk the wife into a leg massage. Lots of great advice here for a recovery folks, thanks a bunch. Amazing how much progression can be made if you set to it. In the past, I have just 'slept' waiting for healing to occur, which sleep is needed as well, but combining it with some of these other measures really speeds things up....
The Plan '15 → /// "Run Hard, Live Easy." ∞
DOMS, not lactic acid. The pain is due to inflammation. DOMS takes time. Give it a few days. Not that any of the other advice might not be good as well, but it will hurt for a few days, period.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Step on the scale = insult added to injury!
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Active recovery and foam rolling for me. I just ran the LA Marathon at maximum effort two days ago. Today I am back to running after taking yesterday off. Ran 5 easy miles this morning and another 5 this evening.I feel surprisingly good today. Glad to see it is working for you as well.
Marathon: 2:48:49 (Boston 2014) - Half: 1:22:11 (Berkeley 2013)
2x sub-24 100 mile finisher
Next: Big Sur Marathon - Blog: http://jbfinn.blogspot.com/
Swimming. Not a swim workout, but just bouncing around in the pool, whatever feels good. The water just feels great and it's another kind of movement and loosening.
Good luck -- don't feel a need to run that much this week. Just enough to get your legs happy.
Naproxen aka Alleve.
I almost never use it anymore and just prefer to let nature take it's course with the inflammation, but these little blue pills have been a miracle for me in the past if you are really anxious to get over the soreness and get on with things. I'm sure everything that has been suggested here in this thread is great and the suggestions are a lot more "natural" than mine, but mine solution is pretty potent (in my experience).
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
A few things that I have found that make an absolute world of difference, in chronological order.
1. Cool down. 5-15 mins.
2. Whey protein powder + BCAA powder in chocolate milk, milk, or fruit juice within 10 mins of finishing the run (sometimes I drink this before the cool down). I have been astounded at the difference this has made in my recovery. I take a good number of supplements but this is by far the most noticeably effective thing I've ever consumed.
3. Later in the day, an easy run. This doesn't even have to be a run. I've found that a 15-20 min walk has almost the same effect on me.
These three things have made such a tremendous difference in my recovery, not just from races, but from training, too. And they're fairly easy to implement.
Naproxen aka Alleve. I almost never use it anymore and just prefer to let nature take it's course with the inflammation, but these little blue pills have been a miracle for me in the past if you are really anxious to get over the soreness and get on with things. I'm sure everything that has been suggested here in this thread is great and the suggestions are a lot more "natural" than mine, but mine solution is pretty potent (in my experience).
I think Magness or someone had something about this possibly being detrimental because it messes up the body's natural recovery/adaption so you may actually hinder growth and recovery. I'll try to find a source.
ETA: Not the exact thing I was looking for, but a good article about the subject:
"[As Magness explained to her, “You want your body to learn how to recover on its own.”
That theory runs counter to the pill-popping, ice-tubbing, massage-getting habits of most amateur athletes. We’ve become addicted to enhanced recovery, obsessed with erasing as quickly as possible the pain, fatigue, and inflammation that come from a hard workout. But some top scientists and coaches have adopted a new line of thinking: stress is a good thing, because it forces the body to adapt, repair itself, and come back stronger."]
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/recovery/Stress-Tested.html
Mmmmm...beer
I noticed this too. Last time I thought it was because I ate too much celebrating after the race, but that definitely wasn't the case this time. I'm guessing fluid retention due to the inflammation?
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
Yup. Healing muscles make use of a lot of water. As they recover they release it. I can put on 3-5#s overnight after a hard race. It sticks around for about as many days.
Yep, not a bad thing. One of the body's natural recovery methods.
I may not know tons about running (newbee to the sport) but one thing I know is lactic acid build up (which may be rhabdomyolysis). Make sure you are drinking WATER and lots of it. Muscle breakdown releases toxins to the body. The problem is in that the kidneys are only able to process so much of the toxins as they are "big" to be flitered. Diluting the toxins (AKA lactic acid) helps "unclog" the filtering system so lactic acid can be processed better. I cannot stress the importance of LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of water (at least double to triple the daily recommended amounts of eight 8 ounce glasses). Did I mention drinking ALOT of water? I would AVOID any NSAID products (Motrin, Aleeve, Excedrin). If you need something in way of "medication pain relief" a LITTLE bit of Tylenol should not hurt. If your urine is brown or excessively dark, you need to seek medical attention right away. Hope this helps and I hope you are feeling better soon!
Lactic acid "build-up"and rhabdomyolysis are two entirely different things. Lactic acid build-up is a myth. It is cleared very quickly after exercise (at least that's what my exercise physiology text books say). Rhabdomyolysis is something unrelated to lactic acid. Yes, it involves by-products of muscle breakdown (myoglobin) from extreme exercise and can damage the kidneys. It is a very serious condition but is not likely to happen as a result of running, even from a hard run. It is very rare but has been becoming more common in recent years in people who overdo it in crossfit workouts. As others have said, simple DOMS would be the culprit here and it gets better in a few days.
...Diluting the toxins (AKA lactic acid) helps "unclog" the filtering system so lactic acid can be processed better.
Lactic acid is NOT a toxin. Lactate is actually a byproduct of anaerobic glycolysis. It is converted back into muscle fuel (pyruvate) very quickly when oxygen is present.
be curious; not judgmental