uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
Hi. It is two days after my HM and I am sore. I went out and did an EASY two miles last night and it hurt. Should I go out and do two or three miles today? I've been told by DD that runners recover by running. What do you guys do after a hard race? I know I need to run but I don't want to over do it. Thanks in advance, and thanks for the support during my HM training. It truly helps.
I have read that someone should take 1 day per mile raced as recovery. I dont know what that means though.
13 days of nothing or 13 days of no long runs/speed work????
I would think that easy running or swimming or eliptical machine would be helpful.
”Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”
Tomas
I went hard in my HM in Feb. I could barely walk when I was done. I hurt for about 4 or 5 days. I took 2 weeks off, but that was only because I needed to rest my PF and runner's knee. I would think a few days off would be good, but that's not based on any scientific fact.
The one day per mile does not mean rest. Just easy or recovery runs until recovered.
I would continue running but at a recovery pace. Usually, the movement helps my soreness more than rest.
Damaris
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I think sitting for long periods is worse than anything. If you are up and moving about, the blood gets flowing carrying key nutrients to your legs and you may even notice that they don't hurt as much as they did when you first stood up and started walking.
You ran down a pretty steep mountain only a few days ago though so you have to keep that in mind. This was not a typical half marathon in that regard.
I take at least 2 days"off" after a hard run half and a week after a full no matter how I think my legs/etc
feel.
At least one full rest day and after that brisk walking or cycling or swimming for the next day after a
half and for at least 5 days after a full.
I know I am more conservative than most in this respect but it has kept hubby and I injury free in 10 years of
racing and fully recovered and ready to run again, so I stick with this plan.
I have read that someone should take 1 day per mile raced as recovery. I dont know what that means though. 13 days of nothing or 13 days of no long runs/speed work???? I would think that easy running or swimming or eliptical machine would be helpful.
Thats crazy talk I would need to take 70 days off after Saturday's race and who takes off 26 days after a marathon or just recovery.
Soreness for me after a hard run half or marathon can last up to a week. I have found and getting a few miles in helps loosen me up though.
Give it time. Just as too many people run their easy runs too hard, too many people get back into normal training quickly after a race. It takes a while to recover from an all out race. Unfortunately, people think they are losing fitness while recovering so they push themselves and risk ending up actually hurt rather than just sore as hell from racing. I looked at my log from my last all out half marathon in November. The race was on Sunday. Here was my week after. Realize that I do doubles most days, I run 50-70 mpw, and my easy pace is around 7:45.
Monday - off
Tuesday - 2.9 miles @ 8:34
Wednesday - 5.5 miles @ 8:16
Thursday - 6.4 miles @ 7:40 Probably a mistake to go that hard which led to
Friday - off
Saturday - 7.5 miles @ 7:44
Sunday - off
Total mileage that week - 22.3
Here's what works for me. The week after the race, nothing but easy running and no more than 50% of my normal mileage. Frequently, I don't even get that much in. The next week, I'll do one light speed day around Wednesday or Thursday with something like fartleks and about 75% of my normal mileage. You will feel fully recovered before you are actually fully recovered from a race and that's a dangerous thing. Give your body time to fully recover and you may be surprised that you'll have a fitness boost once you start normal training again. I have noted that my easy run paces improved by 5-10 seconds per mile several times once I had recovered from races and my only explanation for that was supercompensation from the extraordinarily hard effort. My other paces (tempo, interval, etc) dropped as well.
BTW, the general guideline of 1 day of easy work for each mile of an all out race works well for me.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Mmmmm...beer
I always do better with active recovery, but keep it short and super slow. You want to move enough to get the blood flowing, but not enough that you're actually doing work. Agree with LRB too, prolonged sitting kills me after a race, just staying moving, walking around, etc. helps a lot.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
I used to take one or two days off after my halfs and my marathons (sometimes a whole week after a marathon, but mostly because I was on vacation visiting a city). Nowadays, I take two days off after a marathon, then I'm good enough to finish the rest of the week with 30 or so miles. For my recent half, last Saturday, I ran 7 miles recovery pace the next day.
I really think it depends on where you are in your running life and what you feel you can do. In the beginning, for me, it was as much mental as it was physical. The first couple days after a race, I felt drained mentally and just wanted a break. My legs also felt sore. Maybe I would have benefited from a slow jog or just a walk, but my brain would have rebelled against me. It was like "That's enough of that BS!" Then two days later, I would start craving my running again...
So I think it's important that you listen to the way you feel... Even missing an entire week isn't that big of a thing. Or you can run easy the next day. Whatever. It's up to how you feel, physically and mentally.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
From Hal higdon's twitter acct.
@higdonmarathon: One rule suggests no hard post-marathon training for as many days as number of miles run (thus 26 days). Or metrically, 42 days of rest.
Went back and looked at my log after my March, 2012 marathon which, unlike Boston, was an all out effort and was one of the best races I have run.
The week after the race, I took a week completely off and, as I recall, I had no desire to run a single step.
The week after that, I only ran singles with a total of 28.1 miles.
The next week, I got back to doubles with some fartleks and 38.5 miles
The next week, I was back to normal training with a tempo run, an "R" workout, and 73.2 miles.
Two weeks after that, I had the worst race of my life - a HM which I finished in 1:29:36. Same course I ran 1:25:34 on this past Sunday. The running gods are fickle like that.
Recovery from every race is different. That massive downhill at the end may have given you an extra beating.
not bad for mile 25
From Hal higdon's twitter acct. @higdonmarathon: One rule suggests no hard post-marathon training for as many days as number of miles run (thus 26 days). Or metrically, 42 days of rest.
Yeah, but that's 42 metric days.
Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
Quoting myself from the La Jolla thread you wrote.........
"don't be surprised if your hamstrings express their displeasure with you for taking them up a hill only a car should drive!!!"
Hilly halfs will do that! That's why I don't like them! When running turns into hiking I call it.......HIKING!!!
Don't get me wrong, La Jolla's beautiful (I golfed Torrey Pines once in my life and it was awesome!) But running is running until hills slow it down to a hike or slamming on brakes (I once injured my quad on a hilly 10k which pissed me off) so when I see compromising elevation changes, I opt out.
I agree with active rest. Heck, even walking will do you good but get blood into those legs. Remember the lower extremities don't get good flow anyway so walking would be great for a couple of days to get blood in there!
Congrats again!
Randy