Episode 76. Marathon recovery & blues: LISTEN HERE
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✅REPLACE RUNNING WITH OTHER THINGS: Post-marathon blues are SO real! Many people have feelings of lethargy and sadness after the hype of a marathon wears off. Now is the time to focus on some things you may have neglected during marathon training. You may spend your extra time meal prepping, doing yoga, hanging out with friends, doing projects around the house, etc. Have a plan so you don’t go crazy when it’s post-marathon time!
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✅AVOID BURNOUT: Just like with a job, you need to have work/life balance and take some time off every now and again. If you don’t, you will gradually resent your job because you have not taken any time away from it. The same goes for running! Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you take the necessary time off after a marathon, you will come back READY to tackle more miles with a new goal in mind for your next training cycle.
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✅AVOID INJURY: After that 1-2 week break, it is important to reverse taper and not dive right back into your peak training mileage. A gradual build back up, focusing on effort is super important to avoid injury
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✅FOCUS ON THE LITTLE THINGS: Becoming a good runner is much more than just running the miles and hitting the workout paces. You have to think about your nutrition, your mental training and personal growth, your strength training and injury prevention routine as well.
We have been chatting a lot about race day planning and taper, but we have not yet chatted about the aftermath that may come after you finish the marathon. Many of you have spent the last 3-6 months really building up into great marathon shape. You have spent hours every week doing long runs and workouts. You have made sacrifices, had fun and seen so much improvement. The build up for these races can be exhausting but also an incredible feeling. There is a huge build up for a race that usually lasts 3-5 hours in duration. It is over before we know it. It can often be anti-climatic. That was it. Now it is over. We much address some of the feelings we might experience after a marathon and remember recovery is important!
- Have you ever finished a marathon and NOT wanted to take time off?
- Do you think some people fall into two categories 1- pumped to take time off and 2- struggles to really take time off
- Either super excited to continue to improve because I feel like I didn’t really reach my potential
OR I am scared to lose fitness and don’t think I really pushed myself to the limits
- Always needed to grow and build towards something
- Pushing other things aside for 6 months→ cleaning the garage, organizing your computer files, yard work, baking, meal prep, friend meet up for coffee, meet up for drinks, oil change, hair done
- What do you think is the hardest part for people after a marathon mentally?
- Even if you have had a race where you reach your goal and crush it, are you still 100% satisfied?
- How do you feel after a race that goes so-so?
- What about a race that goes terribly wrong?
- Have you ever dived back into training too fast?
- Why do you think it is hard for people to take time off?
- How much time do you think is enough time to take off?
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