One of the areas that worries us most as runners is injury. In particular, how is your body going to deal with building for events like the marathon, as well as the demands of every day life? Having teamed up with the Physios at Port Melbourne Physio and Pilates, we took the liberty of asking them their advice on RECOVERY in the hope that their words of wisdom would keep us injury free and running at our best in the longer term. As health professionals who regularly treat recreational runners with injuries and as runners themselves, who better to chat with about getting our recovery right, than our physio friends?!
Look, at this point I am going to be honest….for a few years, my own personal recovery involved copious amounts of ice cream, beer, lying on the sofa and the occasional magnesium tablet. So particularly from 2017 onwards, I knew that I had to step up my game if I was going to recover properly.
So, the main question that I had for them was….
"If you could force me to do anything in the first 24 hours after a race, long run or particularly hard training session to help my recovery, what would you get me doing?"
If you are near the beach or cold salt water, get in it! The sooner the better, but preferably within a couple of hours of finishing the run so that you can get started on reducing any inflammation of the muscles or joints and relieving any pain and soreness that you have in your legs. If you don’t have access to the beach, then an Epsom salts bath or simply a bath with ice cold water will do the trick.
Another option is lying on your back and raising your legs straight up against a wall, leaving them there for a few minutes. The idea behind this is to use gravity to improve circulation and to try ‘drain’ the lactic acid and from the legs.
If you are travelling or are going to be sat down for a long time during that first 24 hours after the end of a long run race, invest in some good compression gear. Planes and sitting can be a nightmare for our bodies in general, but the effect will be worse having just worked your body so hard!
Also think about your nutrition during this first 24 hours. Your body will be crying out for nutrients, so feed it well. Some good fats, protein and magnesium are on the list for sure!
The following morning, try not to lounge on the sofa or in bed for too long. Recovery is definitely improved by going for a walk and loosening up your tired legs. Try an easy 15 minute walk, followed by a little bit of time on the foam roller and / or some light stretching to loosen things up.
Don’t get a full-on sports massage straight away after the race. This can be pretty painful as your body and your muscles are still in some distress, so either have a light massage soon after, or wait until perhaps a couple of days later for a slightly firmer massage. The same thing goes for running, either the following day or two days later, go for a light, easy, short jog to get things ticking over again. Don’t expect to set any new records though!
So, these 6 tips can be your basis of a good recovery for after any race, long run or session where you have worked hard. They become increasingly important the longer or more intense your sessions become, for example during a marathon training schedule. We are now taking on new runners and are beginning a 16 week Training Program leading into Great Ocean Marathon in May. This training program is ideal for first time marathoners and begins on Monday January 27th 2020. You can find out more here.