How Elite Runners and Coaches Advise Recovering From a Marathon
Ice baths, brunch, and a beer can all help take the edge off after a race.
— -- For months marathon runners across the globe have been physically and mentally preparing to take on the grueling 26.2 miles across the five boroughs of New York in this Sunday's marathon.
After spending hours winding through the streets of New York, tens of thousands of marathon runners from the elite to the weekend warriors will face the same decision: How to recover?
Running coach Mindy Solkin, the founder, owner, and head coach of The Running Center, NYC, has worked with 12,000 runners and 20 teams in the New York City Marathon during her career. She said after the marathon both elite and non-elite runners like to get a jump on calorie replacement.
“Brunch! It’s a big thing to meet your friends and family after the run,” said Solkin.
One of the brunch meals she recommends “is a four to one, four parts carb to one part protein” to help with race recovery. “Protein is a recovery food, something to replace the muscle,” she said, explaining even a simple meal can work. “A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is one of the best foods to eat after the race.”
Ultra-marathoner Amy Kohlmeier, who previously competed for Notre Dame University said when she ran in college she took recovery seriously, but is now a little more lax.
“Our [college track] team would pile into to ice bath after a hard work out to recover. Now..... mimosa and waffles with a long nap,” help with recovery, Kohlmeier said.
Elite runner and Olympic medalist Meb Keflezighi even likes to celebrate the end of his run with a treat.
“My first marathon routine is I need some sugar,” he told Runner’s World of his post run ritual. “I need my power bar...or my Snickers.”
While many runners like to celebrate with some kind of bubbly, Solkin advises going easy on booze.
Some runners like to “have that glass of champagne, wine, or beer that you haven’t been able have.” Solkin doesn’t allow her runners to consume alcohol about a month before the race. “It’s a dehydrator. As you’re training, you’re already dehydrating yourself.”
However, Robert Truax, an osteopath and sports medicine specialist at the University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center, said the right beer can help lessen the aches and pains for runners after a major race.
"Depending on what beer you're getting, there's a carbohydrate load, and the oldest muscle relaxer in the world ... is alcohol," he said in an earlier interview.
In addition to these treats, another option for marathoners is the traditional ice bath.
“After you cross the finish line your muscles are jumping and you have to enable them to settle down,” Solkin said, explaining the baths will help calm muscles and reduce inflammation.
A more palatable option is “contrast baths” that include ice followed by heat, and then ice again.
“The ice takes the inflammation away, the heat brings the nutrients and oxygen back into the blood, the ice finishes it off again by taking the inflammation away,” she explained. “If you don’t have access to an ice bath, you can use an ice pack, then a heating pad, and then an ice pack.”
Whatever you do be sure to have a cool down by walking after the race. Continuing to move will help your body flush out the lactic acid. In the following days, exercise with caution so you don’t cause injury or dehydrate yourself after the strenuous race.
Massage therapy is commonly used following endurance running races with the expectation that it will enhance post-run recovery of muscle function and reduce soreness. One published 2004 study found there is no clear evidence it enhances muscle recovery, but it had a positive impact on perception of recovery, meaning the runners at least felt better.
Compression stockings have been studied for their role in recovery. Studies are conflicting. One 2015 published study showed a significant beneficial effect on recovery when below the knee compression stockings were worn for 48 hours after a marathon.
Dr. Dennis Cardone, the chief of primary care sports medicine at the department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, said the main benefit of these socks is they can help stop blood from pooling in legs after the race, which can help with runners who tend to end up lightheaded after a big run.
"They might get a little lightheaded and get swelling in their ankles" because of the pooling, he said. "The compression clothing ... can maybe help some of that pooling."
Most importantly after surviving such a grueling race, the marathon experts say the most important thins is to revel in your accomplishment.
“It’s an incredible feat you’ve just done, whether it’s your first or tenth. Just embrace that, that you’ve done something great,” said Solkin. “Congratulate yourself."
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