With fall races abounding, I know soon that post marathon blues will also be appearing. After months of focusing on a goal and spending such an extensive amount of time physically and emotionally preparing, it’s no surprise that when the big day is over we feel a little lost.
Here is your offical recovery plan, print it out, hand to a loved one and then tell them not to stand between you and food for the next few days.
Day 1: Wear your medal with pride. It helps explain your shuffle, your limp, your huge smile or grimace depending on the race.
Day 2: Drop it in to a conversation with anyone –at the store, “yeah I need those greens to refuel from my marathon this weekend”. At the bank, “oh I need this cash to buy some new shoes after the marathon this weekend”. You may never see these folks again, so feel free to brag it up.
Day 3: Social media blitz – Now it’s time to post pictures on Facebook and make comments on twitter about that aching body. Of course you are looking for a little sympathy and “oh my goshes”, you deserve it!
Day 4: Start reviewing the race and creating a list of things that went really well and things that you want to improve. Even a race that went off the rails has some good points. Maybe your training was perfect, but something on race day took you by surprise (like nerves!) or you learned a lot about fueling or the right gear, so you need to think through both sides.
Day 5: Talk yourself out of running and take a walk. Figure out what you used to do with all this free time before you became a marathon runner… like planning out some healthy meals to keep you from packing on a few pounds while you take it easy.
Day 6: Call a runner friend to meet for lunch or a walk and talk about the race. They will love hearing the details and rehashing things with you. Runners give you complete freedom to talk about all the nitty gritty of the race that your loved one’s may not want to hear for the 800th time, but you have every right to talk about it as much as you want.
Day 7: Take a yoga class. An at home is not going to cut it, you need to be surrounded by that mellow energy and get in to the grove of letting your body relax. Teaching yourself to slow down after marathon training is a good thing and will help ensure you can begin running again soon without injury.
FOOD
Food is an important part of race recovery. Many runners spend their marathon dreaming about a big juicy burger or a large slice of pizza; go ahead and indulge after the race, but not because you earned it…don’t make food your reward it’s a slippery slope. Enjoy these amazing out of the normal meals either after the race or the next day, but not daily for the next week. Studies have proven it really only takes a couple days of junk food to get your taste buds wanting it all the time and “crappy food = crappy mood”. Since we are working to keep your mood high, let’s help it along with foods that make you feel like you are really treating your body right for the work it has done.
And on that note…CONGRATS ON YOUR MARATHON!
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Gratitude Journal
Nov 10
I am grateful for supportive friends
I am grateful for sports bras
I am grateful for Shutterfly prints
I am grateful for lip gloss
I am grateful big dreams
