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Ironman recovery time?
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Hi! Just a question on Ironman recovery. I did IMFL this year and it was my first IM. I'm happy and proud I finished but was about an hour over I wanted to be and had a tough day. But, I did it! However, I'm having a horrible time recovering. Now, I will admit that I pulled a stunt that probably wasn't super smart but I'd do it again given the choice--just need to check on if that's adding to my issues, etc. About two weeks after IMFL, I "ran" (actually jogged/walked) the San Antonio RNR half marathon with my mom. It was her first half marathon and I promised I'd do it with her. I knew it would be a bit of a stretch on the recovery to do 13.1 miles that close to my IM finish but I thought since it would be slower than my normal recovery pace and like over an hour over my normal half marathon pace that it would be ok. Actually, the day of the half, I felt totally fine. Ever since, I feel like I have arthritis or tendonitis in my shoulder and my legs. I'll feel better for a day or two, then try to workout, even easy, and then I feel bad again. It's driving me nuts. I don't have any other symptoms like fatigue, red or swollen joints or limbs. Just the achy/inflammed feelings.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Do I just need more rest, easy but steady/consistent workouts? I've never felt like this and this was my first IM so I'm kind of at a loss.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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I found that IM recovery takes longer than you think it will. Take time completely off. Go for walks if you feel the need to get in a workout but nothing more strenuous. The half marathon probably wasn't smart and it likely just kicked up the crap that was floating around in your system from the damage you did to yourself in IM day.

Fatigue can come on a couple weeks after the event. I go through the blue bigtime after a big event. My previous coach thinks it is a fluctuation in hormone levels. The body takes a while to get over the abuse you put it through and it likely doesn't get through the healing process for a couple weeks. Not sure how scientific this is but it is my experience.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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I feel your pain, literally! I did Silverman (Nov. 9) and have been having a rough go of it myself. I didn't do any half marathons or anything, just a 4.5mi turkey day run. I tried to jog for about 10 minutes about a week before that, too, with similar wimpy-feeling results. I wound up running the Drumstick Dash faster than I've run anything....ever...but paid for it.

My problems haven't been with my shoulders, but more with my hamstrings (if I sit still for about 1.5 - 2 hrs they hurt at the upper attachment points) and my PF. My feet ache a bit pretty much whenever I've sat still for over an hour. But if I move around a bit, my feet loosen up as my hammies tighten up. Ran for about 17 minutes over the weekend and was starting to feel not-so-hot toward the end. I tried to swim this weekend also and just felt majorly fatigued after about 600 yds. Mine also might have to do with just being a lazy slob and eating like hell since my race though. 'Tis the season....ugh.

I'm sure your half-marathon didn't help, but like Jen said it might've just stirred the pot a bit. Maybe as we keep things easy and light and steady it'll keep getting better bit-by-bit. I keep hoping that, anyway. I'm at least hoping I didn't do serious damage to my hamstrings, though the specificity of the pain/ache is concerning.

So, are we normal??

AW
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [jenhs] [ In reply to ]
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OK, that's what I've been debating. It feels just like major inflammation and it's worse after I've been sitting for any period of time. I forgot to add I was feeling better on Thanksgiving and did a Turkey Trot...then felt like crap again. So, I guess I'm starting over from scratch now, huh?? I've been wondering if I should just walk (gag) until nothing hurts--guess so. :(

Thanks.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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After IM Arizona I decided to do a reverse taper without the intensity;
1) Week one. Nothing...I jogged a Turkey Trot, walked a bit and just ate pie.
2) Two swims of 45 minutes and six runs of 40 minutes or so... No hard efforts. No pie.
3) Week three will be two swims (some effort), two bikes (a few intervals) and 6 runs including one of 1.5 hours (all easy except for Sunday's Rudolph Ramble 8k in Chicago).
4) Week four will be three swims (increased intensity), 3 bikes (intervals) and 6 runs including one of 1.5 hours (all easy).

In January I will start adding intensity to the runs. There are still a few aches and some fatigue but I slowly feel like I am returning to my baseline. I hope it helps...

Blog:
http://www.FeWoman.com/
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [fewoman] [ In reply to ]
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Sheesh...I'm totally not even interested in doing that much volume (3 bikes AND 6 runs...ha!) anytime before the end of January. That being said, I am resolving myself to get back on the horse. I am, however, not going to push anything and not going to go far on anything. I need some time to getting back to working out because I enjoy it, not because I have to and not because it's going to kill my race. I'd like to ease back into running - which will bring with it more stretching - which will hopefully make my feet feel a bit better. So basically wipe out about half to 2/3 of your plan and that's about what I'm shooting for.

I've got a super for-fun sprint race slated for late April that I'm dragging friends to, a marathon in May (also to be for-fun and easy, my first standalone marathon, no expectations) and the next official thing is in August. I'm taking a year to enjoy it and not be too regimented, or at least that's my hope.

I think you should add back in the pie!!!!

AW
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [fewoman] [ In reply to ]
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That's what I probably should've done but I didn't. And, now, every muscle and joint had differing periods of what feels like arthritis/inflammation. So, I'm now past the point of what to do right afterwards and am trying to figure out what to do now. I'm not sure I can just lie around and do nothing. I'm already going bonkers and am depressed and about to kill everyone in my house as it is. But, part of my bad mood is just feeling like crap. I wish I could go to the doc and just get him to give me a prednisone shot but I can't until after Jan 1.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, go walking. Or, super light spin on the bike trainer. Easy 30 minute swim would be OK too. I wouldn't do something every day either. People can be too anxious to get right back into training after a big event. Unless you have something else scheduled right away don't fall for that or you'll end up super burnt out in a couple months.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [jenhs] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I'm not worried about being burnt out. I love working out. I'm liking not having a "set"/"have to do" schedule but I NEED endorphins. I'm just sick of limping around and hurting. :( I couldn't hammer right now if I wanted to.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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Are you eating well? Lots of fresh fruits and veggies, protein should help your body to recover.

Ice baths might help to make you feel better. Also easy swimming. I'm sure that you'll come around. It sometimes just takes a bit of time.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Miranda] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks!! I actually sat in epsom salt bath for quite a while last night. That seemed to help a bit. Foam roller and stretching. I was a lot better this morning but sitting at work makes it worse. Just need to be sure to get up and move around I guess. :)
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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Ironman recovery is at least a month or more. It should sort of be a reverse taper but with way less volume. The first week after IM, do nothing except perhaps floating in the pool and walking around. Second week, maybe a few easy short swims and easy short bikes. Third week, maybe add one or two short easy runs. The running is the worst because your joints take a huge pounding during the marathon, and need the extra recovery time from the pounding of running. So I wouldn't add back the running for at least two weeks post IM.

Truthfully, I'd take two months slow and easy and minimal volume to let my body recover. Eat lots of bad food (good time of year for that), take a lot of walks, do some swimming and easy biking. Don't do anything serious and lose your stopwatch, your HRM, and your bike computer. Start your gradual build up again in January.

You need to pamper yourself more and not worry so much about "training" again after the huge effort of the IM.

BrokenSpoke
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [brokenspoke] [ In reply to ]
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:) Thanks. So, you're saying that even though it was a slow jog/walk, doing a half marathon two weeks after my IM, followed by a Turkey Trot about 10 days later was a bad idea?? ;) I know. I'm not chomping at the bit to train for anything in particular. I do want to work on my bike split but I have PLENTY of time for that. I finally have just come to grips with I wasn't giving myself enough time and made it worse w/ the other shananigans. SO, I'm trying to be a good girl. Walking (I HATE walking), stretching, rolling, soaking...that's my training plan now. And, I will say I feel a TON better in the last couple of days. This am when taking the kids to school, I had the "urge" to run across the parking lot back to the car. But, I didn't. I'm going to force myself to really really chill until at least Jan 1 and then gradually see what I can do. :)
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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I think you should include darts, pool, and maybe bowling. (joke)

Seriously, after this year's IM I did nothing for a week - well, I think I visited the pool for an easy 400m but it was more to socialize than anything else... I knew all my swim buddies were rooting for me. I basically did nothing for a week, and then after that did just as much as I felt like doing, all at an easy pace. Not too much running. My 'training' was just to be outside and enjoy the nice weather.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [brokenspoke] [ In reply to ]
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Bless you. Now I can "justify" the chili and banana pudding that I ate for 3 days straight this week. And get my roommate off my back. Deep sigh of relief....

AW
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [Nemostrin] [ In reply to ]
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Rest is a good thing! I don't have my athletes run a step for at least 3 weeks post-IM, and then they start with a 30 min jog. Not only is too much too soon bad for you physically (and going to derail your recovery efforts) but it generally isn't so good for you mentally, either.

Take 4-8 weeks after your IM and explore some of the fitness activities you don't have time for while training........yoga, hiking, roller skating, rowing, whatever! If you get in 6-10 hours a week of something, you will not lose much fitness and will be healthy and eager to get after it for the next go 'round.

Burnout is not fun and has the potential to leave you much further behind than a few unstructured weeks. That isn't even considering the physiological issues of month after month, year after year of non-stop structured training.

Relax! Cut yourself some slack......you will more than make up for it later!

G


It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [gleveq] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. But, the problem is that I didn't take off enough time evidently and now I'm paying for it with what feels like widespread inflammation. So, I'm going to (and already have) lost fitness, which is frustrating. I haven't been able to do 3 hours a week, much less 6-10--which is what "normal" would be like w/o Ironman training. But, since I've been having trouble bending over or walking w/o limping if I try to workout more than that, such is life. The rest is helping physically but it's making me nuts mentally. I'm not worried about burnout. I'm worried about going absolutely nuts! ;)
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [gleveq] [ In reply to ]
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I have an ironman recovery question also.

I am doing Ironman Louisville next year and want to start trying to get pregnant right after. How long does it take to recover and how long should I wait before trying? I want my body to be strong and healthy at conception. Any thoughts?
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [#20] [ In reply to ]
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I'd ask your OB/GYN about conceiving, etc. but given my experience this time around, I'd say at least a month or two. And, I'd really take it easy and follow the advice on here and elsewhere about running etc. in that first month. I tried to do way too much too soon and I'm not trying to conceive but I'm paying the price for a much longer recovery--hence my original questions above.

I recently read something that said if you go out after a month and give it a "test" with just a few hard intervals and you're ok the next day..no soreness, fatigue, etc., then you're "back". I definitely don't feel that way yet. But, I do think that could be a good barometer.

Good luck!
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [#20] [ In reply to ]
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Not sure if it helps but our first daughter was born 11.5 months after we both did an Ironman. All healthy.
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Re: Ironman recovery time? [malvern star] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I have one child already and it took us 8 months to conceive him (both of us are healthy). I know the chances of conception for a healty couple are only around 25% each month, so chances are it will take a while anyway--giving my body time to recover. Post ironman, my whole focus will be getting my body ready to carry a child, so I'm not worried about trying to get back to working out too soon. I just want to make sure that if I do conceive right away, that my body isn't too broken down to nursish the baby properly from the very beginning. I know my nutrition will need to be right on and I will be taking pre-natal vitamins all summer, so hopefully that will help.
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