Ran a half marathon on Sunday (2 days ago) and my quads are sore as hell. I’m walking around like Redd Foxx and I can’t really walk down stairs.
I know this will pass, but what’s the best way to recover from a race? Anything I can do to speed up the recovery process?
Thanks.
What was your mileage going into the half? I’m only asking because several years ago (before getting serious) a half would destroy me. For my last half I did a 50+ mile bike ride the following day. It’s all dependent on your base, even if you race the half pretty hard. If you were running 30-40 mpw, a half shouldn’t put you out of commission for long. That said, active recovery is always good. Do some easy swimming or spinning - it’s probably better than just walking around.
I had a calf and hamstring issue weeks before the race, so my longest run was only 7 miles. At that point, about 3 weeks before the race, I was only doing about 20 miles per week. Just stuck with the elliptical after my injuries so as to not re-injure myself before the race. Ended up finishing in 2:03:24 and wanted to break 2 hours, but really wanted to just finish in one piece, injury-free, as I ended up doing. I have another one in about 5 weeks and I’m hoping to do better there.
I know I’ll be back to normal in a few days, but in the meantime, it sucks. Guess this is what happens when you go into a race unprepared.
Walk. Seriously. Get moving. I have found I recover much faster if I keep moving, especially right after the race ends. My best recoveries have come after races that I go out to eat, walk around for an hour or two, go shopping, whatever.
Swimming and/or elliptical trainers help but I find walking is the best.
Great advice. Thanks. Walking is slow, but no problem for me. Was going to hit the elliptical later today, but maybe I’ll walk around, instead.
Big time ++++ on the get moving. Did a marathon Sunday. Yeah sore as hell, but forced myself into a very slow run yesterday, the get junk out run. Then today threw in some efforts to flush even more. And water. Plus stretching after always.
Just take it easy. I raced Sunday the 28th, was annihilated all week (could barely walk, let alone run), so I just swam and did some easy riding for 5 days, then was able to get back to work on the following Saturday. I’m still sluggish running a little over a week later, but I’m able to put up good numbers on the bike, so I’m more or less recovered.
You can still swim or bike, but just take it short and easy for the next few days.
lots of recovery spinning on the bike; aqua jogging; and ben-gay (or similar)!
Easy swimming and easy biking should do the trick. No hard workouts for a few days. Walking is great as well.
Thanks for all of the great advice. It’s been a few days since my race and I’m slowly getting back to normal. Going down stairs is still a little bit of a challenge and my quads are not 100%, but there’s definitely been improvement, likely due to the light spinning I’ve been doing on a stationary bike.
If the soreness is gone, is it still a bad idea to do a long run (about 10 miles) this weekend? Should I just ease back into running by doing an easy 3-5 miles, instead?
Thanks again for helping this newbie along.
I would NOT go from a 13 mile race on Sunday, week of nothing, to 10 miles on the weekend. Without thinking too much, you could follow a reverse taper for two weeks. Now, in your case your last couple weeks sound like they might have been off since you were dealing with the injury. Follow the reverse of what would have been your taper. Ideally, this all starts the day after the race. Since you took time off this week, just do a couple of easy runs and start with your second week of taper on Monday. Certainly don’t do 10.
I would NOT go from a 13 mile race on Sunday, week of nothing, to 10 miles on the weekend. Without thinking too much, you could follow a reverse taper for two weeks. Now, in your case your last couple weeks sound like they might have been off since you were dealing with the injury. Follow the reverse of what would have been your taper. Ideally, this all starts the day after the race. Since you took time off this week, just do a couple of easy runs and start with your second week of taper on Monday. Certainly don’t do 10.
Yeah man, don’t do that 10. Reverse taper sounds more advisable and I agree with it. At the most, maybe 6 easy miles pacing it in such a way that you feel guilty that it feels too easy.
You are getting great advice. Only thing I would layer on is I would not take NSAIDs. Just let the body do its natural thing.
You are getting great advice. Only thing I would layer on is I would not take NSAIDs. Just let the body do its natural thing.
http://www.musculoskeletalnetwork.com/display/article/1145622/1870518
Actually according to this, if the pain is caused due to minor trauma (ie standard overuse stuff) nsaids like neproxin can reduce the severity of the pain and the duration of he injury. Short term use only.
It really depends on the type of injury.
You are getting great advice. Only thing I would layer on is I would not take NSAIDs. Just let the body do its natural thing.
http://www.musculoskeletalnetwork.com/...icle/1145622/1870518
Actually according to this, if the pain is caused due to minor trauma (ie standard overuse stuff) nsaids like neproxin can reduce the severity of the pain and the duration of he injury. Short term use only.
It really depends on the type of injury.
I know this is becoming a sacrilegious topic, but unless there is an acute injury (e.g., sprained ankle, torn ligament, etc) I would not ever use NSAIDs. Micro-tears and muscle soreness after a half marathon is far from an acute injury. The last thing I would want to do is shut down systemic inflammation as that is a part of the body’s natural adaptation process. My rule of thumb is that the only time I use NSAIDs is that if there is an acute injury where the inflammation is truly out of control and I wouldn’t be doing any training (e.g., there would be nothing to adapt to) because the inflammation is so bad in the acute spot.
You are getting great advice. Only thing I would layer on is I would not take NSAIDs. Just let the body do its natural thing.
http://www.musculoskeletalnetwork.com/...icle/1145622/1870518
Actually according to this, if the pain is caused due to minor trauma (ie standard overuse stuff) nsaids like neproxin can reduce the severity of the pain and the duration of he injury. Short term use only.
It really depends on the type of injury.
I know this is becoming a sacrilegious topic, but unless there is an acute injury (e.g., sprained ankle, torn ligament, etc) I would not ever use NSAIDs. Micro-tears and muscle soreness after a half marathon is far from an acute injury. The last thing I would want to do is shut down systemic inflammation as that is a part of the body’s natural adaptation process. My rule of thumb is that the only time I use NSAIDs is that if there is an acute injury where the inflammation is truly out of control and I wouldn’t be doing any training (e.g., there would be nothing to adapt to) because the inflammation is so bad in the acute spot.
Actually micro tears and muscle soreness are exactly acute injuries. They might not be bad injuries, but they are certainly acute.
I suffer from a little bit different physical disabilities that played a factor, but my calves were wrecked for 1.5wkes after my first HM. My miles per week was around 10 so I was definitely undertrained. I went 1:47 and paid for it. I did continue to lift weights and rode the bike twice a week to flush lactic acid.
The massage roller and compression tights are your friend here…and if the pocket book allows, a massage!