I’ll be doing my third IM this July in LP. Having said that, I was looking at how you guys/ladies recover after the race? The last two years I have taken an ice bath right after the race in hopes to eliminate or at least reduce the the sorness in my legs. But this has not worked. last year after LP I was very stiff and sore for the next 24-48 hours. I got on my bike and did some easy spinning the day after in hopes that this would help but I didn’t notice any difference.
This works great for Lake Placid.
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Meet SO at finish line. Make sure she has 3 to 4 recovery beers. There are lots of vendors out there.
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Shower, preferably with SO.
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Balanced recovery meal. Definition of balanced meal is Burger, fries, AND a coke.
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Sex, nap, and second recovery meal.
Return to finish line to cheer my arrival and urge me to start with with item 1 above. I won’t make it to item 4.
One week later, you will be good to go.
This is easily one of the most brilliant recovery plans I’ve ever seen … truly inspired!
This works great for Lake Placid.
-
Meet SO at finish line. Make sure she has 3 to 4 recovery beers. There are lots of vendors out there.
-
Shower, preferably with SO.
-
Balanced recovery meal. Definition of balanced meal is Burger, fries, AND a coke.
-
Sex, nap, and second recovery meal.
Return to finish line to cheer my arrival and urge me to start with with item 1 above. I won’t make it to item 4.
One week later, you will be good to go.
Two IVs at my last IM race worked pretty well, but I wouldn’t suggest that route.
clm
I like to curl up in a little ball and wimper.
It’s the only thing I’ve tried so far, but I stick with what works.
Big EE
If you wouldn’t be such a cry baby then it wouldn’t hurt that much. You big three toe sloth cry baby.
Have a good time in FL.
Massages- lots of massages. 2 a week. Water, tons of water. Sleep also- on clean sheets in a nice bed. Get back on the bike easy and hit a pool but not with other athletes- just ride and splash around.
Go to a good restaurant with your buddies and eat hot food off a plate. More massages, more water, more sleep.
That pretty much does it.
Take a week off - eat really bad food or whatever it is you considered an indulgence - ice your knees - get a massage - sleep a few extra hours - drink tons of water - take some advil - spend all the time you normally would be training on that week off thanking the people in your life for being supportive and understanding while you were a training machine - listen to your body: you should be very sore for 24-48-72 hours after the race. It is normal to take time off and let the body recover.
I usually get a massage, then go drink all night. If I see anyone who beat me out I buy them a shot and then kick them in the junk (unless it is a woman, in which case I bow and mutter obscenities under my breath).
A few days later I wake up and start some easy training.
If you wouldn’t be such a cry baby then it wouldn’t hurt that much. You big three toe sloth cry baby.
Have a good time in FL.
this comes from a guy who swim’s like a rock, bikes like he’s riding a bike with two square wheels and runs as if he has feet made of lead! Milk…stay warm and dry, I’ll see you in a week or so.
IM recovery depends on whether you plan on attempting a race in the near future after the IM. If not, then do nothing for a couple of weeks and eat, drink and be merry. If you have another race scheduled sometime soon then make sure you get massages, do a few days of really easy swimming, biking and running and then gradually get back into the training groove. Occassionally your body will spring back and allow you to pick up where you left off in training but my experience has been that this seems to happen a lot more easily for the pros than for age-group racers. I tried the K-Town tri 2k-56k-15k 4 weeks after racing in Roth in 2001 and by the second mile of the run I was back into the “ironman shuffle” so it wasn’t enough time for me.
I’ll see you there. As in years past, this is my post race recovery plan:
Go to Camerons restaurant on Saranac avenue, just up the hill from Placid Planet bike shop. Eat a big steak, have a couple desserts, drink a few too many beers, then stumble back down Main Street to join everyone watching the final finishers. Post midnight, get bike out of transition and attempt to ride it back to hotel (ok, maybe not such a good idea). Wake up the next day feeling like I got beat with a baseball bat. Put on finisher tee shirt and stumble down to the Aroma Round coffeshop for a big mug of coffee, then over to the Ben and Jerry’s shop to stand in the line out the door with all the other guys and gals in their Finisher shirts. Order multiple scoop ice cream cone, the kind of thing I’ve denied self for months. Stumble down to beach or little park on the waterline about halfway down Main street, find a shady spot and pass out from exhaustion and food coma. Brag for the rest of my life.
The problem I have is the stiff legged stumble(that most people call walking)that I do for the two days following the race. Does anyone have a quick fix to that?
but that whole stiff legged thing is what it is all about. If I aren’t walking funny for a day or two afterwards I feel cheated…or that I was a bit soft and could have/should have gone harder…
I haven’t got over my last 4 IM races, let alone recovered 
TriDork
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