ZackJones

For those of you that have completed a marathon how much recovery time did you allocate after completing it? I would really like to run a marathon in April 2006 since I'll be turning 45 that month and I figure that a marathon in April and Ironman triathlon in Oct/Nov makes a pretty good mid-life crisis . One issue that concerns me is there's also a Half IM that I would like to do in late May. I'm thinking I would have sufficient recovery time between an early April marathon and late May half IM. I realize that ones ability to recovery varies with each individual, but I'm curious to know how long it took to recover from your marathon.

james_holden

for me: 3-4 days, then i start running again. i start out with short and easy runs though. after about a week of that i'm back 100%. i might go for a swim 2 days later.

but i'm 26. so maybe recoverytime is not such big an issue for me...

StanSeven

The key thing is how much training are you doing before the marathon. I used to average 60 miles per week for two or three months leading up to a marathon. I could resume that training two weeks after completeing a marathon because I had a solid base. On the other hand, I knew people that trained at half my level. A marathon literally wiped them out for weeks afterwards.

If you are doing tri's and are swimming and biking, you don't need that much running. I would say 35-40 miles per week is sufficient to get you through a marathon and be abale to do a competitive half marathon six weeks later.

MHR

[QUOTE=ZackJones]For those of you that have completed a marathon how much recovery time did you allocate after completing it?

Zack,
I've done 13 marathons since 2000 and my recovery time is pretty consistant for all of them; 3-4 days of total rest (no running), followed by a "reverse taper" - then back my 65/week year round average. My marathon taper is 7-10 days.

Here's what I mean...Let's take for example a 2-week taper prior to a marathon race....
Normal training week-65 running miles
Taper week-1 45 miles (about a 20% reduction in miles, while maintaining intensity)
Taper week-2 30 miles (about a 20% reduction in miles, while maintaining intensity)
Marathon race
2-3 days totally off
Reverse taper week-1 30 miles
Reverse taper week-2 45 miles
back to normal training miles.....
After a Marathon the best thing to do (besides shower) is walk around, eat and drinking fluids. This helps with the recovery. Every year at Disney after the race their bus transportation is waiting just 100 yards form the finish to return you to your Disney hotel. Since we stay at the Yacht/Beach club hotels I am back in my room and showered within 20 min after compleating the race. We then take the back entrance to Epcot (at the international gateway between France and UK). Walk around Epcot, cheer on runners, eat, drink, eat, enjoy the park and eat..I mean you just burned a ton of calories right?

My schedule in 2003 was
IM Hawaii in October 03, (with a normal race season prior to IM)
Disney Marathon in January 2004 (a BQ),
Boston in April 2004,
1/2 IM Triathlon Florida in May 2004
Then into my race season from there...

What you would like to do is very doable. For me The transition from Boston Marathon to 1/2 IM Florida (1-month apart) is not a big deal at all. In fact I come into the 1/2 IM pretty strong running wise. Last year was pretty intresting for me, I did Boston Marathon which is on a Monday (like I do every year) where it was pretty warm for racing. Returned to a cold and wet Colorado and did a Bike-tt race on Wednesday just a day later. Last year I also did a 1/2 marathon on a Saturday - the following weekend did another 1/2 Marathon on Saturday and a Marathon on Sunday (Pikes Peak double) and felt great.

Which Marathon are you thinking?

ZackJones

All: Thanks for the replies. It seems the recovery from a marathon isn't as long as I was expecting (on average, that is). I figure by April of 2006 I'd better have a pretty solid base for running so hopefully my recovery will be quick. My goal for the first marathon is to finish and to get some sort of idea what it is like to run that far.

MHR: I'm not sure which marathon yet. Ideally one on April 1st since that's my birthday but anytime in early April would be fine. I'd like to do one here in the south east.

I really want to do Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach (PCB) instead of Great Floridian, but there's rumor of issues between the city and this is the end of their 5 year contract, etc. With that in mind I want to do the Half IM they have in PCB in May as a scouting trip for IM Florida. I'm doing the Great Floridian half IM this fall as a scouting trip in case I end up doing that IM distance next year.

It would be cool if Disney could put on a full IM.

james_holden

another good idea to help your legs recover is to give them a massage and/or take a dip in a jacuzzi. you'll like the jacuzzi especially if ithe weather's not all too warm yet. i always tend to be really cold after a marathon (actually i start feeling cold 3/4 of the way into the marathon).

MHR

https://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm

ZackJones

MHR: Thanks for the link. I found a nice flat one in Virginia Beach, VA which isn't too far from where my folks live in North Carolina

StanSeven

The Shamrock is a great one. It's flat, plesant scenery, and fast. You'll enjoy it.