Post Marathon Recovery

Birgitta Wasserfall talks to Cycling Coach, Running Coach and Sport Scientist, Devlin Eyden about recovering after a marathon.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Windsor Champions Uncovered podcast, ability to find a club, talk to Devlin Eden about recovery and marathon running.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Devlin, welcome back. Thank you so much for your time once again to talk about marathon running. The first time we chatted was about preparation leading into a marathon. Today I'd love to talk about that post-marathon recovery. Now we are the rock stars that we always believed we were. We've crossed that finish line. What is your advice when it comes to recovery after a marathon?

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Sort of revel in that glow for a little bit. Like take it in. You've run a marathon. If this is your first marathon, it's one like immense achievement. We we neglect to realize what a marathon actually is and the significance of it. So take a moment. Very often I get people that cross that finish line and within a couple of hours they're going, all right, what am I entering next? What's the next goal? People are going, okay, well, where can I start training again? First and foremost is I think nutrition side of things. So we finish that marathon and marathon and training really is our recovery nutrition. So post-marathon, make sure the ideal window is between sort of half an hour and 45 minutes after that race to start replacing fuel. We know from a nutrition point of view, we everyone seems to drive the get protein in, protein helps with recovery, and that's true, but we have to replace carbohydrates at the same time. So in the ideal world, we're looking at a four to one, four to one ratio. So four parts carb to one part protein. And the carbohydrates is replacing the muscle glycogen that we've just used, so the fuel that we've used. And then the protein is what's helping rebuild and repair muscle damage from that marathon. So nutrition is absolutely critical. Take time off. A marathon is a massive feat. It's, I don't care if you've run this as a training run for something bigger. You've still run a marathon distance, you've still spent several hours on your feet pounding the road. Really important here, our kind of rule of thumb is, and it will work largely in a sliding scale, depending on your ability, your training history, how much time you spent out on the road. But we generally, general rule of thumb is take two weeks off after a marathon. Now, I know a lot of runners, if you say take rest or take time off, they roll their eyes, they lose their minds, and they can't sit still for that period of time. You might have gotten back to running before after a marathon and your heart rate's elevated, or you just feel that you don't have the speed left. So, and that's because that marathon can stick around in the body for four to six weeks. So we do recommend two weeks post-marathon off, and then slowly start building back some light strength work, some life cross training, and then easing yourself back into running before the next goal. So I think that's that's first and foremost is get the nutrition right. Don't be scared to take some time off. Anything else on top of that kind of is the is the cherry.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Devlin, there are people that don't understand the phrase take time off, and they need to do something. So, do you think cross-training, for example, swimming as recovery could be part of that?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yes, I definitely do, and I'm a massive advocate for it. However, I would still recommend time off. So even if it means the first week after a marathon, especially if you're running a marathon or an ultra marathon, I need at least a minimum of a week off. So I would take that first week off completely. You can go for walks with the dog around the block, but take time off, and then the week after that, start bringing in the swimming, some cycling, some low impact work that's getting the body moving. I think a big problem with a lot of this is people are concerned that they lose fitness. So they've done all this work, they've run their marathon. Um, now they want to maintain, they want to be able to run another marathon again. You don't lose fitness at an alarming rate. Okay, so as much as people think, oh, I'm taking a week off and then I get started again, I've lost all my fitness, you have it. You need to be bedridden for 14 days before you start losing fitness. Okay, so that kind of needs to put everyone's mind at ease a little bit. Bedridden for 14 days before you start losing fitness. The taking a week off and feeling a little bit like you've lost fitness when you come back is more of that fatigue that's still in the body. It's a little bit rusty and you shake that out. But within a week of you getting back into easy training again, you've kind of shaken that feeling and way back to it. People need to just relax and not feel that they're gonna lose anything. Again, you're gonna do yourself more good by taking that time off and being able to get back to proper training, then trying to force back to proper training and then being sick after a month, then your body is a lot more susceptible to getting sick, a lot more susceptible to picking up injuries. Um, so we want to take that time off. We want to recover properly before getting back to it and risking anything.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

I think the key is also to have a long-term plan when it comes to your running, because if you don't do the work when it comes to recovering correctly, you could actually cause more injury and more damage, which means in the long run, you won't be able to do those marathons and those ultramarathons.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

There's sort of three parts to proper recovery and getting the basics right. And that is good nutrition, rest and sleep. If we can get those three pillars right after an event like a marathon, we're well on our way to getting ready for the next one.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Devlin, you used rest and sleep, and sometimes we think that they mean the same thing, but it's completely different things. For those that don't understand the meaning of rest and sleep, what does it mean?

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yeah, so obviously the sleep, look, the rest is time off. It's it's not doing anything, it's maybe going for a walk around the block, those sort of things. It's just not putting the body through that heavy demand. Sleep is, and I suppose this kind of falls back into the training cycles as well. A lot of people, and it's why we we promote sleep or we say the sleep is so important, is it's not that training session or that race where we are getting the gains from the actual session or run we've just done. It's while we're sleeping that our body is going, I don't like what you just put me through today. I'm going to recover and build myself a little bit stronger. So I'm more resilient to handle that the next time. Our adaptation to training happens actually when we're sleeping. And that's the biggest thing. And that's why sleep is so important. I've seen it time and time again with athletes who, especially, my uh work shifts and struggle with time, that when we could just figure their sleep cycles out and get better quality sleep, I see massive improvements in performance already. And that's without changing anything drastic in actual trading. So that really is important. And it's also sleep, I always talk about sleep quality over sleep quantity. Um, because realistically, many of us can't get eight hours of sleep, whether you're working shift or you've got a little one in the room next door screaming all night or whatever it might be. Sleep quality is we refer to it as sleep hygiene. So a dark room, a cool environment, no screen time before bed, no little standby lights on the TV or the aircon panel in the room, those sort of things allow you to have a better quality of sleep. And if we can get good sleep quality, it way it far outweighs getting more sleep in terms of quantity. Because again, quantity realistically, we can't all get eight hours of sleep.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

We're talking about recovery after long races, such as marathons and ultramarathons. What's your view on ice baths and on soreness?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Good tools. Um, I think not everything works for everyone, though. I cannot bear an ice bar. Okay, so I I honestly think the longest I've ever been in an ice bath is probably about 30 seconds. I really cannot handle it. Um, I've had athletes that I've worked with that if they get in an ice bath, they are useless for two days afterwards. They really just struggle to get going again. But then I've also had other athletes who rely and live on ice baths. So daily, whether they're training or not, I think there is a place for it. People get it wrong. So people are often trying to look for the coldest temperature possible. Icebars, the science shows that it doesn't have to be three degree water. If you're touching somewhere in the region of, off the top of my head, if I remember correctly, it's somewhere in the region of 11 to like 14 degrees, you are getting sufficient benefits from that cold water immersion. So that it has its place. It doesn't work for everyone. And the same will apply for sauna and any of these sort of other tools. I think you need to try it, you need to figure out what works for you, but not at the expense of my three pillars: sleep, rest, and nutrition. If we're not getting those three pillars right, you can try anything else and it's not going to work for you, or it's not going to be as beneficial. So I think that's get the basics right first, and then start playing around with things like saunas and ice bars or cold plunge.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Devon Eden, thank you so much for your time. It's been very, very insightful to have this discussion with you. And I think we've learned quite a bit from what you've shared with us today. Champions Uncovered hopes you've gained some valuable insights and practical tools for you to use in your everyday life. Subscribe to this podcast channel so you can be notified for more Champions Uncovered podcasts.