Many of us pay a lot of attention to the preparation of a marathon. But very often, delighted to be “finisher”, we do not pay any attention to the “after race” phases. This can me damaging in the long run, if you still want to be able to run in many years… You will find below my tips, which are for non professional runners like me, that just enjoy running and want to take care of their health and body 🙂

RIGHT AFTER THE RACE

• Take a small SNACK (such as recovery drink + energy bar).
• Wait for about 20 minutes then  STRETCH gently  all my muscles.
• Find some gentle hands 🙂 for a MASSAGE using some ARNICA gel/cream.

THE NIGHT AFTER THE RACE

• A good warm bath to relax your muscles. In the summer, if you are brave enough, you can play with the hot/cold contrast.
• Wear some compression socks for several hours
• Stay legs up, feet towards the ceiling, for 20 minutes
• Enjoy a Proteine & Carb-rich dinner
• Sleep with a pillow under your feet to help venous return
• A good night sleep

THE DAY AFTER & FOLLOWING DAYS

• 10 days at 0 KM & FULL REST !!!
  Do not touch your running shoes anymore! Your body will need 6 MONTHS to recover from tha marathon, including 42 days for muscle recovery only!
• Keep drinking lots of  WATER & DIURETIC DRINKS. After 3 days, your weight should have come back to normal. Bare in mind that between the start & finish line, you will loose 3 to 5 kg of water.
• Treat yourself to a professional MASSAGE. You have ran a marathon after all! Wait 2 or 3 days for sauna & hamman as these tend to dehydrate your body.
• Keep eating lots of
  PROTEINES & CARBS to stack up again on red cells and glycogen.
• If you have very painful aches (and only in this case), you can take some ANTI INFLAMMATORY pills (sensibly)
• Wear some WARM CLOTHES as the organism is weaker during a few weeks, hence more sensitive to disease.

AFTER…

After 10 days, you can gradually start training again, giving priority to sports that are less traumatic for your back & your knees (swimming, cycling, etc.)