Who plans for the part after the marathon? Come on, hands up?! Do we even consider this to be part of our training cycle?
After months of graft, the base/foundation phase…tick, specifics and overload…tick, the taper, the race…all tick, tick, tick. But then what?
Grab the nearest burger, put the feet up and wait until the desire is there again. Yes, that’s one option, in fact to avoid mental exhaustion this is a necessary part of it. But doing the right thing post marathon could be the difference to further success in your next build. Get this phase wrong and you could be too tired to handle another build or could have wasted the efforts you have made during this build.
So, what is this phase called? I’m calling it the post-race taper.
Fundamentally, having done your marathon A-race you will need time to mentally unwind from what has almost certainly been a huge build up of running miles, sessions and focus. Your mind will need time to recover almost more than your body. So, give it what it needs. Try not to book a marathon straight away… I can assure you the urge will be there! But you need time to step away from this running malarkey and then begin to reflect before you go near that ‘ENTER HERE’ tab! Reflection is vitally important. Reflection of the race, the events just prior to race and the phases of the build. What went well, but importantly, even better if???
The body will be in debt of some carbs. You will have burnt in excess of 2600-3000 calories on average in the marathon alone. Never mind that accumulation of miles across the weeks and months. But grabbing a burger and fries may satisfy the craves and quick fix but a meal containing whole grains, such as quinoa, rice, whole wheat pasta, buckwheat, and teff, will undoubtedly boost recovery ten-fold by replenishing those glycogen stores and mean the muscles can repair and rebuild from that huge amount of exertion. Sweet potatoes and regular white potatoes will help combat the muscle soreness. Berries and cherries as well as being rich in carbs are also full of fibre and a decent amount of plant-based protein. Fluids with a shot of electrolytes will also go a long way in minutes and hours post-race.
Whilst pizza may seem like a nice choice, food stuffs with high fat and salts will actually slow down digestion which is not what your body will need or want after your race. It’s not all doom and gloom though, and although it’s a bit of stretch to say beer is good post marathon, beer does contain some vitamins and minerals, antioxidant, polyphenols, electrolytes, carbs, and a small amount of protein.
Ok, so you’ve ate the right foods, drank the right amount of beer, now the post-race taper begins immediately. We should be planning a nice walk on the afternoon/evening of the race. Getting a massage and around 10-15 mins of walking minutes done within the first hour and then more short walks every other hour post-race will allow the body to gradually return to its resting state. The movement will encourage those muscles to pump the blood around the body and prevent the waste products built up and get that gut shifting those lovely gels out of our system, meaning less gut ache come 10pm.
Sleep well, your legs will be twitchy and find it very hard to stop spasming, finish off the day with a bath of Epsom salts and heat. Both act as muscle relaxants and reduce muscle soreness, inflammation and swelling hopefully contributing to less toss and turns at night.
Runners often experience the post-marathon blues. You have been following structure and had a focus for what seems like an eternity. And now you don’t. First of all, embrace it, unwind and do an activity you have put off or have neglected for the last few months. Plan it into your week and make it part of the schedule.
But what else do we do in those all-important days after the marathon. You may think Rest. And yes, relative rest will serve you well, some experts recommend one day of rest for each mile raced but it really should be individual and there is no magic formula in my experience.
Getting in the pool within the first few days’ post marathon is ace. Studies show that swimming-based recovery will enhance performance the next day compared to being passive and 20-30 mins with plenty of rest break will have you bossing those DOMS. Plus, the hydrostatic pressure of water improves blood flow and can facilitate the removal of lactic acid from the muscles. This can speed up recovery time and reduce muscle soreness after intense physical activity.
Some of you may be absolutely itching to run. And whilst I said there is no magic formula, I encourage you to resist the urge for at least 2-3 days. The first run out should really be a trial of how the legs are. Perhaps on grass to limit the impact. But again, athlete and coach should be in cahoots here. Questions I would ask are how the legs are feeling at night, what are they feeling like first thing in the morning, and I would be monitoring that heart rate on the first jog out to see ACTUALLY how tired the body is. Based on this, looking at how the athlete raced their race and the next goals, the next run can be devised. So, as I emphasised before. No single athlete’s post-race taper is going to be the same.
This may have been your A race and complete rest may well be advised, you may be training for something else and need to keep the legs tinkering over. You may not know what you are doing next but be highly motivated. This is where I see most people go wrong. Not knowing what to do next is a killer. They enter a race in a height of energy without a plan. People aim to continue from where they left off pre taper phase but experience huge disappointment that the legs simply are not there. If they are not careful, an enormous amount of pressure is placed on our bodies, mental exhaustion is experienced with expectation to get back quickly and soon you may end up injured, burnt out and enter those post-marathon blues.
My suggestion as before would be to sit down and reflect. Discuss with a coach, friend or otherwise what else you really want out of your running. After giving the body its much-earnt TLC, make a plan. If it’s another marathon then build a solid foundation. Don’t expect to jump back into specifics. If your marathon didn’t go as well as hoped, build a stronger base than before. Again, don’t jump straight back to specifics. If your race did go well and you made that PB, fab, when you have laid out your next goal, highlight your areas to improve and go back to that all important base, once again, don’t expect to jump onto the specifics or your next race.
Your body is an amazing creation, but fitness is laid down in layers, a bit like a house. If our foundations are not robust the bricks begin to slant and sag, our cement seeps out and the roof isn’t resistant and watertight. If any layer is not perfect, those above begin to show cracks. So, make every phase perfect, with a goal in mind and a solid plan in place.
Final message – please don’t neglect the post-race taper. It is an extremely important phase of your training. Plan for it!
Run 4 U and Perform 
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