Two things today!
1) The cute family of ducks I saw yesterday morning while on my run. There is mom, dad, and three baby Mallards. If there's any justice in the world, one day in the year 3000 I will come back to life as a baby duck.
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| D'awwww! |
2) Let's Talk Race recovery, Well, it's Spring racing season (unless you live in Texas or Nigeria) and I don't know about you, but sitting on the couch exhausted after a race is only cool for a couple hours...we're all busy peeps with stuff to do, right?
And my body doesn't recover well - I'm no SkinnyRunner (girl ran 1000(2) marathons in three dayz!)
When I finish a race, the last thing I want to do is stretch or eat something healthy.
My inclination is to sit down for several hours and eat ice cream. I read somewhere that chocolate milk is a good recovery food due to having lots of protein and carbs, so I started drinking that post race...bottom line, I'm still trying to find what works for me!
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| Not Optimal Recovery Food |
How do you recover from a race? Any tips?
On Nutrition
"It's important to get something in your system as soon as you stop running"
-1993 World Championships marathon gold medalist Mark Plaatjes
On Taking It Easy
"It happens at least once a year,I get busy or impatient and I justify it, saying, 'I'm getting in the workouts, I'm checking the boxes, that's what's important.' I let the recovery aspects go, and I wind up sick or injured. I realize then that it's time to get focused and do the little things right. Sometimes I just need a kick in the butt."
- Lauren Fleshman - U.S. champion at 5,000m in 2007.
Ice Baths (or just water)
"For me, hydrotherapy is an absolute must," she says. "During my heavy training I don't go more than once a week, but that weightless time just helps flush everything out." If you can't make it to the pool, take a cool bath. Ice is nice, but not necessary--just run cool water from the tap deep enough to cover your legs for a recovery boost."
- Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan
Let's just hope you come back as a SoCal duck and not a French duck cause then you'll be some one's dinner :p.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't run marathons I don't have any real recovery tips, half-marathons aren't too hard to recover from. To support Shalane's advice, one time when I was injured I chose to only do swimming and aqua classes I'm sure that it helped me recovery much more quickly from my injury than say the elliptical would have, although I don't have a scientific explanation for it :D.
Now I want chocolate milk! Boohooo for me. Is it possible to make homemade chocolate milk?
My recovery tip? Let's just say I didn't even think about running a foot for about, oh, four months after my first marathon. I was so burned out.
ReplyDeleteLooking back though, I should've gotten off my bum and at least walked a few miles here and there to ramp back into running.
Bottom line: take time off, but don't be afraid to ease back into some kind of routine. Your fitness level will thank you later!
omg those ducks are seriously adorable and thank you for the quotes!
ReplyDeleteI love chocolate milk and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I always here about how great ice baths are and after my june marathon I am going to put it to the test by taking one in the hotel after. I only have a shower! But I will say I will jump into a ice cold shower which is extremely difficult because it is like needles but I think it helps!
ReplyDeleteSarah
I think MILK is a great post-race drink. Lots of protein and it's liquid, so I feel like it's absorbed better than eating something solid immediately afterward.
ReplyDeleteBut who really knows, this is just a guess!
So I've decided that we have to be bffs. I love ducks!! Thanks for commenting on my post yesterday! Your blog looks awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI like chocolate milk after running. I have a hard time eating sometimes so milk works great!
If sitting in cool water is almost as good as ice baths.... count me in!!!
ReplyDelete