Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Running Recovery Tips and Ducks

Hi hi!
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.  
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!  
Not Optimal Recovery Food

How do you recover from a race? Any tips? 

Here's some tips from the elites:

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

7 comments:

  1. 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.

    Since 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?

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  2. 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.

    Looking 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!

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  3. omg those ducks are seriously adorable and thank you for the quotes!

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  4. I 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!
    Sarah

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  5. 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.
    But who really knows, this is just a guess!

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  6. So I've decided that we have to be bffs. I love ducks!! Thanks for commenting on my post yesterday! Your blog looks awesome!!

    I like chocolate milk after running. I have a hard time eating sometimes so milk works great!

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  7. If sitting in cool water is almost as good as ice baths.... count me in!!!

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