When I signed up to do the marathon, I did not anticipate how long recovery would take. I thought about how I began training (early, please note) in May/June, and my body probably needs the rest that it deserves. I became injured, as you all know, through my training, and that will require even more rest. That being said, I won't keep me down. I have been focusing on my rest, and I will continue to rest. I want to keep my fitness up and make sure that I am not letting it falter. The big question is: How do I come back from a marathon (especially keeping my injury in mind)?
My best advice: Listen to your body. This has been the hardest lesson I have had to learn since I began competing in races and acquired a few injuries along the way. I feel that the struggle is mental; you feel motivated to exercise, yet your body cannot perform the way you want. When you think about recovery long-term, it makes sense. You get injured, you heal. If you push yourself and don't allow your body to heal, you make the injury worse. I do not want to make my injury more severe in my knees; I want to run throughout my life. It is something I truly enjoy and do for myself. Therefore, I made a promise to myself to quiet the voice that I usually see as motivation if I feel any warning signs that my knees are acting up during a run or on the bike. Is my IT band tightening? Lesson the gear on my bike. Is there a weird pressure in my kneecap? Walk. Are my knees hurting after a run? Cut my mileage. It is so difficult to find the balance, but I am determined to heal properly and get back into running when my body catches up with my brain(:
As I have been recovering the past month, this is what my exercise schedule has looked like, starting from day 1 after the marathon. Keep in mind, I am in no way a professional, and every body is different. I do not advise anyone to follow this schedule, but this is what I have personally done to maintain my fitness and recover as much as possible. My purpose is to give you all an idea of what it looks like to recover, even with injury. There are so many conflicting articles and advice on recovery, so you have to do what works for you.
My recovery has been a lot of cross-training. That is the best advice I have received post-marathon. Cross training is a great way to maintain your fitness level while lessening the impact you have on your joints as opposed to running.
Week 1 (Zero Week)
- Monday: nothing
- Tuesday and Wednesday: Extremely light biking (only because I teach spin for my job)
- Thursday: 1 hour on the elliptical, doing interval work mostly. I avoided adding a lot of weight and gear work to make it easier on my knees and hips. I kept a moderate gear and did heart rate manipulation for the most part.
- Friday: Cycle 55, 40 minute easy walk with a friend
- Saturday: Elliptical 45 minutes
- Sunday: easy 3 mile run
- My knees were acting up, and I made the decision to take a few days off of running to let them heal.
- Monday: 1 hour 45 min leisurely walk with a friend.
- I wanted to rest my legs and knees, but I felt a little antsy. It was a nice day out, so I decided to go for a walk and actively recover.
- Tuesday: spin 60 minutes
- Weds: spin 45 min, spin 60 (subbed a class)
- Thurs: 5 mile run
- Friday: spin 60 min
- Sat: 6 mile run (getting back into long runs here!)
- Sunday: rest
Week 3
- Monday: 5 mile run
- Tuesday: spin 45 and spin 60 (taught double this day)
- Wednesday: spin 45
- Thursday: 8 mile run
- Friday: spin 60, weight training 15 min
- Saturday: 5 mile run
- Sunday: rest
Week 4
- Monday: 4 mile run
- Tuesday: spin 60
- Wednesday: spin 45
- Thursday: 8 mile run
- Friday: spin 60, weight training 15 min
- Saturday: I plan on doing a run today, whatever distance I choose. Either that, or rest!
- Sunday: If I run Saturday, I will rest. If not, I'll run this day.
This has been my recovery so far! If you are ever recovering from a race or competition, all I can advise is to be very in tune with what your body is feeling. It is something you have problem learned to read during your training, so take advantage. You deserve a rest after all the work you put into training, so enjoy and be safe!
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