How long does it take to recover from a marathon?

So how long does it take to recover from a marathon? This is a question that is very difficult to answer. Obviously, the answer will depend on your age, your training, genetics, the difficulty of the marathon, and many other factors.

Just yesterday, exactly one week after running the hilly Yonkers Marathon(my first) in 3:51, I managed to run 13.2 miles(21.2 km) in just over 2 hours. I rested the day after the marathon and have been running short distances all last week, not exceeding 4.8 miles until yesterday.

The soreness as well as weakness from the Yonkers Marathon was mostly gone within 3 days. I think the weakness lasted a little longer. By yesterday I felt nothing at all. I wonder if all that cherry juice is helping. This interesting article in the NY Times attempts to answer the riddle of how long it takes to recover from a marathon – How Long Does It Take to Recover From a Marathon?

Dr. Urso advises runners to spend two to three weeks after a marathon doing what she calls a reverse taper. Before a race, most athletes taper by gradually decreasing the intensity and duration of their workouts.

After a race, do it in reverse, she suggested: Gradually build up with runs that at first last no longer than 60 minutes.

“I would guarantee that most runners will be back to baseline performance within two to three weeks of the marathon if they follow a program such as that,” she said.

This sounds like good advice, especially for those new to marathon running. However, if soreness is any indication, it took me just a few days to recover. Granted, I didn’t try running long distances until yesterday, and if I had I probably would have experienced some difficulty due to the marathon. I actually feel like I could run 26.2 miles tomorrow if I really wanted to, though I really should resist the temptation to do something like this. Just because I don’t feel sore doesn’t mean I have completely recovered. Not feeling sore at rest or while running short distances doesn’t mean I won’t experience soreness or even injury at mile 15 or 20. I’m contemplating running another marathon, though not sure where or when just yet.

So it looks like the answer to the question is “weeks”, but probably no more than 2 months. It probably takes longer for older runners to fully recover. Sure there are some people who run marathons every day or every week, but these runners usually train very rigorously and they are usually not that fast.

For those of you who have run a marathon, how long did it take you to recover?

My marathon training

Here is what my marathon training consists of:

• 1 long run per week of 15 to 20 miles
• 2 moderately long runs of 10 to 12 miles
• Short runs of 3.8 to 6 miles alternating with the longer run days

I aim to run a minimum of 30 miles per week.

I tend to run 4 to 5 days in a row, and then take a rest day which means I will just walk a little and do a lot of juggling as cross training. I alternate between long run days and short run days usually, to help rest my legs.

I do strength training for both my upper body and lower body, with much greater emphasis on my legs. I don’t want my upper body to become bulky so I keep it to a minimum, otherwise it slows me down as a runner. About once a week I do a complete upper body workout which consists of:

• 2 sets of arm curls with resistance bands(usually 10 to 12 repetitions)
• 2 sets of shoulder lifts with resistance bands(usually 7 to 9 repetitions)
• 1 set of push-ups(I usually do between 30 to 34)
• Juggle 3 very heavy balls(2.25 lbs) for several minutes until I can’t do it anymore

I tend to do this workout after runs(later in the day, not immediately after) since I want my body to build endurance for long runs rather than emphasize upper body muscle growth. Doing this before would emphasize muscle growth and may compromise my endurance level. I do an abbreviated version of this workout a few days after this which consists of just push-ups and heavy ball juggling. This workout allows me to juggle for hours on end. Here is some of my equipment – Iron Juggling.

My lower body/legs strength training regimen is even more important. I do this 2 to 3 times a week(rarely on the same day as upper body strength training). I tend to do this before I go out for a run(and refueling first if doing the run right after), and only on days when I do short runs. This helps build muscle for endurance runs, and to help rebuild muscle the days after very long runs.

This consists of:

• 4 sets of leg lifts with ankle weights, I usually do about 20 lifts
• 3 sets of this type of standing hip exercise using resistance bands(very important for hills). I do about 10 to 15 usually.
• 1 set of bicycle crunches to build ab strength
• 3 sets of jumping squats to build explosiveness and leg strength

On some days I will run on mostly hilly terrain during my long runs to train for the notoriously hilly Yonkers Marathon. Some good research indicates that the body can either build cardio endurance or strength for the day, but not both. They are in conflict, but not as bad as some people may think it is. So endurance runners should strength train their upper body after runs, not before. It’s fine to do leg strength training first though to build leg muscle, at least that is how my body works.

I do no stretching, except for the occasional back stretch on an exercise ball. I’ve seen no convincing studies indicating that stretching is beneficial.

If you have any questions or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

The “dangers” of running and the availability heuristic

I really wish that writing this wasn’t necessary, yet on a regular basis I run into misinformed people who believe that distance running is the most dangerous thing a person can do after BASE jumping. Sometimes even family members plead with me to stop running, because they believe I am slowly killing myself. The fact that I am a vegan makes them even more concerned, but that is another issue that has already been covered.

Why do so many people assume running is dangerous? To a large extent it is due to media reports. Every now and then, someone drops dead during or after a marathon or a long run. This makes news; what doesn’t make big news are all the millions of marathon runners who cross the finish line without any serious issues.

It makes really big news if a prominent runner dies. Last year it was ultra-runner Micah True. A few decades ago it was Jim Fixx, who helped popularize marathon running and even wrote a book about running. True, who died at the age of 58, appears to have had a heart defect, and Jim Fixx, who died at 52 from a heart attack, appears to have had similar problems, besides having been a heavy smoker, and had serious weight problems before he took up marathon running.

Indeed, most deaths during marathons are due to pre-existing conditions like heart-defects and/or combined with improper training. Yet statistically, marathon running is not associated with an increased risk of death. On the contrary, according to the British Medical Journal:

Results The marathons provided results for 3 292 268 runners on 750 separate days encompassing about 14 million hours of exercise. There were 26 sudden cardiac deaths observed, equivalent to a rate of 0.8 per 100 000 participants (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 1.1). Because of road closure, an estimated 46 motor vehicle fatalities were prevented, equivalent to a relative risk reduction of 35% (95% confidence interval 17% to 49%). The net reduction in sudden death during marathons amounted to a ratio of about 1.8 crash deaths saved for each case of sudden cardiac death observed (95% confidence interval: 0.7 to 3.8). The net reduction in total deaths could not be explained by re-routing traffic to other regions or days and was consistent across different parts of the country, decades of the century, seasons of the year, days of the week, degree of competition, and course difficulty.

And this doesn’t even cover all the health benefits from regular exercise and the deaths prevented by it – being a couch potato is much more dangerous for your health than distance running.

But why do so many people continue to believe otherwise? In part I am sure that laziness plays a part in why sedentary people say ridiculous things about the “dangers” of running, but there is something else going on. I thought it would be more helpful to generalize why this is, even at the risk of getting overly technical, since I originally did not want to cover this topic again. By generalizing this, you can see that this anti-running bias is really one manifestation of a very prevalent cognitive bias called the availability heuristic. What is the availability heuristic? According to Wikipedia:

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that occurs when people make judgments about the probability of events by how easy it is to think of examples. The availability heuristic operates on the notion that, “if you can think of it, it must be important.”

It’s the same phenomenon that leads people who ordinarily have no problem driving in automobiles to have a debilitating fear of flying in airplanes. Even though, statistically speaking, air travel is far safer than driving in a car. Those catastrophic plane crashes that happen every so often make big news, and are permanently etched into the minds of many people, leading to this bias. The thousands of planes that take off and land safely every day are not newsworthy.

It’s the same thing with running. To a very large degree it is a safe activity, though older runners should be a little more careful. Yes, many people may injure themselves while training or running the marathon, but deaths are extremely rare and usually due to pre-existing health conditions.

If you have or suspect you have a serious heart condition, marathon running may not be for you. If you don’t, you have little to worry about.

Joggling 18 miles through central Westchester county

I hope my fellow jogglers, runners, and outdoor enthusiasts are having as much fun as I am having this time of year.

This run took place on Wednesday, June 5th. The magenta line in the middle, from south to north and then back south to Mount Vernon was my journey. I joggled about 98% of the time, except when I had a water break and a very short bathroom break in the woods. It took me 3.5 hours to complete this 18 mile run, and the last hour was pretty rough. The juggling was so much easier than the running. There were many hills along the trail and it was a sunny day, in the low 70s, so I didn’t sweat that much. I did some juggling tricks much of the way.

I followed the Bronx river for much of the run, but then the trail that runs along it terminates in Scarsdale, amidst a lot of construction, so I had to use route 22 to get to White Plains. I’ve been drinking more cherry juice during and after long runs, and this may have helped me recover to the point that I was able to run 3 miles the day after this 18 miler, and 7.75 miles today.

Ordinarily, I just take a day off the day after very long runs. The soreness the day after this was pretty bad, but it is almost completely gone now. Remember, I don’t stretch before or after runs(scientific studies show it is useless, although I do a little back stretching and nothing else), and this may also be a factor in speedier recovery.

Joggling with the Devil

Here we have yet another lonely, ghostly abandoned building sitting alongside the Croton Aqueduct Trail, in Yonkers, New York. It is one of my favorite running trails, so it’s difficult for me to keep it a secret.

(I am not responsible for the Satanic graffiti in any of these photos, I was just a visitor.)

This building has been abandoned for so long, the surrounding forest has nearly swallowed it up. I do not know the history of this place or what it was for. While I have blogged about the old Croton Aqueduct trail before, at 26.2 miles, it deserves more than one post due to all the unique sites that punctuate its great length. From the many stately historical mansions overlooking the Hudson river, to spooky abandoned buildings, this trail has a lot to offer. My longest runs ever have been on this trail. Its a great place to have an adventure close to the city.

These ruins are in the northern part of Yonkers, just down the hill from Untermeyer Park(on route 9), which resembles the gardens of a Roman villa(lots of people take wedding photos there). This requires a separate post.

Is anyone else playing the 1978 Van Halen song “Runnin’ with the Devil”, but switching “runnin'” with “joggling” in their mind?

Just so you know, I didn’t make a deal with the Devil so I could joggle. And I didn’t meet any Satanists at this location.

Is Marathon Running Bad for the Heart?

Some interesting articles:

Is Marathon Running Bad for the Heart?

Running marathons ‘could permanently damage the heart’

Every now and then we hear about people dropping dead during marathons, and our unfit friends and family point this out to show us how “dangerous” running is. It seems in most cases these people had a heart defect. In my non-expert opinion, it certainly is possible that marathon running or over-training can cause at least a little heart damage even in healthy people, but this damage is usually temporary.

In the articles above, they examined only a small number of marathoners. We need studies that examine larger numbers of marathon runners so we can see what is really going on here.

Still, it is important to know that contrary to what many people would have us believe, completing a marathon doesn’t necessarily represent the pinnacle of fitness. Indeed, in the days and weeks following a marathon, for many runners, it is more like the opposite of fitness due to the damage caused by the running and the long recovery period. Some may even suffer from permanent injuries that can lead to being less fit and healthy in the long run. There are diminishing returns when you exercise beyond what is necessary for being fit and healthy, especially if you’re focusing almost exclusively on cardio which is what marathon-training is. As a person who has run and joggled half-marathon distances many times over the years, I can attest to this.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t run marathons. I’m simply saying, and I realize I may sound like a heretic to some, you don’t have to run or joggle marathons to be truly fit. You don’t even have to run every day to be fit, so long as you run or exercise most days of the week. Fitness shouldn’t be a form of punishment. If you run on a regular basis, don’t feel bad if you are not capable of running a marathon – it’s not the only game in town or the sole measure for determining how fit you are.

If you have a heart defect or suspect you may have one, be extra careful. See your doctor before attempting even half-marathons if you think you may have something. Also see your doctor if you decide you just want to be a total couch potato, which we know is much worse for the body than running.

Running a very long distance is overrated as a measure of fitness; marathons aren’t for everyone, but if you have the right physique, no heart defect, train properly and recover quickly, then running marathons may not be a bad idea. We at Wild Juggling want you to be creative with your fitness program, we want you to challenge yourself. But this doesn’t necessarily mean punishing yourself or pushing yourself to extremes that have more drawbacks than rewards.