Sore for days and squeezed dry, or ready for more? How do people feel the day after a competitive marathon or triathlon?
I normally hate it when people answer questions like this without real, first hand experience, but here I go!
I think most people the day after a race/triathlon are ready for more. I was training for a marathon that I never got to compete in because I hurt my leg so badly, but during the training runs, I’d go 18 - 20 miles and be completely wiped out for a couple hours afterward. A 2 - 3 hour nap would cure me though.
I know people who run a marathons, go take a nap, then go out drinking until the wee hours of the morning to celebrate their accomplishment. After the training it takes to get to that point of athleticism, your body recovers more quickly than the average schmo.
I think it depends on how many marathons you typically run a year. Having run three, spaced out over a period of three years, I can tell you what my experience was. Keep in mind, your condition the day after also depends on whether you have blisters and any personal current or past injuries (example: my knee’s propensity to dislocate on occasion makes my knees stiffer than someone who didn’t have that tendency probably would experience).
The day of each marathon, I finished really stiff and tired and slept or dozed for about three to five hours after each race. When I woke up, I was even more stiff. But, if I forced myself to hobble around, things loosened up. The day after, I was stiff, but less so and again, if I forced myself to hobble around, things improved exponentially the day after that and so on. I’ve tried both resting the day after and walking the day after and the latter, for me, is really the way to go.
Oh, I was also somewhat sick immediately after both marathons, so couldn’t eat anything immediately. But after my nap, I’d wake up voracious. The only hitch was that I can’t eat too much saturated fat at once because it makes me even sicker, so I’d have to stick to stuff like bagels.
Booze is out of the question until the next day for me - just one glass will get my completely hammered the day of.
I could probably have run another one the next day (but it would have hurt), but then I didn’t exactly go all out and get the best time I could.
:eek:
Isn’t that the point?
It’s a huge reason rugby socials are so popular. I know my body always hurts really bad until Monday, and my neck until Wednesday, but that’s a lot different than a noncontact endurance event.
I generally do triathlons but did a half-marathon last fall and am planning on doing a full this fall.
As far as the triathlons go, I usually do Olympic length (1500 m swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) and I feel great afterwards. In fact after my last one, I came home and spent the rest of the day shoveling gravel back into my driveway after a torrential downpour the previous night had washed much of it out into the street. So I usually take the day after a race off but will start training again the following day. I’m going to do a half-ironman this fall (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) and I expect that the next day will be…rough.
The half-mary was a different story. Up to that point, my longest training runs had been 11 miles. But, I live up in the hills so all of my runs (and bike rides) are extremely hilly so I didn’t worry too much about the distance. Anyways, the course was really flat and I ran it a much quicker pace than I normally run. I finished in 1:50 and felt great. Tired, but great. The next day my legs were a wreck. I hadn’t been sore like that in a really long time and it lasted for about 4 days.
Mentally I’m ready for more the next day. Physically, I’ve usually refrained from any exercise for about 2 days after a marathon.
It’s hard enough bending my legs to sit on the toilet. You want me to run some MORE???
Every marathon that I had run I had felt great to get it done. I run my races faster than my training pace, trying to hit a personal best with each race. During the last two miles, I’m short on breath, and I can feel my chest laboring. My arms are tight and my back a little less so. My legs feel like rubber or jelly, and immediately after the race, if I sit down for too long, I don’t feel like I have the energy to stand up. I also take at least a 2 hour nap immediately after my celebratory beer. The next day, my upper body is still a little sore, but my legs are completely dead. Stairs are my worst enemy, and I hobble around everywhere. I usually take two weeks off before running again. By three days out, my upper body feels fine and I still feel really slim. I’m probably still tired all the time. By a week out, the soreness in my legs feels manageable again.