Marathon and Half-Marathon (26 page)

The important factor to remember is to be conservative in your recovery and recognize that it depends on the individual. It might, for example, take your friend 7 days to rid himself of muscle stiffness, but it might take you 22 days. What’s key is that you give yourself the right amount of time to fully recover.

Easing back into an exercise program

Once the excitement of completing your event has worn off, you may feel an emotional dip. It’s not uncommon for athletes to experience a small degree of post-event depression after completing a half or full marathon. This can be attributed to achieving a goal that you have spent a great deal of time and energy to accomplish. Your routine of the past 4 to 6 months has been thrown off, and you now feel a void in your life. When this happens, it’s common to feel a little down. Dr. Barootes says the emotional low may persist until you get back into your running, start a new activity, or set another goal for yourself.

It’s safe to resume some exercise once you start feeling like yourself again. “You’re ready for some moderate exercise once you are no longer experiencing any pain in your everyday activities, like walking up and down stairs,” Dr. Barootes says. He encourages athletes to start with non-strenuous activities such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Moderation is the key—you don’t want to overdo it, for example risking injury with a long bike ride two weeks after completing a marathon.

Setting Your Next Goal

Now that you’ve completed a half or full marathon you will likely think of yourself as a different person. You have taken yourself to a new level of fitness and probably given your self-confidence a boost as well. You know that if you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. If you have trained with others, you will have made new friends outside your traditional circle. But once the race is over, you may find yourself asking, “Now what?”

From a physiological standpoint, your successful completion of the program brings you both good news and bad. The good news is that the cardiovascular (heart and lungs) fitness you have worked so patiently to develop over the past 4 to 6 months is relatively easy to maintain. All you have to do is carry on doing what you have been doing—exercise aerobically three times a week for 30 to 40 minutes. You do not have to perpetually push yourself further. If, however, you want to continue to improve your fitness level, you’re going to have to continue challenging your body. One way to do this is to train to run a marathon or half marathon at a faster pace. This might involve, for example, some speed training or hill work that focuses on making you stronger and faster. There is a lot of information on speed training on-line.

The bad news is that if you’ve thought of the completion of your training program as the end of the road, the fitness you have worked so hard to attain will slowly seep away, like water into sand. After a few months, it will be vastly diminished. You may find it unfair that you worked so hard and yet can’t rest on your laurels for a while, but that’s the way it is. Your body will return to the state it was in before you started the program.

Some people don’t mind. They may have taken on the program simply to see if they could do it, or because a friend challenged them. Sometimes these people drift away from fitness altogether and never come back. It’s a personal choice—though not a very healthy one.

Other people find that when they get to the end of the program and don’t have a schedule to follow, their motivation slips out the door. It’s not so much a choice: they’re out of shape again.

If this happens to you, or if a life event—sickness in the family, say, or a crisis at work—prevents you from maintaining your current level of fitness, you can always start again. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. You already know that in your hand you have both the prescription and the cure. Many people who let their fitness slide after completing a half- or full-marathon program eventually become unhappy about huffing and puffing like an old steam locomotive every time they have to sprint for the bus, and they return to the program a few or even many months later. It is infinitely better to start again than it is to quit for good.

What next?

You may decide that you want to return to running but need time to settle on your next goal. That goal doesn’t have to be marathon focused. You may want to improve your speed and train for a 5- or 10-kilometer (3- or 6-mile) event. You might give some thought to completing a triathlon. Taking a few weeks off after your marathon or half marathon will help you to recover, but once you’re feeling yourself, ease back into your active lifestyle; your fitness level will still be great. Even if you take months to return to running, be gentle with yourself. Remember that once you get into a regular running program, it won’t be long before you begin to feel like the marathon or half-marathon runner that you are.

If you’re not sure what to do next for your running program, and you don’t want to begin training for another half or full marathon, there are a number of approaches to staying in top form. You can simply commit to running three 30- to 40-minute sessions a week, which should be relatively easy because your body is already programmed to run even more than this. You can adjust the time training to suit your schedule. You may find you want to continue with one longer run on the weekend; this might be an ideal opportunity to meet up with your former marathon-training partners. Many runners continue to meet after completing their event because the experience of training for and completing a race is a bonding encounter that cannot be easily replicated.

If you find your motivation slipping away, sign up for one of the many running and walking events in your community. There are runners everywhere these days, and most of them love getting together. The events they attend are partly a way to gauge progress and partly a way to socialize. Your local running-shoe store or community center will likely have a schedule of such events. As well, walking clubs abound, and their weekly activities are often listed in local newspapers.

If you complete a half or full marathon and decide that running isn’t for you, don’t despair. Running isn’t for everyone, which is probably a good thing, because if it were, some running paths would get very crowded. Still, not loving to run shouldn’t mean retreating to the sofa and the television remote control. As discussed in chapter 7, there are all kinds of other enjoyable aerobic activities. Cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, and hiking are excellent alternatives to running, as are inline skating, kayaking, aerobics to music, walking, or even just putting in some time on the stair climber at your local gym.

When approaching any sport, remember the three rules of exercise—moderation, consistency, and rest— and don’t expect to be an expert right away. Each sport requires unique skills, and it will take you a while to acquire them. Each time you take up a new activity, you’ll find there are as many comfort-zone barriers to cross as you are willing to take on. As well, you will invariably reach plateaus of competence that only patience and practice will take you beyond. If you’re having trouble progressing, take lessons, or seek assistance from a more experienced participant; every sport has a dedicated core of enthusiasts who are glad to help newcomers.

Take a break from running

• Once you’re recovered from your distance event, resume some light exercise for a few weeks before getting back into a running program. Most people need at least 3 weeks to fully recover from a marathon or half marathon.

• When you are ready to run, start with three easy 30-minute outings.

• Join a running or walking club.

• Sign up for running or walking events. Check your local running-shoe store or community center for details.

• Continue to keep an exercise/activity log to record your workouts.

• Try other activities. Cycling, swimming, and hiking are just a few of the numerous, excellent alternatives to running.

• If you’ve just completed the marathon and are psyched for another, it’s advisable to wait 4 to 6 months. It’s wise to do no more than 2 or 3 marathons per year. Half-marathoners should wait 2 or 3 months before attempting the next one.

Appendix A

Stretching Exercises

Here are some stretches for the major muscle groups used in running and walking. Use them as a guide to building your own routine. It’s a good idea to work systematically from the calves up to the shoulders (or vice versa).

Before stretching, always start with 5 to 10 minutes of jogging on the spot, or slow and easy running, to warm your muscles.