Old dudes: how long to recover from marathon?

How old are you?

How old? wrote:

How old are you?

44.

When I was in my 30s I could not run a race two weeks after a marathon. In my mid 40s, it takes me a month to get back to the point where I can run fast again after a marathon. There is no reason to rush your recovery. You will just end up getting injured and spoil your next racing season.

I am your age and ran Chicago last year. Because I trained through some injuries, I am still not recovered. But the week after the marathon, I ran 13 miles, the next week 25, then three weeks in the upper 30s (at which point I started working quality track days back in), and then into the 50+ range. Since I didn't plan on any more marathons in the near future, I didn't really shoot for any more mileage than that.

I will say though, that when I ran a 15k about 6 weeks after Chicago, I only ran about 10 seconds faster than my 15k split at Chicago, and when I ran a half marathon in early December (8 weeks after Chicago), I only ran 47 seconds faster than my half marathon split in Chicago.

When I ran NYC in 2014, it took me until the following May before I was able to race at what I felt was a high level again.

I would say that part of the issue for me was motivation, part of it was overcoming nagging injuries that I had been ignoring to get through race day, and part of it was just my body being broken down and listless.

I'm 42, I ran the Buffalo Marathon when I was 40. I was back to running and racing pretty quickly but it was months before I started to feel I had any speed, and probably a year before I was completely recovered. Marathons are for suckers, stick to the short stuff.

My experience:

At age 43, 5'11", 170 lbs, 45 mpw, four training runs 20-23 miles prior to marathon, 2:56:03 marathon:

Five days after marathon: 5 miles at marathon pace

14 days after marathon: 5K race 36 seconds slower than pre-marathon

19 days after marathon: First track session (10 X 600m)

48 days after marathon: 5K race 20 seconds faster than pre-marathon (setting my Masters PR)

Recovery week total mileage was 23, then averaged about 40 mpw for next six weeks.

During the 47 days between the marathon and the 5K PR (17:10), I competed in two 1-mile races, two 5Ks, one 4-mile race, and one 10K race.

Training included five track interval workouts, three sessions of hill repeats, and four 12-mile "long runs."

2-4 weeks depending on how gutted I was at the finish. A marathon where i bonked hard and faded the last few miles takes longer to recover from one where I finished strongly.

I'm 48. I recently ran a marathon where I felt good after 7 days but still did nothing but easy runs and strides for another 2.5 weeks. It's better to enter the next training block rested even if it means losing a little fitness. That way you crush workouts later in your next cycle when it matters the most rather than getting burnt out and plateauing fitness or even backsliding.

43 here....used to run 3-4 days after a long race.

Now it takes weeks. I ran Columbus marathon last year with little to no training and I was out for 3 months. If I am trained, recovery is much faster

A mid-40 year old woman I ran with as part of running club group runs told she thought I could run my first marathon. She said she tries to run one full marathon a month. She ran with the group on the Tuesday after a Saturday marathon for 5 miles at about an 8;00 to 8;30 pace. One woman ran 5 miles with the group on the Tuesday after a 50 mile race. A third middle aged woman ran with the group on a Wednesday after a weekend 100 mile race.

I ran 16 miles on a hilly course on a Sunday at 7:20 pace to see if I was ready for a full marathon. Based on that, I ran my first marathon the following Saturday in 3:24, allowing me to register for Boston. My age group is 50 to 54 (male). I ran slowly at about 9+ minute pace for 2 miles the day after my marathon so that I could start to loosen up my muscles. I ran 5 miles the next day at about 8:30 pace. I felt fully recovered within a week of the marathon.

59. For the week after the marathon I only did some light running. I did a 20 mile hike with 5000+ ft elevation gain one week after the marathon. Back to regular running 10 - 14 days after marathon.

Hal Higdon marathon advice is conservative but pretty good IMO.

http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51152/Post-Marathon-Zero-Week-Training-Program

A day per mile raced...

52. When I can touch my leg muscles and feel no discomforts, normally a week.

I haven't run a marathon since I was 51. I'm 64 now. I ran no marathons between the ages of 30 (or so, I actually forget now exactly how old I was but it was around 30) and 37. From 37 to 51 I typically ran two in a span of three years and found that I actually recovered a lot faster from marathons in that second span than I did in the first one. I've explained that to myself by saying that I couldn't run as fast in any of those second span marathons than I'd done in some of the early ones and didn't damage my muscles as much. I was pretty much back to normal training the next day or the second day at most.

However, on second thought, many of the "earlier" ones were in the same time range as the later ones though some early ones were much faster than the later ones so that explanation may not hold. Interestingly, I think one of the quicker recoveries I ever had from a marathon in that earlier batch came when I ran a mile-2 mile double at an indoor meet the night AFTER a marathon. I actually thought my legs might collapse in the first 440 of that mile but by the half mile everything was fine and stayed that way.

So if you have a similar experience, you may find that once you get going in that race you'll be OK after you blast through the early awfulness. I don't really have an idea as to why you're having more difficulty this time than you've had previously but if I were you and wondering that I'd look to see if I'd done anything differently after this past race than I'd done after others.

rimetime wrote:

How old? wrote:

How old are you?

44.

At 44, it is not so much your age that determines recovery but how long you've been maintaining your volume. An average of 50 mpw or more year round should have you able to do a reverse taper and be back to hard and/or long runs in about a month.

You probably trained for 2 or 3 months if you are still that sore.

Beware of running harder, shorter races before that 3 or 4 weeks are over.

I've found validity in the old rule of avoiding long or hard runs for the number of days that you've raced - 26 days for a marathon.

Old dudes? At 79 I probably qualify.

Everyone is different. In Dec. 1972 I ran a 2:45 in Melbourne FL - including some walking - when I thought I was ready to run low 2:30s. I was clueless about glycogen depletion and had done a fast ten miler a day and a half before the race. I thought my failure was due to insufficient mileage. I had been doing 70-75 a week. So the morning after the marathon I did 11 miles (felt crappy) drove back to Miami and did 7 that evening (felt good). For the week starting with the marathon I did 125 miles. For the 31 days starting with the marathon I did 520 miles (by far my biggest "month" ever). That included winning three long races: 12-18 miles (yeah very small races with weak competition). Six weeks after the marathon I ran 2:31 in the West Valley Marathon in California. Mid 60s temps and 90%+ humidity - the rainy season. Wish I had had cool and dry. A few days later, back to high mileage, I got injured. Surprise, surprise.

Look, here's my two cents: If you're still sore you didn't run enough miles. I'm 44 and ran a 2:58 in Chicago, hitting 65-75 mile weeks for 4 months. I also run year-round, averaging at least 40 miles a week when I'm not training. I only ever take two days off after a marathon. I don't think I've taken more than two days off in five years. I also run two marathons a year.

Master and Servant wrote:

Look, here's my two cents: If you're still sore you didn't run enough miles. I'm 44 and ran a 2:58 in Chicago, hitting 65-75 mile weeks for 4 months. I also run year-round, averaging at least 40 miles a week when I'm not training. I only ever take two days off after a marathon. I don't think I've taken more than two days off in five years. I also run two marathons a year.

Sounds like you aren't racing hard enough. I ran 60-70 miles a week for 4 months off an average of 50 mpw the preceding 2 years with lots of race specific training. I ran 2:41 (goal was 2:39) and my shot from racing for months.

I'm 51, if I took a week off after running a marathon, I might never recover.

The day after the marathon I walk about a mile and then try a couple tentative jogs. Two days after a marathon I walk two-three miles and make sure I jog for 30 seconds at least 5 times. Three days after, I walk a mile, jog a mile and after some more walking see what happens if I try a couple of slow strides.

And so on. For me just sitting around lets everything stiffen up and form strange knots and other problems that take much longer to work out than if I do a little more each day. There is no way I would possibly run my normal 50 mpw with workouts during the entire month after a marathon. On the other hand, I would do something every single day to start to loosen things up. The movement warms things up, the warming allows gentle dynamic warmups, the warmups allow faster movement which allows more warmth and looser muscles which allow gentle stretching. It is kind of like physical therapy.