Old dudes: how long to recover from marathon?

This really isn't an age issue. Do you see any of the elite runners trying to run races 2 weeks after the marathon? Sure you can run a few a days after the marathon, and possibly even start doing workouts in that 2 week timeframe, but you won't be racing well until you're completely recovered, which is going to be probably a month+ if you ran the marathon close to your max effort.

Just chilling stay active within a month you'll be running workouts again pretty good but you won't have all that spark tried to gain too much weight I think that's probably my biggest mistake just hard to come back after that I don't think you need as much time as most people say but I'd certainly air on the side of maybe throwing in some cycling some cross training or something else to stay fit within six days a week should be back running as fast as you were in the marathon as long as you don't gain a ton and you stayed actice.

Be patient there's no hurry that's what I would re-tell myself but that being said I'd also tell myself to put down the beer and the cheese just a little bit earlier or maybe just not get so excessive!

I'm 56. After my marathon last March, I didn't run at all for 4 weeks, then ran every 3rd day for 4 weeks. After that I was running almost every day but didn't get that "spring" back in my legs till about 4 months after the race. I don't normally race marathons and likely won't again unless I do one when I reach 60.

Take it easy and let you body tell you when it's ready.

If you just ran Chicago why in the world are you planning on running another race??

At age 44 you plan your marathon, then you are done!

I wouldn't plan on doing any real racing for a month to 6 weeks. That gives you time to do some easy jogging, then a few tune up work outs closer to race time.

Smoove wrote:

I am with notafatty here. I averaged about 80 miles a week leading into my taper (78.475 mpw, to be exact) and ran 2:30, and like I said, I really wasn't capable of racing well again for months.

I think Master and Servant needs to squeeze a little more out of race day.

I actually agree with this. My 2:58 was a very comfortable effort and I'm looking to be more aggressive and run a much faster time in the next one. That said, even when I race hard I tend to bounce back pretty quickly, which I do believe is from running good mileage consistently for years.

Gainesville/Miamiguy wrote:

... 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). ... 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.

1972 ... You were in your mid-30s then. Just curious ... did you race marathons after that? How long did the healing take after the 2:31? What was your prior competitive experience? Thanks.

Always worked wrote:

A day per mile raced...

^^This. You can of course run sooner, but I guess you'll feel sluggish and slow until about 26 days after Chicago.

(BTW, I'm almost 60 and did Grindstone 100 miler the same weekend as your run. The 'formula' does over estimate recovery time for longer jaunts.)

Trying to be brief:

Ran XC in high school. Long Island NY. 9th in State Class B (time was 23rd if combined with A.) We trained maybe 15/week. Lousy miler in Track.

Very limited XC at Union College in Schnectady. I'll spare you the details.

First road race was as a high school junior in May 1954 at age 16. A 15 miler won by Browning Ross. He won a case of motor oil for his car. I got a trophy as youngest finisher. Good old days. :)

Ran a few road races for Millrose AA around New York City in early '60s. Wound up teaching/coaching in Miami from 1963-'99. 1964 Olympics - Billy Mills, Bob Schul, and especially Buddy Edelen - inspired me to get more serious. Very limited road racing in Miami then and very weak competition until the 1970s.

First marathon: Washington D.C. Marathon in Feb. 1967. 28 degrees, windy. Hilly course. 2:46 in Tiger Marathons.

Real catalyst for serious training was running with Jack Bacheler, Barry Brown and other Florida Track Club guys while visiting Gainesville in the Fall of '71. A revelation about their high mileage training.

Lots of road races during '70s and usually about two marathons a year. At age 40, and for each fifth year thereafter (new age group) I focused on National Masters Championships. Consistently top ten but competition was usually more Regional than National. e.g. 1:27:10 got me 4th for Nat'l 25K in Medford Oregon, behind 3 California Masters.

Ran Boston and New York twice. 2:33:55 at Boston at age 40 in '78. (7th in Masters) 2:32:30 at New York in '81 at age 44. (10th in Masters) Perfect weather conditions but I was running much less than earlier years. No month over 200 miles and no long run over 12 miles for 8 months prior to New York.

My last marathon.

Ran until arthritis stopped me at age 58 in 1995. Still needed hip replacements in 2005 and 2014. Too many miles on pavement for too many years.

As for your question about healing after my 2:31: I did 168 miles in the next ten days. High mileage seemed to work after that Melbourne Marathon failure so... why not. Achey feet and ankles - and a bad cold - plus teaching and coaching Track slowed me that Spring. But high miles again in summer - in Seattle and Bay Area, CA, not brutal Miami heat.

Tried to keep 40 years of running brief.

What a fantastic little time capsule of a runner whose career spanned a period from before the running boom until today. Thanks for that.

It is also amazing how small the running world is really. If my recollection is correct, Barry Brown was from the Capital District near where you went to college. I know this because he was instrumental in getting one of my college teammates to attend UF after a standout high school career in the Capital District in the late 80s . It didn't work out for the kid and he ended up back in Albany, but Barry's name stuck in my head because he passed around the time that I was in college and teammates with the kid Barry helped recruit to UF.

Gainesville/Miamiguy wrote:

Real catalyst for serious training was running with Jack Bacheler, Barry Brown and other Florida Track Club guys while visiting Gainesville in the Fall of '71 ... 2:32:30 at New York in '81 at age 44. (10th in Masters).

Thanks for sharing! Was Frank Shorter also active in Florida Track Club at that time? I started running in the summer of '72 ... inspired by his Olympic marathon to "train" for 8th grade gym class 12-minute run. Your age 44 marathon is impressive (your LAST marathon, and same year as my FIRST) ... Cool that you're still following the sport.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack!

Smoove wrote:

What a fantastic little time capsule of a runner whose career spanned a period from before the running boom until today. Thanks for that.

It is also amazing how small the running world is really. If my recollection is correct, Barry Brown was from the Capital District near where you went to college. I know this because he was instrumental in getting one of my college teammates to attend UF after a standout high school career in the Capital District in the late 80s . It didn't work out for the kid and he ended up back in Albany, but Barry's name stuck in my head because he passed around the time that I was in college and teammates with the kid Barry helped recruit to UF.

Yes, Barry was from that area - and had a second home up there when living in Gainesville. After Bacheler finished his Ph.D. and Shorter his law degree, they left Gainesville. Marty Liquori came down and remains here, but Barry really was the catalyst for a bunch of others to come here. For years, when I came to town - visiting family or whatever - I knew I just had to call Barry and find out where and when the guys were running. I was a pretty good runner but nowhere near his level, but he never made me feel that way. A complicated (aren't we all) troubled guy - thus his suicide - but an excellent runner and supporter of other runners.

Allen1959 wrote:

Gainesville/Miamiguy wrote:

Real catalyst for serious training was running with Jack Bacheler, Barry Brown and other Florida Track Club guys while visiting Gainesville in the Fall of '71 ... 2:32:30 at New York in '81 at age 44. (10th in Masters).

Thanks for sharing! Was Frank Shorter also active in Florida Track Club at that time? I started running in the summer of '72 ... inspired by his Olympic marathon to "train" for 8th grade gym class 12-minute run. Your age 44 marathon is impressive (your LAST marathon, and same year as my FIRST) ... Cool that you're still following the sport.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack!

Yes, Shorter was here until the Spring of '72 but Bacheler's morning runs (he was the Pied Piper for the Florida Track Club guys) began at 6:30 and Frank liked to sleep in and do his morning run later. And the two afternoons that week-end he and Bacheler did their own thing. I still recall seeing them running what looked like roughly 200 meter repeats, back and forth on a grass field, with brief jog outs as recovery. Definitely not timed and my guess is they didn't start with a specific number. They just did lots! In case you or others don't recall, Bacheler was a two time Olympian. Made the 5,000 final in Mexico City but unable to run the final due to Montezuma's Revenge (dysentery). Then finished 9th in the marathon in Munich in 1972. Shorter's great success overshadowed Jack, but he was the undisputed godfather of the Florida Track Club in the years when it was the best in the country.

Gainesville/Miamiguy wrote:

Marty Liquori came down and remains here..

Your mention of Marty Liquori brought back a long-forgotten memory. In the mid-70s, a small group of us were on hand to watch Liquori and Dick Buerkle "team up" to attempt the first (incredibly!!!) sub-4 outdoor mile in New York State. Buerkle had recently set the WR for the indoor mile. With Liquori leading, there was a gust of wind coming off off the last turn, and he missed 4:00 by a couple tenths of second. Ahhh... memories ...

*Buerkle's WR was AFTER the aforementioned event (WR in 1978).

43, just ran 2:37, back running 5:50 pace per mile yesterday for 8 miles, push until it hurts hen back off. Have a shiner bock.

Why rush? Just take a month and chill. FFS, this doesn't need to be complicated.

Great story. Thanks.

Three days off. One week build up to normal mileage. Fully recovered in two weeks every time.

At 46, it took me 2 weeks to recover from hard 1/2s and 10 milers. Never made it to the starting line of a marathon at that age but i'm going to suspect that it would be a month before i could run anything that could be called quality.