Marathon Recovery Guide: What to Do About Sore Quads, Calves, and Hamstrings within Your First 48 Hours.
I may not be able to save you from the backwards stair descent.
Or even better:
The down-the-stairs butt scoot of shame.
But I can help your poor quads, calves and hamstring feel less sore and more alive during the first 48 hours after crossing your hard earned finish line.
Hi! If you're new here, I'm Marie and I'm a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a runner of 15+ years.
And I know a lot of runners wonder how sore is too sore after a running a marathon?
And to be honest, it's different for every runner.
Some runners can't go down stairs for 4 days.
Other runners need to brace themselves on the edge of sink to get up off the toilet the next day.
Some runners wear special recovery compression tights to restore blood flow, increase recovery, ....and to help them not fall down.
Other runners have minimal soreness.
Potentially due to a mix of genetics, history of strength training, overall training volume, and fueling strategy.
But for those of us eaten by the DOMs monster, there's no shame in needing a little extra help "hi-jacking" our neuromuscular system to help reduce that soreness.
And restore our toilet independence.
So let me show you my personal 0-48 Hours Post-Marathon Recovery Survival Guide, specifically designed for trashed quads, aching knees, tight hamstrings, and cramping unstretchable calves and achilles.
The Goal:
flush out metabolic waste products, speak the "language of movement" to both your nervous and muscular system to convince tight muscle fibers to lengthen and relax, and speed up your overall recovery.
Let's hop in.
Why Are My Legs So Sore After a Marathon? A Physical Therapist Explains
Let's take a 30,000 foot view of what *actually* happens to your body after you run a marathon. (please realize, there is SO much that happens on a cellular level. I'll link the pudmed article below in case you want the nitty gritty details).
Recovery starts as soon as you cross the finish line and receive your medal.
Because at this point, your body has expended MASSIVE amounts of it's energy currency, ATP.
On the flip side of that coin, there is also massive amounts of metabolic waste products, mainly from cellular damage that's a natural byproduct of endurance events.
Not to mention, you're riding your adrenaline wave and still wearing rose colored glasses.
However around the 6 hour post race mark, your body is in FULL recovery mode, actively restocking the glycogen shelves in your body, using fats (lipid catabolism) to rebuild damage that's occurred in cellular walls, and working on rehydration in order to maintain or replenish blood volume.
Which is when you find yourself fully in the Inflammation phase, which can last up to 9 days.
Fun fact: your body needs inflammation in order to heal. However, there is too much of a good thing.
We can't heal without inflammation, but with too much inflammation, we have a hard time moving (stiff joints, shortened muscles, all contributing to pain, decreased range of motion etc).
So our goal during the first 48 hours is to keep you moving, assist the recovery process as fast as possible, moving through the inflammation and getting you on the other side.
Because what's happening is white blood cells are being sent to damaged muscle tissue to assist with repair, following by breaking down and clearing out damaged cellular debris.
Followed by your cells actively up-taking more protein, your "muscle repair building blocks".
In addition to your body managing overall oxidative stress (lots of free radicals [think "stress magnets"] that again, naturally occur with long distance events).
The 30,000 foot point: You got a lot going on. And your body has a lot to heal.
So let's make this as easy as possible for you to get out for your recovery walks.
How to Recover From Sore Quads and Tight Calves After a Marathon
Circuits
2-3 sets //body weight
*You will need a muscle flossing band for these exercises to be they're MOST effective. You can quickly find $14 ones on amazon.
QUADS FOCUS:
Air Squat with Muscle Flossing Band
2x10
Alternative: Supported Split Stance
2x10 ea working leg
Alternative: Down Dog Knee Ups
2x10
CALF FOCUS:
note different placement for Achilles vs Calf tigthness/cramping
Down Dog Contract Relax (both legs) with Muscle Flossing Band
2 rounds of 5 reps ea (3 secs up / 3 secs down)
Body Weight Calf Raises with Muscle Flossing Band
2x10
HAMSTRING FOCUS:
Dynamic Hamstring Stretch Series (no flossing band required)
x10 reps in ea of the 3 different positions (1 round total)
Band instructions:
also start furthest and wrap towards your heart.
maintain 50% stretch on the band, no greater. You're overlapping each previous segement by 50%
Tuck in the tail at the end. Perform your exercises, removing the band as needed incase it get's uncomfortable. Re-apply and perform remaining reps.
*notes on muscle flossing: if you experience any numbness, tingling or dramatic skin discoloration, remove the band immediatly. Wait 5 mins. Once normal, you can resume again, but decrease the tension you're using.
Muscle Flossing for Runners: A Post-Marathon Recovery Guide
QUAD FOCUSED Exercises
I gave you options. Let's talk about them.
KEY POINT: You're ALWAYS going to want to wrap the band traveling towards your heart! (think: bring the "bad blood" closer to heart to get flushed out). And with all of these 3 quad focused variations, we're looking for knee extension, the motion that asks your quad to contract. I personally like to cover the joint area, incase your knee has also swelled up. Might as well target the synovial joint fluid, too.
The air squat will technically be the hardest, so don't feel you need to go to full depth. I personally like the supported split stance position the most as I can focus the contraction easier on one knee at a time. And the Bear crawl knee ups are for the runner who struggles with both of the previous versions.
If you want to do all 3, you can, but it's not required. So feel free to pick your favorite and perform 2x10 2-3x throughout the day.
CALF FOCUSED Exercises
Don't forget: you have 2 different places to put the band.
TOP TIP: if your achilles is feeling sore, tight, tender, or sharp, feel free to wrap from your mid foot up to the top of your ankle. If you're struggling more with deep aching calf muscles, wrap the entire calf, starting at the top of your ankle, and working upward.
The point of both these exercises is NOT strength, but movement. With all of these exercises in this marathon recovery guide, we're looking to have a conversation with your nervous and muscular system, to "turn down the volume" on the protective state your muscles and body are in. Everything feels tight and aching most likely due to the amount of stress it's just gone through the cellular repair that has to be done. The by-product of muscle tension and soreness is your body's way of saying "hold up now".
However, that protective muscle guarding state isn't helpful when it's painful. With the down dog contract relax, I want you to focus on 3 secs up into the modified calf raise, and 3 secs coming down. This helps to hit the natural "muscle release button", reducing post race soreness without turning you black and blue from a foam roller.
HAMSTRING FOCUS
an oldie but a goodie, and I'm not even sorry.
THE KEY: you really do need to keep squeezing the rolled up towel or yoga block between your legs the entire time. This helps recruit your adductors, which invite your deep core to the conversation, increasing overall stability and full body coordination, which give your over-protective hammies a chance to take a deep breath and relax.
The 3 different positions (toes up, heels up, then feet flat) are VERY important. We're placing your hamstrings in a slightly elongated, then shortened, the "normal" position while asking them to stabilize against perturbations (you touching your toes). Your hamstrings are actively relearning it's "safe" to lengthen and move, reducing overall tension and tightness.
WRAPPING UP
WHY muscle flossing?
Mostly because I'm tired of foam rolling and massage gunning with very lack luster results. And personally, these never "work" well for me.
So I was becoming incredibly cynical that all recovery tools were a bunch of woo.
But, I will always give something a fair test.
And repeatedly, this one tool kept delivering. Not just for me, but also patients.
Not to mention, it's VERY cost effective, rolls up to about the size of a fist, and easily fits into any carry on, making this an extremely effective and easy tool to travel with for long distance races.
Plus, I doubt TSA will confiscate a long latex band.
It's not a new tool, and I know it's not trendy. But I'd rather suggest a recovery tool that I KNOW works rather than telling you all to go get XYZ supplement stack.
So until next time, running fit fam.
Dare to Train Differently,
Marie Whitt, PT, DPT // @dr.whitt.fit
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