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When it comes to running a marathon there are lots of tips and tricks for how you can help your body to recover over the weeks that follow. However, after running my first marathon a few years ago, I really didn’t know what I should do with my body in the 24 hours after. This left me wondering what are the best practices to follow?
The day after running a marathon should largely be spent resting. Resting involves taking time off from running, treating your muscles with several different therapies and replenishing your food stores with the right kinds of nutrients.
For an idea of how we can use the day after running a marathon to get the best possible recovery, we need to dive a little deeper into the points above…
Relax
If you’re someone who’s just been able to complete a full marathon then it might be fair to say that relaxing isn’t usually at the top of your to-do list. However, after running a marathon, chances are you’ve put your body through some significant damage. The Guardian even reported that following a marathon, it’s not uncommon for runners to be left with microscopic tears in their muscles which can lead to the body setting up an inflammatory response.
Some examples of things runners can do to relax the day after running a marathon include the following:
- Practice Deep Breathing – Meditation and deep breathing come with a huge list of benefits, most of which can’t be covered in a single article. Most importantly for runers looking into recovery, meditation can help relax the mind by taking focus away from jumbled-up thoughts and being there in the moment. Runners don’t need to spend hours trying to perfect meditation, spending as little as ten minutes in a quiet room is often enough.
- Listen To Some Music – I actually held a poll of what kind of things runners liked listening to during a run. You can find that here. Spoiler alert, music reigned supreme and it should do so when you’re focusing on recovery too. Amazingly, this study by Sports Psychology found that listening to relaxing music when recovering from aerobic exercise could lead to better rehabilitation of cardiovascular, central, musculoskeletal, and psychological fatigue. Explained simply, music can do wonders for your body as well as your mind when it comes to recovery.
- Read – If you’re someone who prefers to focus on things and keep your mind occupied, consider reading. If nothing else, reading is proven to reduce stress and improve relaxation, which is exactly what you need the day after putting your body through a task like a marathon. Hey, if you’re interested in reading about marathons, check out this book by Meb Kevlezighi, telling the story of his career as documented through marathons.
Avoid Exercise
After I ran a marathon the last thing I wanted to do was exercise. However, not everyone is the same. It’s worth noting that because lactic acid takes time to build up, runners may not feel the full strain they have done to their body until a few days after rather than 24 hours after running the marathon.
When trying to figure out when you can exercise again after running a marathon, it’s crucial that runners listen to their bodies. Whilst some experts reccomend taking one day of rest for every mile you have run, others reccomend taking a day off for every kilometer. With this in mind, a runner should consider taking off anywhere between 26 days to 42 days after running a marathon.
For the sake of this article, the main thing you need to remember is that exercising the day after running a marathon is a bad idea. However, runners could use this time to plan how they want to build up their exercise to a point where they could be training normally again.
In the time it takes to build up to normal training again, consider light work at a low intensity that doesn’t raise your heart rate by more than 65% of your max heart rate. Examples of light-intensity exercise include walking, riding a bike, and a light yoga session. Swimming can also be one of the best methods of recovery. Studies have shown that athletes who chose to swim can run significantly better than athletes who did not.
Whilst you should steer clear from running for a while after running a marathon, there is some benefit from undergoing some recovery runs too. Check out this video from the people at The Running Channel to find out more:
Eat Right
If you’ve been training hard for the marathon you’ve just run then it’s perfectly fine to reward yourself with some celebratory junk food. However, it’s worth making sure that your body has all the fuel it needs to recover properly. I’ve written an article on some of the best foods for runners, which you can find here.
After running a marathon your main focus should be on replenishing your glycogen stores. Glycogen is the main form of energy used when running and is available in a number of sugary foods as well as starchy carbohydrates.
Runners are also likely to lose a lot of sodium following a marathon. This is because we lose electrolytes (including salt) through sweat when we run. The day after a marathon, consider eating salty foods such as salted nuts and crackers. Chocolate milk can be amazing for recovery too. In fact, I found chocolate milk to be the best drink available to runners post-recovery. You can find my full experiment here.
Sports drinks such as these are also a great option for runners to drink the day after a marathon as they’ve been specifically designed to help aid recovery by replenishing protein, glycogen and electrolyte stores.
Hydrate
We’ve touched on how some drinks high in electrolytes can be good for runners in the points above. But runners must pay attention to the need to stay hydrated not only during a marathon but in the days that follow too.
Depending on who you ask, runners need around 5 to 12 ounces of fluid every 15-20 minutes during a marathon. After a run, runners need to aim for around 16 ounces of water to drink with some food. In the days that follow, it’s likely you will need a lot less than this. However, runners should still pay attention to how much liquid they are consuming and stay fully hydrated in the 24 hours that follow a marathon.
If the typical sports drinks and good old water aren’t doing the trick, then it might be worth looking into something like these hydration packets. Light and travel-friendly, these hydration packets can be taken anywhere with you and help increase the amount of electrolytes you’re consuming quickly, easily and safely.
Stretch
Stretching the day after running a marathon may help keep your muscles loose and relieve some of the pain you are likely to be experiencing. Lactic acid is a natural thing that occurs in the body after anaerobic exercise and it can leave the muscles feeling tight and painful. Fortunately, stretching is proven to help relieve the build-up of lactic acid in the muscles and leave runners feeling a lot better.
It’s a good idea for runners to stretch straight after the marathon. However, stretching the day after as well in the days that follow could certainly help aid your recovery process. Consider doing static stretches such as a butterfly stretch, quadriceps stretch and a calf stretch. If you’re new to these kinds of stretches, check out the videos below:
Butterfly Stretch
Quadriceps Stretch
Calf Stretch
If you’re looking for more information in how to stretch right after a marathon, you may find this video useful too.
Take a Bath
When it comes to taking a bath after a marathon, runners have a few different options available. Whilst many people prefer warm salt baths, others believe that ice baths are the best for recovery. At the same time, many runners may not believe that taking a bath for recovery is a good idea at all.
What Runners Think
To get an idea of what the majority of runners preferred to do, I held a poll with 170 runners to see what they preferred. The results are in.
| Preference | Votes (%) |
| Ice Bath | 43 (25.3%) |
| Warm Salt Bath | 89 (52.4%) |
| Neither | 38 (22.4%) |
I’ve got to say, it was surprising to see that almost a quarter of the runners I quizzed didn’t believe in an ice bath. I was less surprised that a salt bath is the main way that most runners like to go. Some of those who voted had this to say:
“An ice bath needs to happen within 90 minutes after the marathon to have any real benefit. The night after a marathon or the day after a marathon, you’re better off with a warm/hot bath. The only value of Epsom salts is that the scented ones smell nice. Otherwise, no medicinal benefit.”
bradymsu616
“Day after an ice bath can help, but you need to do it in intervals. The Cold will help flush the blood out of the legs, and with it will go the byproducts of muscle breakdown that happen, then as the legs warm up new clean blood floods the legs, do this cycling back and forth a few times and you will improve the recovery time.
I have a small poly stock tank that I can sit in and stretch out my legs, so about 4ft long. Ill get the hose running good and cold then fill the tank leaving the hose run and jump in. Ground water is 56F, which is cold enough to flush the legs. 10 min in that, then if it is sunny just get out and hang out in the sun, if it is not, jump in a tub in the house with warm water for 10 min. 4 cycles back and forth do wonders the day after a hard effort.”
ncleAugie
“My routine has always been :
The night before – ice cold bath and just sit in as long as I can
The morning of – hot as possible bath to thin the blood and warm up my muscles
The night of the marathon – Ice cold bath to help recovery
The morning after – hot as possible to thin the blood and warm up the muscles
Might not work for some but always races my best with this routine.”
adamgally
By the looks of things, there’s a lot of evidence as well as routines and beliefs amongst runners that support both warm salt baths as well as ice baths after running a marathon.
According to experts, a warm Epsom salt bath is great for recovery as it can offer pain relief, relieve muscle soreness and stress and prevent muscle inflammation. If you’re looking for some Epsom salts to add to your bath and aid your recovery the day after running a marathon, I’d highly reccomend getting some of these muscle recovery bath salts complete with magnesium, essential oils and dead sea bath salts.
According to Healthline, ice baths can also be great for recovering the day after running a marathon because they may help by easing sore and aching muscles, helping the central nervous system and limiting the body’s inflammatory response. However, it’s worth noting that some studies have discredited ice baths as having little to no benefit. What’s more, ice baths could also pose some risks to health, especially for this who suffer from diabetes.
Massage
Massage can be extremely beneficial the day after running a race. Most evidence points to the fact that massages can help reduce swelling caused by running a marathon. So it helps to schedule one as close to the time you finish the marathon as possible.
If you’re wondering what kind of massage you should get the day after running a marathon, I would reccomend a deep tissue massage, which focuses on breaking up scar tissue as well as knots in the muscles. Knots are painful parts of the muscles that build up over consistent damage through long periods. If you’ve just completed an entire marathon, there’s a good chance you’ll have a few.
Sleep
One of the biggest things you should pay attention to the day after running a marathon is how much sleep you’re getting. I usually feel quite energized just after completing a marathon, but this is usually followed by days of exhaustion.
Sleep isn’t only important for general relaxation and recovery. Evidence shows that during the deeper stages of sleep, your body increases blood flow to the muscles. This means that there is more oxygen and nutrients can be used to repair the beaten-down muscles.
Typically, people should aim to get around 8 hours of sleep. However, it appears that professional runners get a lot more. For example, Paula Radcliffe reportedly gets around 9-10 hours a night during training, as does Shalane Flanagan and Deena Kastor.
