Recovery from a marathon is familiar territory. Even though each time is a little bit different, after running 13 of them, I know what to expect. Nearly doubling that distance for the Indiana Trail 50 Mile was a whole new ball game. I planned on some of my tried and true marathon recovery tricks, and most of them translated pretty well. There were some major differences though: 1) I ate a lot more, and 2) My heart rate was higher and I was fatigued more easily for a solid period post-ultra. Here’s what recovery looked like for me:
To kickstart the process, I drank Tailwind Recovery in the vanilla flavor immediately after finishing the race. This had been part of my nutrition strategy throughout my test runs. Every time I finished a big weekend with back-to-back long runs, I was surprised how quickly I was rebounding. I’m sure my overall fitness played a role, but I think this drink had something to do with it. I used to always say that running is the fountain of youth, but now I like to joke that it is actually running plus Tailwind Recovery. I can’t recommend this enough. Seriously. (And no, I am not an ambassador or anything like that).
Eating in general was a big part of recovery. In the hours following the race, I had a calorie deficit to eat through. My usual post-race pizza celebration kept me full for about only 30 minutes, then I was hungry again. That constant hunger kept up for the next two weeks, even though my activity level was way lower than normal. This was the one part of recovery I had anticipated, and I went with it, adding extra snacks. During this time period, I ate about 500 more calories per day than I typically would.
In the immediate hour after the race my feet and knees were super sore, but after kicking my legs up for a bit, then switching to Birks I was already feeling better. One night’s sleep was enough to cure most of those aches and pains. It was down to my quads. And, wow, those hurt a lot for the next couple of days. They felt post-marathon sore for about three days.
Walking has been a huge part of marathon recovery for me, so that was the plan for the ultra too. The following Sunday morning, I walked 2.5 miles with my husband and dogs. Later that evening, we walked another mile. Both were at brutally slow paces and I won’t lie: it hurt a lot. Even stepping off a curb was jarring and difficult. But the more I moved, the better I felt.
On Monday, I walked another mile with my dogs in the morning and a half mile that night. The quad pain was lessening but present, and I was still getting fatigued pretty easily. The next day, I walked with a good friend visiting from Virginia for another 2 miles. By this point I was able to keep a normal-ish pace with no wincing. Maybe it was the good company or the beautiful weather, but I felt surprisingly good.
One big question in my mind: when will I feel ready to get out for a run again? By that Wednesday, I was taking stairs with no pain, I was feeling restless, and there was perfect running weather. It was the earliest possible date I thought I might be ready and I decided to go for a 3-miler. My stride was jerky and pace was slow, but I was glad to work out some of the kinks.
For the rest of the week, I kept up with extra walking, took the bike out for a short spin, and ran two more short runs. In my final 3-miler of the week, I hit my “easy” pace from when I was at marathon PR level fitness. While I was feeling pretty good, my heart rate was higher than normal and Garmin kept telling me my training was either unproductive or detraining. This was tough for me, since I normally rebound from a marathon in a day or two. I needed a lot more patience with myself.
With that in mind, I decided to take the next week pretty easy. For me, that meant about 30 miles over the week at pretty slow paces. Two weeks out, I went out for a 10-miler and I felt pretty back to my normal self, heart rate, and perceived exertion. Earlier this week, I tackled my first hard running workout. It was a bit all over the place, and I decided to just let each repeat be what it needed to be. I’ll get back to consistency later.
Reflecting on this process of training for and finishing my first ultra, I’m realizing it has given me a few gifts. My perception has stretched yet again and the marathon seems suddenly shorter. In referring to a 20-mile run I did that thing runners do: I said “just” 20 miles.
And best of all, I found the joy in trail running. Before this training cycle, I could count on two hands (maybe even one?!) the number of times I’d gone for trail runs. The variation of the terrain and slower paces end up keeping things balanced for me. Pounding the pavement for road mile after road mile has landed me with small, but chronic foot pains. These have largely dissipated. As I’ve returned to the roads, any time I feel it creeping back in, I head for the trails. It’s almost like they massage the pain away and I’m right as rain again.
So, what’s next? To continue this year of trying new things (this year marked my first relay, first track meet, first ultra), I signed up for my first ever 10K road race, the Jingle Bell Run in Indianapolis on December 7th (it is a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation and you can support with a donation here if you like. I’ve never run a race shorter than a half before.
I have heard that it takes your body up to four weeks to heal from an ultra race. While I feel great, some of the process is probably still taking place. For now, it’s good to get back to speed and I’m excited to try shorter distances on for size.