– Virgin London Marathon 2018 – The Recovery –
On April 22nd 2018, over 50,000 participants are running the London Marathon. We thought those of you running would like some useful tips and tricks to fully recover after running the 26.2-mile course. It is important to think about how you’re going to recover after the event. We have gathered together information from nurses over the country to give advice to help you get on the road to recovery.
The recovery after a marathon isn’t a quick process, it can take up to 26 days for an individual to fully recover. Muscle soreness and fatigue are the most obvious case of damage to be caused by running a marathon. With the helpful advice of nurses and our very own staff, TFS Healthcare have come up with 6 Golden Rules to follow to ensure you seek the best recovery. As said previously, recovery is a three-week process that should be broken down to get the best results.
The first step of recovery is as soon as you cross the finish line, make sure you accept the foil thermal blanket that is handed to you, it is important to keep warm as you can get cold very quickly as your body is in a state of shock. After finishing the race, also ensure that you receive the goody bag at the end of the race and eat something as soon as possible. The most popular piece of advice post run is to not stop moving, as ironic as it sounds considering you have just ran 26.2 miles, it is important to keep your legs stretched and moving to ensure they don’t stiffen up. After doing all of this, go home and get a well-deserved rest.
You will need to continue your recovery the week following the marathon, make sure you are always rewarding yourself for what you have done – it is a great achievement! Whether that is bragging about it or wearing your medal everywhere you go, make sure that you feel good about yourself. As one of our golden rules states, be prepared for absolutely everything to ache. Just continue to stretch and make sure that you are giving yourself the recovery food and nutrition you need.
A few weeks after the marathon you should have started to gently get back into your exercise routines, a top tip from trainers is to always cross train before you resume running. Participants should ease back into their routine, gradually adding more time and distance.
TFS Healthcare would like to wish all of those taking part the best of luck. We would especially like to recognise any nurses whom we work with who are running the race and to wish them all the best. Luke Withers, a member of staff at TFS Healthcare is taking part in the 2018 London Marathon, raising money for ……. Best of luck to everyone taking part and we hope our advice gives you a speedy yet efficient recovery.
Our Six Golden Rules are listed below:
- Eat protein, sleep and then get moving.
- Be prepared for every part of you to ache.
- Invest in your recovery.
- Ease back into your exercise.
- Always remember to stretch.
- Over the next few weeks refill your body with the correct calories.