10th Oct 2018

Not wasting too much time after the Berlin Marathon (16th Sept) I want to take advantage of the 'new' fitness earned and build from it quickly. It is important to have a recovery phase for post marathon but the million dollar question is how soon should one resume training. Resume too soon will risk injury and burnout while lull too long will result in de-training effect which I had made this mistakes since 2016 when I improved my marathon from 2hr57min to 2hr51min, I dragged way too long before resuming training for the subsequent FM and hence possibly a reason of performance plateau resulted in a series of 2hr52-54min finishing. Not repeating this error anymore I want to pick up another cycle as soon my body allows me to. Everyone needs to find the balance and it subject from person to person so there is no fix answer only for you to find out yourself. However the rule of thumb is "Respect the body" so that it will heal to become stronger and perform better in the next cycle. Visualize your body like a set of lego blocks, build on the foundation you lay from your previous marathon and top up the bricks in a new cycle so that the wall is bigger and stronger instead of demolishing it and rebuild all over again. The latter is a good example of the plateau effect because you just redo and not rebuild.

Respect the body during post marathon phase is very critical so that one can gradually increase the 3 training stresses (1) volume, (2) intensity and (3) frequency without any injury. Coming back "Too Fast Too Soon" is a recipe for disaster as I know some of my friends simply race again within 6 days after a hard marathon. The reluctance to respect your body is pushing the luck before you can rebuild a new foundation. Using simple layman's terms, the body has nine organ systems like the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system i.e. that functions together which I will not dive in too deep. What I'm driving at is that there are times where what your brain perceived and what actually happen in your working muscles and nerves may not be aligned hand-in-hand. Even you're feeling good (perception) but when put in specific tests the result maybe subpar. So some indicators that you're still suffering from post-marathon syndromes are:

1. higher resting HR than before

2. slower running pace on your usual route

3. breathless easier

4. strides feel 'dead' than responsive

Thus this is exactly the best time to retrain strength and running gait/form until those listed above return back to norm. Drills are the best lesson to refine muscle memory for a smoothen running posture and enhance your running economy in the later stage.

Tips for resuming training from a marathon:

1. start with 50% volume from your previous training cycle as a baseline. Undertrain than overtrain.

2. HR will be higher for your usual pace so don't be alarmed. This is due to the weeks and months of training from your last cycle plus the detrimental impact from your marathon. Our body is not a machine and it will fluctuate up and down. So learn to take a step back and learn to run slow. Many novice runners are too egoistic to run slower and hence knock down by injury when their bodies are not ready.

3. Eat food that has anti-inflammatory property, colourful fruits and plenty of healthy fat. Treat your body like a temple and it will recover faster.

4. Sleep more if possible. Our body releases growth hormones for repair only when we have enough deep sleep. The best part for this is it doesn't cost you any cent and you gain more from it.

5. Do a reflection on what can be done better to improve in this new cycle. Pen down your resolutions and works toward them.

All the best in your next quest to your events! Do share and 'like' if you find the contents useful.