Beat the Post-Marathon Blues

You did it. After 4 months of training, getting up early for weekend long runs, and logging miles and miles, you finished your marathon. Whether it went poorly or great, it’s done and you achieved your goal of 26.2. So now what?

After runners spend weeks and months training for one specific event, completing that event can feel like a great success. Afterwards, however, without the push of that goal in site and with your body in great need of recovery, many runners can feel lost, sad, or down following the finish of a big event. There is a sense of loss after completing something you’ve worked for months for and after such rigorous training, recovery can seem long and boring.

Your body needs the recovery after a race, but it can be hard to beat the blues. Here are some ways in which you can work towards both a mentally and physically healthy recovery post-marathon.

Set Recovery Goals in Your Training Plan

Most of us just follow a training program that leads us up to our race, with no set schedule after. This is a critical period of rest and recovery, and setting up a specific schedule for recovery time will help ward of injuries and make sure you’re able to fully rest and recover after a rigorous race.

Setting a recovery schedule will help you move towards the next short-term goal, which is rest and recovery, and will give you a schedule, warding off blues that set in from not having a predetermined goal in mind.

Focus on Nutrition

While many runners have healthy nutrition habits during training, we often use marathoning as an excuse to eat whatever we want. When that habit continues after the marathon and when we reduce our exercise, we can feel sluggish, bloated and tired solely from the food we eat.

It is very important to eat nutritiously following a marathon, because your body is rebuilding after a tremendous stress. Muscles are repairing, joints and ligaments are resting and in general your body is healing itself. Don’t deny yourself food just because you aren’t working out as much-your body needs nutrients to heal properly. However, you may not be able to eat 3500 calories a day and not gain weight. Fueling your body with a healthy combination fruits and vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates will help with your rest and recovery.

Pick a Non-Running Hobby

Find something that piques your interest that is not related to running. Maybe you gave up reading while you were marathon training, or didn’t have time to take pictures or cook like you had before training. This is a great time to delve into something that does not have to do with running.

If you don’t have a hobby, try something new that you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe yoga has been in the back of your mind, or you’ve wanted to learn how to knit. A new activity will help remind you that running isn’t the last thing on earth that makes you happy, and will rejuvenate you when you’re recovered and ready to train again.

Connect with Others

One of the greatest ways to forget your troubles is to spend time with other people. Whether they’re your running buddies or friends you neglected during training, finding time to connect with others can help you take your thoughts off of yourself. Connecting with friends and family is also a great way to find support if you are feeling down, and having someone to talk to can help you express how you’re feeling.

Accept Your Feelings

You may try all of these tips and more, but still feel down after your race. This is very normal, and understanding your feelings can help you accept them and be prepared for this time. It’s okay to feel blue after you’ve accomplished a huge goal, so go ahead and get bummed. Wallow a little bit. Then, set your sites on the next goal, and move forward.

Giving Back

This weekend was a whirlwind of events. On Saturday, PR Fitness celebrated its grand opening by holding an event in honor of Livestrong Day. On Sunday, we then volunteered as course marshals for the Big House Big Heart race in Ann Arbor.

Saturday's opening was a big success. PR Fitness held classes all day for free, had a great nutrition seminar by Lisa Nocera and a yoga class by Dharma Akman. Friends, family, and people in the community all came to support us and to support Livestrong. We ended up raising over one hundred dollars for the Livestrong Foundation, met many new people, and had a great time coming together for a wonderful cause.

We got up early again Sunday to course marshal for BHBH. A big thanks to our friends and fellow runners who volunteered to course marshal! You guys are awesome! After winning the race last year, it was a different experience watching all of the runners and walkers in the 10K and 5K. Every single person participating in this race was not only doing something positive for their own health but also supporting various causes. I felt honored to be able to cheer everyone on and be a part of this race.

Giving back to the community is something that feels good but that also helps you connect with others and create a positive impact on your environment and those that surround you. It reminds you that what's important is being positive, helping others, and creating an environment of support and encouragement which brings out the best in people and in the community.

Coaching, the Internet, and "Prospective Clients"

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a person interested in coaching. Trying to sustain my excitement, I replied back and spent my time planning a training program for my new runner. Since Marie and I haven't been marketing our business, I was surprised and delighted that someone found my name on the RRCA coaching site and contacted me.

Through the next week, I emailed back and forth with my client's father. She would start at the end of August and I would train her for two months. I was a little wary that I never received the client's name and her father gave me very little personal information about her, however, so far we had just been emailing so I figured I would wait and see what happened.

The next week, I received an email through the RRCA website, titled "COACHING SCAM". The email stated that an email scam was circulating and RRCA coaches were being contacted by a man wanting coaching for "his daughter". An alarm went off. Could it be that I was being scammed? These things only happened to other people, right? Wrong.

Through a few more emails, I found out that the person I had been emailing was a scammer. Enraged and more than a little pissed off, I tried to handle the situation by contacting the authorities. They'd be able to do something. So I called the Ann Arbor police department. The first woman I talked to was very pleasant and just transferred me to another, very unfriendly person who in a few words said she was unable to help. Unbelievable.

As someone who is planning on offering online coaching to clients, internet scamming is something that we will probably come into contact with more than once. However, there are some precautions we can take to prevent it from going too far: Contacting clients in person or by phone, getting as much information as possible about clients, and being more aware that scams are possible.

Someone who wants coaching has to be aware and do their research as well. Finding a certified coach through a website like RRCA is one way, and finding out as much information as possible about your coach will help you find the best coaching services you can get.

Scams happen all the time, and it doesn't seem like someone would get far by contacting coaches, but it does happen. This is a good lesson both for coaches and coachees: make sure you've done your research, and if possible, meet with the person you are planning on taking on before anything else.

Running, Beginnings and Endings

Everything has a beginning and an ending. As I sit here right now, I am ending a time of injury and beginning a time of recovery, renewal, and working myself into running again. While I’m excited about the prospect of once again enjoying an activity I once felt I couldn’t live without, I am also grieving the ending of a time of exploration, when I had time to delve into activities that my busy running schedule didn’t previously allow.

Everyone should start something new once and awhile. We get so used to being “good” at something, whether it’s running, work, family, or the easy patterns of the week, we can quickly forget what it’s like to be “new” at something. To begin comes with its own anxiety, fear, and unknown, but along with those feelings come excitement, anticipation and exhilaration of this unknown.

These beginnings are like a drug to me. I thrill for this change, the anticipation of something I’ve never done before, of something I know nothing about, but will come to understand over time. When I started running, each new distance was rife with experiences, each race provided a new challenge, and over time, what once was filled with uncertainty became normal, expected, and as much as anything can be, certain. I knew running.

Now, starting again, these feelings of newness are back. I can no longer just “go out for a run” of indeterminate distance, feeling the ease of each step at my usual pace. Each step now is it’s own struggle as I build endurance. I must plan my runs, being careful not to overdo it, feeling my legs aching in surprise at what once felt easy as my lungs ache and struggle for every breath. I begin again, slowly, uncertain, and anxious about how this new but old venture will turn out.

I try to remind myself to be patient. I want to be good right now, again, just like I was before my injury. New beginnings take time, patience, and consistency, I remind myself. It is okay to not be the best, when you’re beginning, I say.

At some point, this beginning will come to an end, and I will be back to my usual running self. But the experience of the new is something I will come back to, over and over, remembering that everything has a beginning and ending, filled with excitement, anxiety, fear, loss, grief, and closure. Sometimes all at the same time.

Runners or Muscle-Women?

The other day I saw a few teenagers taking pictures in Gallup Park. I thought, "how cute, they're taking photos for their little band." Oh, how the tables turn. This evening in Allmendinger Park, Marie and I dabbled in amateur photography, taking photos of ourselves in various running and athletic poses.

Feeling a little silly and a lot self-conscious, we ventured out into the park amidst a large group of picnic-goers and a few others enjoying the sunny evening. Luckily the park is large enough that we didn't have to submit ourselves to the stares coming from our dining friends.

We began by attempting to take some action shots, photographing each other while running. The pictures were pretty clear, and clearly illustrated that modeling was not in either of our futures. By the way, no one looks good while running. Those photos on Runners' World are total fakes, because when I run, apparently my eyes are half closed and I've somehow lost my entire chin. Go figure.

After our enlightening experience with the action shots, we moved to some strength poses. These tended to come out better, when we didn't look too serious.

All in all, our first photo shoot went decently. I'm pretty sure we'll have to do a few more before we get any calls from Muscle & Fitness asking for us to be on their cover.

A Run Through Art Fair

The third week of July every year, thousands of people gather in the streets of downtown Ann Arbor to look at what others have spent many months creating. During this time, the streets of downtown Ann Arbor are closed down to all traffic, and masses crawl through the streets. But before 7 AM, these streets are empty of both cars and shoppers, making it a great time to run!

Every year in the third week of July, I get to wake up early to do something I don’t get to do the other 51 weeks of the year. I get to run straight down the streets of downtown Ann Arbor. I don’t have to move to the sidewalks, dodging walkers, dogs, or the occasional biker. I get to run straight down the yellow lines, feeling the freedom of being the only vehicle on the road.

Running downtown, there is a sense of quiet before Art Fair begins again. The tents lining the streets, filled with artists’ hard work, inspire me to bring art into other areas of my life. Running through the streets, I feel as if I’m paving my own path while honing my craft, bringing in a little joy and creativity to something that I do every day.

Next week, when I’m relegated to the sidewalk again, I’ll gladly wait another 360 days until the next time I can run through the streets surrounded by art in the quiet of a summer morning.

The Starting Line

I've PR-ed plenty of times. Run enough races, and one is going to be the fastest one. But I never though the letters 'P' and 'R' would mean much more to me. I never though starting a business would be something I would do either. But the two, together? Now that's something!

A few months ago, my friend Marie and I were joking about starting our own personal training business. This was not a new conversation, ever since we both have been personal trainers we've wished we could start our own gym, building a studio that reflected our own personal values in running, balanced fitness, and healthy living.

Well, what started out as a joke began to form as an idea in my head. Could we really do this? What would it be like? How would this work? This idea began to take shape, and is currently taking shape, as PR Fitness, a personal training and fitness studio for endurance athletes.

As we build this business, we want to share our journey with you. As we have learned, turning your passion into a reality is much harder work that we first thought. However, there's no greater sense of accomplishment than seeing something that you created from the ground up (although running a PR is pretty close).