2 Marathons within 7 days!
Question: I would like to try to run 2 marathons within a 7 day period. The first will be a goal race (trying for a PR--current PR is 3:47) and the second would be for fun and to help pace a group hoping for a 4:30 finish. I have run 7 marathons (all in the past 2 years), with 4 of them done within 8-11 weeks of each other. My questions are: is this a completely insane idea, and if I do decide to go forth with this personal challenge, what should I do in terms of recovery and preparation, in the week between the 2 marathons? I am 39 years old and am pretty fit (spent many years as a personal trainer/fitness instructor). Emily
Answer: The 2 marathons within 7 days sounds like a bit much, but there have certainly been similar challenges accomplished before! My advice is to "go for it" but use some caution. The PR marathon is your focus and you will be tired from the effort. I would probably not run too much, if at all, between the first & second marathon. Perhaps a 20 to 30 minute walk / jog would be a good workout, just to loosen up the legs. You should also try to get plenty of sleep that week and be sure to drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious meals. This will help your body be prepared for the challenge; it sounds like your mind is already getting prepared. Good luck!
Comments
To speed up your recovery, I'd recommend an ice bath as soon as possible after your race. Put ~40 lbs of ice in the tub, fill it with cold water and slid on in. There is an "Oh my God!" moment at first but that sort of goes away after about a minute. Stay in the tub 10-15 minutes then take a warm shower. I've done this after all of my marathons and have felt good enough to go for 10 mile runs the next day. There is a lot of info on ice bath recovery out on the web. Good luck!
Posted by: Tom Hanson | January 17, 2007 9:48 AM