Recovery after PR?

[Guest]

How much time would you take off (if any) after setting a pr in a competition? I've heard it is a good idea to lay low for a couple of days to allow your body to recover from the micro-tears resulting from taking your body where it hasn't been before.

What do you do on those "off-days"?

[tafnut]

Re: Recovery after PR?

Good question! Obviously the answer depends on several factors. After Montgomery ran 9.78, he said his legs were trashed for a week. I imagine (and I can only imagine) that a 2:05 marathon would be very traumatic. I'm a big believer that doing nothing is not good, so this would be a great time for some cross training like pool/weight room/cycling, etc. I'm interested to see what other responses you get.

[edit - how do I fix this, BH?]

[5k Guy]

Re: Recovery after PR?

Depends on many factors such as the event you PR'ed in, how big an effort it was, what your normal training is like, etc.

As a good rule of thumb, if the effort was a little more severe than a normal competition you will need a longer recovery, maybe up to 2 or 3 times as long. For a miler this may be a week or so but for a marathoner this may take 2 months.

I think logic and common sense should reign on this. If it usually takes you 2 days to recover and it was a bigger effort than usual it may take you 3 or 4 days or even a week to recover.

[oatkins]

Re: Recovery after PR?

I have tried everything after a marathon. Igloi had me run 50 minutes easy twice a day for couple of days even after an evening marathon and late night traveling. Then by mid week the workouts were fairly hard agin. He would say "I feel nothing".
I found that nothing was easy so eventually opted for a short walk for two or three days then I began light training. It was what felt the best and gave the body a chance to recuperate without getting ill or injured. Now I would say that most runners should take at least a week or ten days very very easy. You've earned it.

[Jon]

Re: Recovery after PR?

Say if someone set a PB in the semi-finals of a championships and had the final the next day...??

Could this by why, in many major champs in the past, the times ran in the semi finals have sometimes been faster than the times in the finals..??

[tafnut]

Re: Recovery after PR?

Obviously we're only talking about extremes of the spectrum, i.e. 10K/Mar, 100/200. Back in the day when I had to run middle distance (hated it!), even the hardest effort was 'easily' recovered from. And only the hardest tracks are problems for sprinters. I would (naively?) think that only the 10K and above and the Decathlon (which took me over a week to get back to running again) generate sufficient stress to warrant a significant recuperation interval.

[EPelle]

Re: Recovery after PR?

Michael Granville set the HSR in the CA State Meet heats. Kipketer set his indoor WR in the semis. Both came back the next day and won their respective races.

As Jon stated, what if you have a championship race weekend with semis and finals back-to-back? I prd in the (1,600m) in high school in the semis and had to come back and run even faster in the finals just to stay with the pack.

I believe recovery and recuperation are relative to a few key factors, including: the distance in which you are competing; the peak schedule and cycle to which the athlete is adhering; and the strength and conditioning in reserve from practice sessions and earlier seasons.

[no one]

Re: Recovery after PR?

oatkins - what yrs you train with igloi - and where you race - 60s?

[oatkins]

Re: Recovery after PR?

>oatkins - what yrs you train with igloi - and where you race - 60s?

Murray McNie U of Western Ontario 1956-59
Fred Foot East York Track Club 1960-64
Mihaly Igloi 1965-66
John Bork 1967
Joe Douglas 1975

Orville