Marathon Recovery

It doesn't sound like recovery if they started to bother you during the
marathon. Usually recovery issues don't show up until after the race.
Knee issues are often symptoms of muscle weakness/imbalance that causes
the knee to not track properly. Given that CIM has a lot of downhill, it
is easy to blow out the quads/knees there without realizing it if you
haven't trained for running downhill. My guess is you pushed too
hard/long for the BQ given your base mileage. I would work on
strengthening the quads and take some time off from running until the
pain eases. You can still maintain fitness by biking (also good for the
quads). As you probably know, recovery is greatly affected by age, and
the one thing you don't want to fool around with is the knees.

Quoted message said:

Two and half weeks ago I ran California International Marathon.
It was the first time that I trained specifically for a marathon
and had a successful race. I've done 1 other marathon, 4 Ironmans and
6 1/2IM races in the last 4 years. This time I ran pretty
close to potential and qualified for Boston by 6 1/2 minutes.

My problem is that my knees are really beat up. They started
to get quite sore around 18 miles and had to nurse them and the
rest of my body home from there.

My question is when to start running again? I took one week
completely off and started back running ~4 miles real easy every
other day. Two weeks after the race I tried a 7 miler, still
real easy (2:30/mile over 10K pace) and it was too much. My
knees stiffened and got sore after about 4 miles and got to the
point where I considered walking back but didn't because I was
with a group. I haven't run this week and was thinking about
a test run at 3 weeks and decide how to proceed from there. Is
this too soon after having knee soreness a week ago? How far
should I go to test them? What are some of the longer recovery
times folks have had? Is this race recovery or injury?

While I have no time goals for Boston it is really depressing
to contemplate taking time off. Possibly of relevance I am 47
and on the low end of the mileage scale for marathoners, 30-35
miles per week with a peak of 45.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Steve W.

--
- The Trailrunner

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Trails of the Diablo Valley
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Quoted message said:

Two and half weeks ago I ran California International Marathon.
It was the first time that I trained specifically for a marathon
and had a successful race. I've done 1 other marathon, 4 Ironmans and
6 1/2IM races in the last 4 years. This time I ran pretty
close to potential and qualified for Boston by 6 1/2 minutes.

My problem is that my knees are really beat up. They started
to get quite sore around 18 miles and had to nurse them and the
rest of my body home from there.

My question is when to start running again? I took one week
completely off and started back running ~4 miles real easy every
other day. Two weeks after the race I tried a 7 miler, still
real easy (2:30/mile over 10K pace) and it was too much. My
knees stiffened and got sore after about 4 miles and got to the
point where I considered walking back but didn't because I was
with a group. I haven't run this week and was thinking about
a test run at 3 weeks and decide how to proceed from there. Is
this too soon after having knee soreness a week ago? How far
should I go to test them? What are some of the longer recovery
times folks have had? Is this race recovery or injury?

I agree with Trailrunner. DOMS, severe DOMS is perfectly normal. Then
some sluggishness following that is normal. But if you're bailing out
of runs because of joint pain two weeks after the race, you're carrying
some sort of injury. How long recovery takes and what you need to do to
recover -- complete rest isn't always the answer -- depend on the injury.

I suggest you try to pinpoint what the problem is. Again, I don't think
it's just "recovery".

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

The Trailrunner said:

quads). As you probably know, recovery is greatly affected by age,

and

Quoted message said:

the one thing you don't want to fool around with is the knees.

Unless you are Fabulust Runner, in which case you do much of your
fooling around /on/ your knees.

🙂

Quoted message said:

Unless you are Fabulust Runner, in which case you do much of your
fooling around /on/ your knees.

Very true! Any man knows that you have to munch some carpet to keep the ladys
happy. They don't call me "Snake tongue" for nothing...

The Trailrunner said:

It doesn't sound like recovery if they started to bother you during the
marathon. Usually recovery issues don't show up until after the race.
Knee issues are often symptoms of muscle weakness/imbalance that causes
the knee to not track properly. Given that CIM has a lot of downhill, it
is easy to blow out the quads/knees there without realizing it if you
haven't trained for running downhill. My guess is you pushed too
hard/long for the BQ given your base mileage. I would work on
strengthening the quads and take some time off from running until the
pain eases. You can still maintain fitness by biking (also good for the
quads). As you probably know, recovery is greatly affected by age, and
the one thing you don't want to fool around with is the knees.

Regarding downhill training and effects for future training, I've found
the following two articles (some overlap, but some differences) to be
helpful.
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0009.htm
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/quadriceps.html

One of the critical factors is that the training effect (muscles) from
downhill bouts may last up to 6 wks.

Yes, he definitely needs to recover first, but he should be able to tell
by feel whether he should be able to run 3-7 miles. For future training,
those links give an idea on mechanisms and some things that might help.

Dot

--
"Dream Big, and dare to fail." --- Norman Vaughn
who was with Byrd in Antarctica and whose 99th birthday was Dec 19

Quoted message said:

Two and half weeks ago I ran California International Marathon.
It was the first time that I trained specifically for a marathon
and had a successful race. I've done 1 other marathon, 4 Ironmans and
6 1/2IM races in the last 4 years. This time I ran pretty
close to potential and qualified for Boston by 6 1/2 minutes.

My problem is that my knees are really beat up. They started
to get quite sore around 18 miles and had to nurse them and the
rest of my body home from there.

My question is when to start running again?

When you feel like it. It sounds like you're just sore but what can I tell.
Sometimes it can take a while to recover from a marathon.

I took one week

Quoted message said:

completely off and started back running ~4 miles real easy every
other day. Two weeks after the race I tried a 7 miler, still
real easy (2:30/mile over 10K pace) and it was too much. My
knees stiffened and got sore after about 4 miles and got to the
point where I considered walking back but didn't because I was
with a group. I haven't run this week and was thinking about
a test run at 3 weeks and decide how to proceed from there. Is
this too soon after having knee soreness a week ago? How far
should I go to test them? What are some of the longer recovery
times folks have had? Is this race recovery or injury?

While I have no time goals for Boston it is really depressing
to contemplate taking time off. Possibly of relevance I am 47
and on the low end of the mileage scale for marathoners, 30-35
miles per week with a peak of 45.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Steve W.