Recovery from marathon - calorie needs?

glevinso

Just a thought I have been mulling since I have been sitting here on incredibly sore legs since Sunday's marathon.

How many calories extra per day does one need to rebuild/repair the body after something like a marathon? Is there any way to quantify it? I have been ravenous since the race, and have been eating whatever I have been craving. I was 3lbs heavier the day after the race, but I know that is all just water/swelling/etc. I am back down today to only 1lb over my "normal" weight and I expect by tomorrow I will be back to, or close enough to, what I call normal. Yet I have been a total pig since then.

Anyway - clearly the body is going to need more calories to recover from such an event, but I am just curious if anyone has a clue what that level actually might be? I am not worried about it or stressed about gaining weight. Just curious.

hermann341

I for one do not worry about it too much. I pretty much eat whatever I want after full marathon, and start tracking my food and exercise when I start training again. My favorite after event meal was at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, MI, in May of this year. It was 11 courses of delicious food, chased with some superb German beer. My weight was back to pre-race level after about a week.

glevinso

Oh believe me I am not "worrying" about it either. I am being fairly gluttonous. I was more curious if anyone knew how to quantify it

glevinso

Lets just say that by "not worrying about it" I mean that I just ate 5 slices off a large pizza with lots of toppings, and something like 4 beers...

Runningmischka

My post won't be very helpful, but I'll share anyway. After my first marathon I marched into a Cheesecake Factory, bought the biggest NY style cheesecake, and then ate that bad boy over a period of 5 days or so. I regret nothing

I would like to see if anyone knows how to quantify the amount needed for a recovery.