Maintenance schedule after Marathon training

maemiller

Does anyone know a good maintenance program after completing a marathon?

Ive been training for the Chicago Marathon in October. After that race, i would like to do a maintenance program during the winter months. Some kind of training, not as hard or as intense as what im doing prior to Chicago, but something that would keep me in shape so that when Spring comes around, i wont be starting from the beginning training for my next marathon

SpaceMarkus

I would alternate between strength training and running. You lose your cardio ability really quickly if you don't keep it up, so set a goal for a certain amount of miles a week and stick to it. Even if you have to use a treadmill.

You'll also want to keep your leg muscles in shape, so do squats, lunges, leg presses, etc. Do them slow, though. Your running muscles would suffer if you do quick, explosive leg work.

321blueeyes

I would continue weekly "long run" training in the 8-14 mile range or target a spring half marathon. Of course, I usually go opposite and train for half marathon over the summer (as maintenance) and target marathon for winter/spring.

arc918

I keep my long run up ~ 15+ all year long (easy to do here in So Cal). That way it is always easy to ramp up for a marathon or race a half.

Also, I reject any of these plans to call for no running for weeks and weeks after a marathon. I basically do my taper in reverse after the race. No better way to recover than to get back out there and start running.

bunchesonothing

I keep my long run up ~ 15+ all year long (easy to do here in So Cal). That way it is always easy to ramp up for a marathon or race a half.

Also, I reject any of these plans to call for no running for weeks and weeks after a marathon. I basically do my taper in reverse after the race. No better way to recover than to get back out there and start running.

Agreed.

bunchesonothing

I would alternate between strength training and running. You lose your cardio ability really quickly if you don't keep it up, so set a goal for a certain amount of miles a week and stick to it. Even if you have to use a treadmill.

You'll also want to keep your leg muscles in shape, so do squats, lunges, leg presses, etc. Do them slow, though. Your running muscles would suffer if you do quick, explosive leg work.

I'm not so sure about losing the cardio quite so quickly.

However, I do agree on keeping things going if you can.

"Running Coach Jack Daniels quotes some specific numbers in his book Daniel’s Running Formula Training: Impact of time off on running performance“. He are some sample values in the loss of cardio-vascular fitness from his book:
Up to 5 days — no loss
7 days off — 0.6%
14 days off — 2.7%
21 days off — 4.8%
28 days off (one month) — 6.9%
56 days (two months) — 15.3%"

http://running-advice.com/blog/?p=1608

feisma

bumpity bump bump...

Ifican

Also, I reject any of these plans to call for no running for weeks and weeks after a marathon. I basically do my taper in reverse after the race. No better way to recover than to get back out there and start running.

This is true however needs to be taken in context. If you are a long time distance runner you can get out pretty quick. Now adays i go for a 4-5 mile easy run the day after a marathon however the very first one i did i could barely walk for 4 days and even thinking about stepping up or down stairs for 2 days was a joke. I would recommend an ice bath for the legs as soon as you can afterwards, followed by mild stretching and try to move around some every hour or so how much dictated by how you feel. The worse thing you can do is not move around though that is only true if you get through with no major injuries.