After the Race, A Revised Regimen

Shortly after completing the ING New York City Marathon in three hours and 26 seconds yesterday, 42-year-old Jeffrey Glaser was thirsty for a few beers. Protein bar in hand, and wrapped in a silver foil blanket, the Austin, Tex., native was also looking forward to a proper meal. "I want to go back to the hotel, drink a few beers, and go out for a hamburger," he said.

Returning to his running regimen was an afterthought.

But if athletes who spend months training for a marathon give little thought to their recovery in the immediate afterglow of a race, veteran marathoners and coaches said proper recuperation and rest help to avoid injury and maintain fitness.

They said the first few hours after a marathon are a crucial time for recovery, re-hydration, and refueling. Immediately after completing a race, runners should drink sports drinks to replace lost electrolytes, and consume carbohydrates and protein to start rebuilding muscles damaged by running. Cold baths are recommended to alleviate inflamed muscles; stretching is not.

Over the next few days, runners are urged to eat well, avoid strenuous physical activity, and slowly add low-impact workouts. By the end of the first week, athletes can go for an easy run, although they should hold out for several weeks before resuming training.

"You have to think of your fitness as a cyclical thing," the president and founder of JackRabbit Sports, with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Lee Silverman, said. "You have to time the peaks to be where your races are, and allow yourself to have a valley after the race."

The most common mistake among runners is training again too soon. "Everyone wants to do that," a Manhattan-based orthopedic surgeon who has completed 12 marathons and eight Ironman triathlons, Mark Klion, said. "It's kind of a rite of passage to go running after the marathon."

But Dr. Klion cautioned that running the day after a marathon could lead to injury. "There's often micro-damage that occurs after running 26.2 miles," he said. "It might not be incredibly apparent, but you're tired; you're exhausted. If you try to run, it puts a lot of stress on the joints and muscles and tissues around it."

A running coach, Mindy Solkin, said that if marathoners "don't respect the distance of the marathon, it will not respect you."

Ms. Solkin, the owner and head coach at the Running Center, a training lab on the Upper West Side, added: "I know of people who go out and run four miles the next day, and I think that's foolish."

Finally, there is the mental hurdle to overcome: During your first post-marathon run, your legs will probably feel like lead, experienced athletes said.

"You just have to say to yourself, 'I just did an incredible feat and this is the other side of the mountain,'" Ms. Solkin said.

By the third week after a marathon, runners might feel ready to run shorter races. "You can actually do a shorter race, a 5K or a 10K, because you have all this great fitness, and you're raring to go," she said.