Easy Marathon Recovery Time

How fast is the recovery after an easy marathon ?

"Marius, I am going to be running a marathon next weekend just for fun. I plan to run the race much slower than my usual marathon pace. Do I still need to take as much time off after the marathon or can I return to training faster since I am not really racing. Thanks"

Answer: It depends on one factor mainly : how much you manage to hold back the last 10k of the race. If you're able to control yourself at this stage, then the recovery time will usually only be about 7-10 days.

But with "easy marathon" I take into consideration that is will be at least 15-20 minutes slower than your top time. That way it will be more of a sub-race training and the recovery much shorter. But do hold back that last phase of the race and IF you get into trouble it is much better to step off the race vs. continue if you want a fast recovery from it !

regards,
Marius

PS : do include your first name + last initial in the submissions.
Back from Easy Marathon Recovery time to Marathon Training Schedule

I'm often asked what shoes I personally recommend to help stay injury free while running (on the 100 day plan) so I'll add a little bit about it at the end of these Q and A's.

Good shoes are crucial if you want to stay injury free during your marathon journey. In general, the best is to find a shoe that fits your feet according to your foot type.

However, these three shoes will do an excellent job with their mild correction - and will work for most runners :

The most sold running shoes ever - and by every model seems to get better and better. About the same weight as the Kayano but the fit is a little bit different.

The 2150 is a great alternative for the faster work you'll be doing in the 100 day plan. It is one of the few shoes that "feels" like a lightweight one but at the same time has more than enough stabilty to prevent injuries with the marathon type length of some of the interval sessions.

A tips for international (non-US) runners : check out roadrunnerssports.com : Example : Asics Kayano (RoadRunnerssports) they ship worldwide and it can really save you some money on your shoes.