Dos and Don'ts Preparing And Recovery For A Marathon

I shared about the pre-race checklist last week to prepare for a run or a marathon. Here's the link.

So essentially what would be ideal a week before a marathon is to taper, take it a bit easy and prepare oneself for the "battle" during the weekend.

What I did the days leading to Fujisan Marathon were ermmmm... not exactly the ideal way to prepare for one. Hehehe

Monday
Sleep in a midnight express bus, travelling from Nagoya to Shinjuku.
Comfy. :-)
Tuesday
Upon arriving to Shinjuku at 5.00am, rest a bit at the nearest McDonald's to enjoy a bit of warmth and wi-fi.

Send luggage to hotel and head out to Asakusa and Kanda for a bit of sightseeing and window shopping and only return to the hotel at 4.00pm.

Refresh a bit then head out again for dinner with a friend and a visit to a local garden. ^^

Sleep at midnight.

Time on feet : 5.00am - 10.00pm.
Wednesday
It was another rainy day so no morning run.

Spent the day window-shopping in Akihabara and walk around until the foot hurts.

Shopping expedition in the evening. Success!

Sleep after midnight.

Time on feet : 9.00am - 9.00pm.
Thursday
Awesomely sunny and bright day according to the weather forecast.

Spent the morning by running for an hour along the Sumida River.

Continue with a hike later with the family at Mount Takao. Short 10K hike but it was awesome!

More walking later in the evening, exploring Asakusa, Ueno and Akihabara on foot. We walked the whole way. And no, they aren't that far.

Got a tad tired in Akihabara so we return to Asakusa from Ueno by train.

Sleep at 2am.

Time on feet : 7.00am - Midnight.
Friday
Another one hour morning run but this time towards Ueno.

Met a fellow Jungle Woman later for some leaf hunting in Saitama. Proceed with another leaf hunting at University of Tokyo.

Continued later more shopping expedition.

Sleep earlier that night, at midnight.

Time on feet : 6.30am - 9.00pm.
Saturday
Bus trip to Lake Kawaguchi.

Rest time until we arrive Kawaguchiko Station. Then it was REPC time. Stayed at race venue until 5.00pm.

Checked in to hotel at 6.00pm.

Head out for souvenir shopping expedition and a whole lot of walking to find a reasonably priced restaurant in what seemingly the middle of nowhere.

Sleep at midnight. Can't stay up, can we? Race day is Sunday!

Time on feet : 9.00am - 11.30am & 1.00pm - 9.00pm.
Sunday
Fujisan Marathon! Nuff said. :-)

Time on feet : 8.00am - 5.00pm & 7.00pm - 9.00pm.
Monday
Credit : Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
We went to Fuji-Q Highland Theme Park for recovery instead. ^^

Time on feet : 9.00am - 5.00pm & 7.00pm - 10.00pm.
Tuesday
Recovery walk came in the form of trawling Shinjuku and Akihabara for last minute shopping.

Sleep in midnight bus.

Time on feet : 9.00am - 11.30pm.
Wednesday
Arrive Nagoya from Shinjuku by midnight bus.

Fly home.

-end of vacation-

All I can say, our vacation was AWESOME! Even when I was doing exactly what I wasn't supposed to do. Hahaha

But boy oh boy.

This vacation is sure a short one.

p.s. there will be blog posts on all the activities I mentioned above but except for REPC and Race Day posts which I already posted; the rest will be updated over at my much older, much beloved Urutora No Hi blog. ^^

Comments

  1. Nice travelogue. Did quite a lot beside running.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course.

      Because it's a family vacation! :)

      Delete
  2. Waiting for blog post to come about the activities, hehe...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know where to look for them if you want to read. :)

      Delete
  3. wah.. a lecturing post from Mak Celeb the super runner!!

    very interesting dei.. all beginner runners and even advanced ones must learn~~

    ^^

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad to know that you guys had an awesome vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Eh, the bus seat got some kind of roof macam the ones on baby pram?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup. For the overnight buses. :)

      Delete
    2. and i thot 'apa ke halll nya budak besar itu still pakai stroller' :D

      Delete
  6. The long time spent on foot in the theme park actually served as much better way to recover from a marathon (compared to those usual staff). Unless you injured, cramped badly, or seriously dehydrated from the race, else those usual staff is only good to have.

    Tapering is overrated too! Unless you are trained to the max or touching the breaking point, and prepared to go all out in the race. Else you don't need to taper the way the pro/elite does. Just reduced running, eat well and sleep well will do.

    If we packed the family trip into the race, then we need to discount the quota we can give to running. That's why I always travel alone if I am going to marathon :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. err....didn't realized that the reply was so lengthy. I think I should write a blog post on this topic :P

      Delete
    2. You totally should do a blog post about it Neoh.

      Actually, I feel the same about tapering. And also carbo-loading.

      We runners sure abuse the carbo-loading term a lot. ;)

      Delete
  7. Love your post race recovery steps ! I also had a nap after scms and took my protein shake. Back to running on Monday and Tuesday for 5km. Haha.. I need to run...Cannot stop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wah... siap drink protein shake!!! :)

      Good for you to start again. So any new races planned? :)

      Delete
  8. I guess running a marathon is the same as playing football, you always got home ground advantage. Foreign runners will not be able to prepare as well as the locals huh..

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts