Cryotherapy After a Marathon
Marathon Recovery
Dorando Pietri “won” the 1908 marathon but was disqualified later.
How long does it take to recover from a marathon? Ask Moe Jerry. Moe ran in exactly 26 marathons during his running career, including one backwards to prove his friend wrong who said he couldn’t do it. Added to this were countless 5k’s, 10k’s, Turkey Trots, and Fun Runs simply because Moe loved running as a sport. He was never sponsored, never endorsed, and never actually won a marathon; nonetheless, he was famous in his own circles as an oracle of race day knowledge. He ran because he loved it and as a non-professional athlete he discovered like all others that post-marathon recovery is vital to take care of your body.
Who Invented the Marathon?
A marathon is not natural. The idea of running 26.2 miles originates from the historical run of soldier Pheidippides. After the Athenians defeated the Persians in 490 B.C. he ran about 40 kilometers—or nearly 25 miles—from the town of Marathon, Greece, all the way to Athens to announce the good news. According to legend he shouted out “Niki” (Victory!) and fell down dead. But his unlikely death was not due to this run alone. Pheidippides was a foot-courier (a hemerodrome) for the military and had ran to Sparta a few days before to seek military assistance, a distance of 150 miles that required most couriers two days of running.
When the International Olympic Committee was founded by Pierre de Coubertin in the late 19th century the modern marathon was designed to follow the original route from Marathon to Athens in 1896, and the name “marathon” became known as the race we know today.¹ Had Pheidippides known of better post-marathon recovery methods he may have survived. What can you do to make sure you can run another day?
What Should You Do After a Marathon?
Besides stretching according to your normal routine (which you should already have as a long-distance runner) you must replenish your fluids. Sports scientists recommend 500ml per hour, usually the amount of a standard water bottle. Why not drink more? Because your body has already been stressed to its physical absolute limit. Drinking unlimited amounts of water can cause a type of intoxication and electrolyte imbalance which can be fatal in serious clinical cases. Water intoxication provokes disturbances in electrolyte balance, resulting in a rapid decrease in serum sodium concentration and eventual death.² It takes about 3 to 4 hours to run a marathon, so it will also take awhile to replenish those fluids responsibly. For the vast majority of runners water intoxication is not a problem, but an electrolyte deficit still leaves its mark in the form of cramps and headaches. Severely dehydrated runners may need fluids intravenously.
Using Cold for Post Marathon Recovery
Cramping has been addressed by ice baths, ice packs, and hot-then-cold showers. These are all forms of cryotherapy, which use cold temperatures to bring about pain relief. An advanced method of recovery is whole body cryotherapy where the entire body benefits from the effects of an ice bath in as little time as 3 minutes. Runners and marathoners can benefit immensely from whole body cryotherapy as it immediately addresses muscle soreness, fatigue, and athletic recovery on a cellular level. How does it work? Whole body cryotherapy chambers use liquid nitrogen to bathe the body in sub-zero cold dry air, much like a fog, that chills the skin’s surface. Skin maintains a normal temperature around 91°F at rest, but a unique mechanism is triggered when the skin’s surface reaches below 70°F. At temperatures this low the body senses a need to generate heat for survival through a process called thermogenesis, and a need to protect the body which it does through vasoconstriction.
Thermogenesis occurs through shivering and a metabolic activity that burns calories to generate heat. Vasoconstriction occurs when the circulatory system near the skin’s surface constricts to push the blood to the core of the body to keep it warm. If the cold exposure is longer than 60 seconds the body does something that benefits all athletes, especially runners: it hyper-oxygenates the blood and loads it with inflammation fighting enzymes and hormones. Why? The human body does not know what type of “damage” is being caused by the cold and prepares the body to heal itself.
Can Cryotherapy Help Runners?
Running a marathon or half-marathon is an extreme endeavor that pushes the human body to an extraordinary limit. This also causes the body to use energy stores and nutrients that it saves for emergencies in order to survive. The same reaction occurs when someone is trapped in snow or falls through the ice on a frozen lake: the body prepares itself for extreme survival. In whole body cryotherapy an athlete can take advantage of this natural and drug-free process to help heal inflammation faster and return vital nutrients to the skeletal muscles. Vasoconstriction also helps to move fluids throughout the body faster. Rolling out your sore muscles helps tremendously, but only to a certain level. Cryotherapy can add to this method of recovery by helping to move oxygen-dense and nutrient-rich blood into sore muscles and heal delayed onset muscle soreness a day earlier than any other method.
Cryotherapy for Injury Prevention
Heptathlete Chari Hawkins
The number one reason people stop running is injury. All sports involve exposure to injury, and cryotherapy is increasingly being used by professional athletes to help prevent injury. Teams like the LA Lakers and Dallas Cowboys use whole body cryotherapy to help their players pre-load their muscles with inflammation reducing enzymes so they are less likely to incur an overuse injury. Olympic athletes are now using cryotherapy to keep a fine edge and is highly recommended by heptathlete Chari Hawkins. Runners who regularly incorporate whole body cryotherapy find that they need less chiropractic adjustments and have less down-days for recovery.
Learn more about the benefits of cryotherapy, find out how you can provide cryotherapy services, and read our full guide on business of cryotherapy.
Founded on facts: for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly journals, and articles cited above please see the below sources.
The modern Olympic marathon was originally 40 kilometers, or about 25 miles; however, in the 1908 games in London the starting point was at Windsor Castle. This required an extension in the route to 26 miles to reach the Olympic stadium. The finish line was further extended 385 yards to place the finish line in front of the royal box in the Olympic Stadium, and the new distance of 26.2 miles stuck. For more information review the official Olympic site at https://www.olympic.org/london-1908
Farrell DJ, Bower L. Fatal water intoxication. J Clin Pathol. 2003;56(10):803–804. doi:10.1136/jcp.56.10.803-a