I’ve been playing around with different recovery modalities during my Boston marathon training block, looking to ascertain the best methods to help down regulate my body post the longer, tougher marathon sessions. I initially started using 61 point mediation (from the Himalayan tradition) post a long run, with a Wim Hof protocol 6 hours later. I then transitioned back to coherence breathing post the run – as I still find this the most effective breathing protocol I know and saw an immediate uptick in recovery. I kept notes around this – the session type, structure, effort and then how I recovered (including out mental / physical fatigue out of 10)
My goal / question has been around what will be (or is) the most effective recovery tool that we can employ to clear out waste products (cortisol / process free lactate acid / adrenalin) whilst also down regulating the nervous system and switching from a highly sympathetic state, to one of homeostasis. As I age the longer runs are more taxing (or so it feels). Alongside this I had really noticed how Wim Hof breathwork – or cyclic hyper ventilation followed by breath holds – knocks back fatigue. So I’d find myself full of energy and a renewed focus on a Sunday evening once I had carried out a session. From this I begun to wonder what kind of combinations would be most effective to help the body after a really hard run. I then decided to think about this in terms of when to apply. I know that post run I am mentally & physically really tired, adding the extra stressor of cyclic hyper ventilation an breath holds felt too aggressive, however an immediate set of calming breathwork, to signal to the nervous system things where done seemed like the better way to go. Once the body had then calmed itself, leaving 6 hours post run then the cyclic hyper ventilation could be done to clear out the residual fatigue and help the body heal itself. I’ve taken notes since starting this in Jan, which I’ve attached below. It definitely has an impact and one that has been getting more and more pronounced mentally – notably with the last hard run that I did on Thursday of last week. I certainly think that using more proactive breathwork to hep recover is really beneficial and needs to be structured in the same way as we structure a session – in terms of timings and rough outline. Not to be dogmatic or rigid, but to give ourselves a guideline to follow, to imbue this element of the workout with the importance and relevance it has to the whole process of getting stronger / faster. Without the recovery progress is far harder and things tend to stand still.
Below are my notes to date:
Mon 23rd Jan – 5k easy, then 3k/4k/5k @ MP with 5k easy recovery. 29km / 2h 18m RPE: 5/10
Post run: 20 min 61 point meditation
Mental fatigue – 6/10, Phys fatigue 7/10
6 hours post run: 4 round hyper vent. in/ex then breath holds for 1:40/2:00/2:30/3:00
Mental fatigue – 4/10, Phys fatigue 6/10
Weds 1st Feb – 5k easy, then 7 x 2k @ MP / 1k steady with 5k easy CD. 30km / 2h 20m RPE: 5/10
Post run: 20 min 61 point meditation
Mental fatigue – 6/10, Phys fatigue 7/10
6 hours post run: 4 round hyper vent. in/ex then breath holds for 1:30/2:00/2:10/2:20
Mental fatigue – 4/10, Phys fatigue 5/10
Breathwork made legs feel lighter – however able to hold for less
Fri 10th Feb – 5k easy, then 6k/5k/4k/3k/2k/1k @ MP progressively faster / 1k easy with 1k easy CD. 32km / 2h 24m RPE: 6/10
Post run: 20 min 61 point meditation
Mental fatigue – 8/10, Phys fatigue 8/10
6 hours post run: 4 round hyper vent. in/ex then breath holds for 1:15/2:00/2:15/2:30
Mental fatigue – 7/10, Phys fatigue 7.5/10
Really fatigued post run, breathwork a struggle and made some difference, but not as much on previous 2 runs
Ran half marathon Feb 19th – staying at friends so didn’t follow normal recovery protocol
Tues 28th Feb – 5k easy, then 7 x 3k @ MP / 1k steady with 1k easy CD. 34km / 2h 29m RPE: 6/10
Post run: 20 min cadence breathing (inhale 6:exhale 6) – changed from 61 point meditation as felt would work better
Mental fatigue – 8/10, Phys fatigue 8/10
6 hours post run: 4 round hyper vent. in/ex then breath holds for 1:35/2:05/2:35/3:00
Mental fatigue – 3/10, Phys fatigue 4/10
Hardest, longest run yet and best recovery. Legs pre breath holds still pretty heavy – post a lot better. Good change to cadence breathing.
Thurs 9th March – 3k off / 3k on @ MP / 5k off / 5k on @ MP / 10k off / 10k on @ MP with 1k easy CD. 1km / 2h 45m RPE: 5/10
Post run: 20 min cadence breathing (inhale 6:exhale 6)
Mental fatigue – 4/10, Phys fatigue 7.5/10
6 hours post run: 4 round hyper vent. in/ex then breath holds for 1:30/2:00/2:15/2:30
Mental fatigue – 2/10, Phys fatigue 4/10
Also went in the sea around 3 hours post run to relax / relieve tightness in right calf.
