Recovery advice during RunDisney events?

[RunDisney Matriarch]

Any advice for recovery strategies between races during RunDisney weekends? Looking for ways to make the third race morning easier. This past half-marathon weekend was challenging!

 

[_shiny_side_up_]

Any advice for recovery strategies between races during RunDisney weekends? Looking for ways to make the third race morning easier. This past half-marathon weekend was challenging!

... don't spend the day walking around parks, if you can resist it.

On the marathon weekend I'll walk around the parks on 5k and 10k days but on half marathon day I'll just chill at Disney Springs or at the hotel to rest up for the full.

 

[DianaMB333]

This was my first ever run event.. so beginner’s approach..

Each day after the race I spent time between the pool and the spa pool (trying to proxy the hot/cold recovery) , I also did an extra session of stretching at the room; took a long nap; got my legs upwards against the wall… and some relaxed walking around the hotel while waiting for fireworks at the beach ( I was at Poly)…

Felt good all days and Monday was perfect, not sore at all..

 

[camaker]

Any advice for recovery strategies between races during RunDisney weekends? Looking for ways to make the third race morning easier. This past half-marathon weekend was challenging!

My suggestion is to not conflate rest and recovery and, while rest between races is important, focus more on recovery. I make it a point to go into the parks after every race at Disney. The easy walking around in the park is great active recovery from the current day's race while also providing a great distraction for any discomfort associated with it. Obviously, don't take it to an extreme and go rope drop to firework, but the walking is more beneficial than inactivity in the name of "rest".

 

[Naomeri]

I treat 5K day as a mostly normal park day, just with an early finish. 10K day is a good day to wander around Disney Springs, Epcot, or Animal Kingdom—places where you can do more easy walking and looking at stuff rather than standing in line for rides. Half Marathon day, since it’s the end of the races, I just go until I can’t any more. Last year’s Princess, that meant staying at MK until past 10. This year, I was back in my room by 8 or so, and asleep by 9:30.

 

[matt and beth]

Shower and short nap after the race. Then a couple of Jai Alai at lunch for carb loading.

 

[Novatrix]

Best way to make the 3rd race morning easier is to be fully trained for the weekend and to have kept to consistent training the rest of the year.

As far as recovery between races, good quality food, light activity (such as walking around the park or swimming in a pool) and listening to your body and napping/sleeping/taking it easy the day before your last race are all essential.

 

[sandam1]

I practice and fine-tune my recovery plan after every long run so I know what works for my body. My training plan also has at least two back to back to back days in them so I get to practice how my body copes with the increase in miles and lack of recovery time.

My priorities are always sleep and food. I do not function well (and can get pretty cranky) without sleep. So a nap is usually built into my post-run routine. The food is a little trickier because the effects of missing it don't show up immediately, but will bite me down the line. So even if I don't feel like eating, I have to remind myself that it needs to happen.

I also found that the less I go-go-go in the parks, the happier I am. For this year's Dopey, we spent a lot of time at our hotel or socializing with other runners and it was the best trip. I have issues with my feet so using the pool and hot tub as "active recovery" really helps as opposed to walking around the parks. Standing still in lines is the absolute worse thing that I can do.

I've done five runDisney weekends now and each one reinforces that I truly have to decide what the priority of the trip is. If it's running, I have to be prepared to get up the park time. If it's park time, I have to be prepared for the running to suffer. Some people can do it all. I'm not one of those.

 

[Disneyhanna]

A hot bath does WONDERS for my leg muscles. I'm sure a hot tub would work too. After my first marathon I was incredibly sore the next day so I took an hour long hot bath and felt brand new after. So during Dopey I took a bath immediately after the 10k, half, and full, and I think I also took a bath in the evening after the half or full, I can't remember. I had a little soreness after the marathon but nothing debilitating, like I could go down stairs relatively normally which was not the case after my 1st marathon. And I was undertrained going into Dopey because I got Covid four weeks prior!