Marathon Check In Part 2: It’s All About the Recovery, Baby!
Before I enlisted the help of the pros — i.e. when I ran in my 20’s, and my early 30’s even, and just went out there and ran 10 miles without much thought — I never really appreciated the value of recovery. Sure, take a day off here or there but recovery is so much more, especially when I am asking this much of my body. My running coach works recovery runs, recovery workouts and recovery days into my weekly schedule. And she’s my accountability coach so if I am not properly recovering, I am going to hear it from her! And, quite frankly, I am going to hear it from my body.
I was surprised and impressed to learn about all of the things available to athletes to move recovery along. And this past month, while I have been taking some time off from writing to focus on my training, I have also been taking my rest and recovery very seriously. So while the month isn’t quite over yet, I can’t help myself but to share all the ways that I have been recovering because its been working! I do all these things and then my body can run again when it needs to. And recovery isn’t just for those training for a marathon. Everyone can benefit from each of these treatments.
Cryotherapy.
For me, the most beneficial form of recovery immediately following my long runs has been cryotherapy. It’s healing power is magical. Really! After a long run, I feel it in my hips the most and can’t imagine running again, even after a day off. So I step into that cryo chamber (my son calls it a space ship) and 3 minutes later, I step out a new person! I don’t truly understand how it works other than freezing my body to temporarily heal it so that I can move forward with my training. But earlier this week, I did enlist the help of Dr. Danielle Gray, who owns Restore HLC in Wayne, to give you all a proper explanation. We went LIVE on Instagram from my cryotherapy session on Monday. If you missed it, go check it out on my Instagram feed.
Aside from the healing benefits I feel immediately, consistent cryotherapy has been proven to improve mental health, reduce chronic pain, increase calorie burn, improve over all well being, and tighten and firm the skin. Still skeptical? I was too until I tried it. And since then, I haven’t looked back. So I encourage you all to step into that chamber for three minutes and then report back!
Yoga Stretch Sessions.
Yoga is a weekly part of my training. Aside from improving my overall balance, yoga improves my mobility and flexibility which is beneficial for runners for obvious reasons. In fact, all athletes should be doing yoga! Every single person can benefit from doing the right kind of yoga. I go to one of my yoga instructors, Lisa Werny, for private assisted yoga stretch sessions. She is also starting a small group stretch and flexibility yoga class at her studio, Evolve Yoga and Beyond, in Paoli, on Thursday mornings at 9:30 am. Lisa uses yoga poses with the assistance of guided stretch to achieve more meaningful restorative benefits.
Lisa tailors each private session to the individual’s needs and can do the same thing in a small group setting. I brought my training buddy, Sara, with me to see Lisa the day after our long run. Together we worked through our post-run aches and pains. We started with some foot exercises and moved up with hamstrings, quads, glutes and hip focused poses. We did a bunch of chest openers and back and shoulder stretches, which helped me that day as I had tightness in my upper body, likely caused by tensing and hunching over while I run.
This type of yoga class is geared towards restoring the body from regular strength training and sports. The session (30 or 60 minutes) also includes mindfulness and breathing exercises. If the class time doesn’t work with your schedule, you can book a private or other small group stretch and flexibility yoga session with Lisa at Evolve Yoga and Beyond by appointment.
Physical Therapy.
I visit my physical therapist once a week. We use that time to accomplish two goals. First, Dr. Nisha Meyer uses a variety of tools like Gua Sha, cups and the massage gun for soft tissue work at the start and conclusion of each session together. These tools increase blood flow and calm the nervous system. The increased blood flow speeds up the natural healing process by bringing more good blood cells to the area. Nisha always asks me my pain points from the previous week and gives special attention to those areas. We have worked on my feet, hips and knees since I have been going to her.
Here, Nisha is using a special cup to massage my hamstrings. It’s a little painful but deep and effective in healing.
Our second goal is to build strength. Nisha was brought into Nova Care’s Malvern location to help improve the sports medicine practice there. We use a variety of the equipment in the office to build leg and core strength and even workout outside on the turf at The Grove (where the office is located). This is why I go to Nisha. I’m working with my physical therapist, not to heal an existing injury, but to build strength in order to prevent future injury. Nisha works with my running plan and won’t load up on the weights if I have a big run on the horizon. And if my legs are exhausted, we just do massage and soft tissue work for our session, which I am totally fine with!
Massage.
My running coach didn’t have to tell me twice that I could really benefit from regular massage treatments during training. I started seeing Kyle Blackstone from Blackstone Massage & Recovery recently, after a friend recommended him. Kyle travels to your house and sets up his massage table wherever you want. It’s certainly convenient and I’m all about that because this training thing is really time consuming! Using targeted deep tissue massage, Kyle tends to focus on my feet and legs during the entire 60 minute session, as per my request. The bottoms of my feet get really tight from so much running and massage immediately loosens them up. Aside from feeling really good on my sore legs, massage is my favorite type of recovery treatment because I can totally zen out.
Kyle will also bring all the tools for cupping and scraping but since I get that from PT, I just have Kyle do massage for me. I don’t want to use any of those 60 minutes for anything else!
Other unique recovery services I experienced recently.
This week, I got to check out two newer spots on the Main Line that offer unique recovery and treatment services. While both of these services aren’t part of my regular marathon recovery routine yet, they each offer benefits for my training and help me prepare for the big race… as well as give me a peaceful way for this mama to zone out during the time of the service. And I will take that, especially because back to school preparation has my head spinning this week!
IV Treatment. I can and should write a whole blog post on City Hydration because I have tons of notes from my discussions with the nurses that work there before I started. And yes, only critical care nurses work at City Hyrdation and the facility is backed by a medical director who is available on the spot for any issues, so I immediately felt more comfortable about getting stuck with the needle there. First off, let me say that I love everything about this place. I am so happy that we have it on the Main Line now. Before City Hydration opened, you could get this treatment at a medical office but sitting in City Hydration’s gorgeous and super plush lounge in Wayne is so much better. And that’s one of the reasons that I plan to return.
Most people are probably familiar with liquid IV therapy because of the hang over relief. This treatment of hydration and medications does immediately relieve a hang over. But there are so many other uses and offerings that I want to get you all past the hang over treatment of liquid IV therapy. Simply wanting to feel more energized or hydrated is reason enough to get a treatment.
City Hydration has a large menu of formulated offerings for various conditions and goals— Health Maintenance, Wonder Woman, Jet Lag and Fatique, Immune Boost, Beauty— just to name a few. But you can customize your treatment based on your specific needs that day by adding or swapping different vitamins or meds. And the nurses will help you determine the best fluid concoction for you. I went with the Athletic Performance bag, which has B-12 for energy, Glutathione for detox, Tri-Aminos and Magnesium for muscle support, and Toradol is a good add for me after a long run because it helps with pain reduction and inflammation. We discussed the Enhanced Recovery bag for me right after my race, which has 2-3 times the volume of the vitamins in the Athletic Performance bag.
There is a medical conditions form and a waiver to complete before you get started and there are certain people that cannot just walk in and get an IV treatment without a doctor’s note (such as pregnant or nursing women, people above a certain age, and people with certain medical conditions). But the rest is simple. You get a liquid flush first and then you just sit there and relax while the 1 liter bag empties. I even got to add Normatec boots to my legs. I really love this recovery thing!
So does it work? Absolutely. And the more your body needs it, the better you will feel right away! This is a treatment where you immediately feel great because the medications and the vitamins go directly into your bloodstream. And usually the results last 2-3 days. So for me, I left feeling well rested and energized. I skipped my coffee that afternoon (I skipped my afternoon coffee the next day, too) and was able to stay awake much later than I usually can. I slept amazing. And the following morning, I felt super rested and ready to take on my workout of the day. How often to get a treatment is really dependent on the person and their wallet, quite frankly, because these treatments are not cheap. But they are effective so as with anything, it’s a matter of weighing the benefits against the cost.
So yes, I will be returning to City Hydration, for sure! If not before, definitely a few days ahead of my race in October and immediately following the event. The place itself is luxurious and comfortable (although there isn’t much privacy if others are in the lounge getting a treatment). I felt totally confident in the hands of the seasoned nurses at City Hydration. And the effects of the treatment are strong and wonderful! I’m still floating around and feeling great with tons of energy three days later as I write this.
Floating. I love that I get to try new things with you all. And floating was a completely novel experience for me. I knew absolutely nothing about it when I made the appointment. Floating in a tank sounded cool, and you know I am up for just about anything. The owner of Main Line Float & Freeze in Ardmore sent me just the right amount of introductory information, which included a brief video (I found the video helpful to see what to expect) and some basic information about the experience. The float spa is meant to remove all sensory input so the benefits can emerge. An hour in the sensory deprivation tank (which it is commonly referred to) is said to help relieve stress (by lowering the level of cortisol in your body) and physical pain (by giving your body a break from fighting gravity). Again, I can and probably should write a whole article on this one, too. There is a lot to discuss. But, until I do that, check out Main Line Float & Freeze’s website because it’s very helpful.
Main Line Float & Freeze is located on Lancaster Avenue along the main strip in Ardmore. The studio has 4 sensory deprivation tanks. One of those is a more open room with a larger tank for people who feel closed in with the smaller tank rooms or couples (kinda cool but also ewww… I mean I know what my husband would want to do in there). The other tanks are 8′ long and 4.5′ wide and filled with about 10 inches of water. The water contains about 850 pounds of Epsom salt and is set at 94.5 degrees Fahrenheit— the average skin temperature— so that you “lose track of your body”. Every float room has a shower room because you need to rinse your body before and after you float.
After you rinse, you step into the tub room and close the glass door behind you. This door does not lock and the light from the attached shower room will automatically turn on when you open the glass door. Inside the tank room, the tub extends to the walls, but the ceiling is high. There is an illuminated glow (adjustable to different colors) from the tub. You are supposed to turn this low colored light off but I just wasn’t comfortable with the complete darkness yet, so I kept it on. Maybe next time. I still got the benefits of floating and was able to eventually zen out and get into a short meditative state (but I imagine it’s better in complete darkness). I put in ear plugs to block the sound and I used the floating head pillow they offered.
So the point is to eliminate all senses. Eliminate sight by turning off the light. Eliminate sound by plugging your ears. Eliminate touch by floating. And hopefully you aren’t tasting the salt water (yuck). The float lasts an hour. I know, that’s a long time to be alone with nothingness. But once you get into that meditative state, what is time anyway?! I found the experience to be very cool and relaxing once I got over the newness of it all. When I was eventually able to let go, it was a very effective way to mediate. Because my ears were plugged and under water, the sound of my breath was loud and the only thing present so I could easily focus on that to mediate. And whether you keep the light on or decide to listen to music, you will still enjoy floating and relaxing. I got the benefits of muscle pain relief and just playing around with it all is part of the float spa experience.
A few heads up before you float. Do not shave your legs or any part of your body for a few days before you float. And if you have any cuts on your body, I’d wait until they are healed. The tank is filed with 850 pounds of salt so any cut, even the tiniest one, will burn like a mother when you get in there. I plugged my ears to eliminate sound but the water in my ears made me a little uncomfortable and I kept lifting my head to itch them or adjust my ear plugs. Eventually, I found a good place with my ears. But as I write this, I am still trying to shake out a little water in my right ear.
While the immediate benefits of this treatment were not quite as apparent as others were for me, the experience itself was really, really cool and I would definitely do it again. I found the studio to be very clean, which you want at a place like this! The water in the tub is cleaned with a UV filter and is cycled through when the person leaves the tub. My only critique is that I’d love more of a plush spa setting in the lobby of the studio for reflection after you float.
All of these recovery treatments have helped me in one way or another while I am training. Each offers so many benefits, there is really something for everyone. To help encourage you all to try something new, blog subscribers will be getting an email with discount codes to some of these services. So make sure you are subscribed to my blog by entering your email address and be on the look out for an email from me early this week!