Long Run Agony

After a particularly difficult long run, I came home shaky and feeling sick. My legs screamed out for a quick recovery.

As I walked in the door, I didn’t know how I was going to get through the rest of the day without heading for bed after lunch.

Remembering something I saw on Facebook about finding a wall and throwing your legs up onto it while lying down after a marathon, I dropped to the floor.

Or maybe I was already on the floor!

I scooted my butt (groaning the whole time) and propped my legs against the nearest wall.

Guess what…it hurt. My legs were shaking and I was trying to figure out how to do this without being stuck there for the day.

Gradually I realized the feeling of soreness and heaviness was sliding away.

My feet tingled… I assume because blood was flowing downward. I actually felt LOADS better after just a few minutes!

Long Run Recovery

In researching this a bit, I found that originally it was thought this worked for recovery because you were draining lactic acid out of your legs.

This is now considered a myth. Muscle fatigue is caused by…well…using muscles and breaking them down.

Whatever. This felt good to my tired body!

I was able to get up and make my way to the shower and my legs did not experience that achy can’t-get-away-from-it feeling I usually have after a long run.

It was amazing!

I’ve decided to “throw up” after a long run every time.

I  noticed that I have had a significant reduction in cramping of my feet and calves since doing this.

There’s even a name for this in Yoga…Viparita Karani. It is known as a “restorative pose”, and boy are they right.

I  make sure to have something to support my back when I do it. The hard floor did not do me any favors the first time I tried it.

Having a pillow and blanket already on the floor BEFORE the run (like having a mat and foam roller already out) makes doing this so much easier.

You can just drop down without thinking.

I also suggest getting your shoes off, to help ease the foot swelling that invariably happens on a run.

Watch me demonstrate below!