As race day quickly approaches, two first-time marathoners are seeking out ways to optimize recovery and, hopefully, boost their performance.
In Pursuit of 26.2 is a series following two Equinox members as they train for the New York City Marathon, from their first long-distance runs to the finish line. Since early August, our athletes have been following a new personalized training program created by an Equinox Personal Run Coach, powered by Precision Run, and utilizing Equinox services to strengthen, stretch, and stabilize. Check back each week for a new installment.
Whether they’re a rookie or a veteran, marathon runners may find themselves plagued by the fear of falling behind their goal pace, hitting a wall halfway through the race, or struggling to cross the finish line altogether.
That anxiety can drive an athlete to grind away with their workouts in the weeks leading up to the 26.2-mile event. The problem: Unless a marathoner adequately recovers between runs, strength-building workouts, and other fitness endeavors, their progress may come to a standstill. “As training load increases, the need for rest, recovery, and rebuilding increases, too,” says Equinox Personal Run Coach Corky. “There needs to be a balance between training and recovery for an athlete to thrive throughout the training cycle."
And that’s a lesson Corky has drilled into the brains of Equinox members Aurora Straus and Luis Colón, first-time marathoners preparing for the New York City race this fall.
From the get-go, both runners took advantage of the Equinox Spa’s massage offerings. For Aurora, the Bodywork massage she had at the onset of her shin splints was so powerful, she was able to push through her eight-mile treadmill run the following day, she says. The therapist’s focus on relieving tightness in her hips and glutes made a “huge difference” in her performance and pain level. And it gave her a mental reset at a time when the stakes were increasing and her body was struggling, the 25-year-old adds.
Similarly, Luis attributed his “perfect” 12-mile run in early August to the combination of a relaxing full-body massage and a mat Pilates session before his workout. And his September Bodywork appointment, during which his therapist focused on muscles particularly tense from running, left him feeling like he “had new legs” after his grueling 16-miler, he jokes. Unsurprisingly, both marathoners have continued to book Spa sessions throughout the training program.
Luxury services aside, Luis has been using classic recovery methods to support his body, including stretching. Before many of his runs, he has tuned into the 15-minute Runner’s Stretch class through the Equinox app, which he calls “one of the most beneficial assets to this [training] program.” “It targets every single area that I would want to feel more limber and loose and ready for my run,” he explains.
With just a month until race day, the 32-year-old also picked up a “serious” foam roller and began using it on his lower back and calves, hoping to match the benefits of his in-Club massages. Research shows this recovery tool may be beneficial during both warm-up and cool-down periods. Foam rolling after exercise has been found to reduce muscle pain perception, and rolling before a high-intensity run has been suggested to improve running economy (read: oxygen uptake at a given running speed, a parameter linked with performance).
Also a top priority for marathoners: catching enough sleep each night, a task easier said than done. Due to her demanding career, Aurora typically snoozes just five to six hours a day — a habit she says may have contributed to the growing intensity of her shin splints. That’s why, in early September, she told her work colleagues she’d be logging off by 11 p.m. each day unless there was a serious emergency. “Just the process of setting that boundary has made a world of difference [in my sleep],” she said at the time.
With the help of tech, marathoners can better plan their high-intensity runs around their sleep quality. Luis, for instance, has found that his Oura ring sleep score is worse on certain weekdays, when his work schedule is particularly hectic, he says. In turn, he tries to complete his short or interval workouts on those days and save his long-distance runs for the weekend, when he’s better rested, he notes. “The correlation between poor sleep and [poor] running — they're best friends,” Luis explains. “You really do need to get at least eight to 10 hours.”
But sometimes, getting eight-plus hours of shut-eye a night, stretching, foam rolling, and massaging tight, overworked muscles isn’t enough. That was the case for Aurora, who took Corky’s guidance and skipped her runs for six days straight — roughly a month before the marathon — as her shin splints worsened. During the break, she took cycling classes at Equinox and used the elliptical for low-impact cardio training, and she had an MRI to ensure she wasn’t dealing with a stress fracture or break.
The good news: The test came back all clear, and her symptoms were a result of severe shin splints, Aurora says. This timeout from running proved to be worthwhile.
“It's literally, like, all that I needed,” she adds. “I feel like an idiot, honestly, being on the other side of it. Because [what if] if I had just done this, like, eight weeks ago — when the symptoms started to show — instead of trying to push through it, thinking that it would get better, and making it so I reached a breaking point where I had to stop a run and sit down [because it was] too painful?” After her hiatus came to an end, Aurora says she polished off 20 miles without a hitch. “It's one of my top three best runs in terms of how I was feeling,” she adds.
As the marathon approaches, Luis plans on squeezing in more afternoon recovery naps and heading into the Spa for one final massage. Meanwhile, Aurora envisions herself switching to the stationary bike or elliptical when her pain flares up. And she’ll continue putting more time and effort into performing the exercises recommended by her physical therapist, even if that means she’ll have to cut a run short, she adds. “I think this shifting of priorities from, like, ‘I will get this run in at all costs’ to ‘The mileage per week needs to be up, but if I don't have the time to do it without also taking care of my body, I need to not do it’ has been very important,” she says.
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