rotorua marathon blog march 2018

Blog by Rachel Grunwell: Rotorua Marathon ambassador, multi-marathoner, qualified yoga teacher, magazine wellness columnist, magazine recipe creator & Rotorua’s Polynesian Spa ambassador

Follow Rachel via InspiredHealthNZ’s Instagram and Facebook 

9 Top Recovery Run Tips  + Choc Chia Recipe

It’s not long now until the Rotorua Marathon event on May 5 and so training is hitting its highest gear. The long runs are longer and it’s an increasingly longer time on the feet for walkers too. So, use some great recovery methods is incredibly key right now. You want to be using everything you can in order to arrive at the start-line injury-free and ready to do your best on race day!

 

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Here are 9 Top Recovery Tips: I use all these tips and they’ve helped me conquer 19 marathons. So I swear by them!

  1. * Make friends with a foam roller. These are seriously amazing for “ironing” out niggles ie making those tight muscles less oucheeeee. Use a roller for a few minutes on areas like your calves, IT bands, thighs, shins and quads. It’s even lovely to roll your back over a foam roller – it’s an amazing self-massage tool. There are other self-massage tools on the market too like stick rollers and other weird-shaped (torture) tools! Find the tender spots and roll them with LOVE. Your body will thank you for this, I promise.
  2. * Eat ideally within 30-mins roughly after a long training run or walk to help boost muscle recovery.
  3. * Some sports physios and massage therapists are increasingly training in needling. This can target really deep tissue hotspots if you need to iron out niggles that are really deep and you can’t seem to shake. If you are not afraid of needles, then I’d recommend trying this treatment. It doesn’t hurt a bit, I reckon. 
  4. * Get a professional sports massage. I can’t rate these high enough. These experts are worth their weight in gold. They can target any tiny issues you might have and give you amazing advice too. Plus you get to chat away to them and they have to listen ha ha ha ha. Or is that just me who loves to talk, talk, talk lol.
  5. * Sleep like a prince or princess. This affects your physical and emotional health. So, it affects how you recover from training runs and how well you feel while running (or walking). Feel more alert and power your performance with more shut-eye… This is also FREE, of course. Bonus! If you get to bed by midnight, this is most ideal (it’s to do with cortisol levels ok babe…)
  6. * Drop the habit of drinking so much alcohol. This can disturb your sleep patterns and can stop you from going into REM – the very rejuvenating sleep.
  7. * Try some gentle yoga classes or at least take several minutes to do some static stretching after running or walking to reset your body. This will help you to move well. For some of my fave run stretches that I use often and highly recommend CLICK HERE.
  8. * Go for a recovery swim. If you are in Rotorua, then I’d recommend the Blue Lake, Lake Tarawera or Lake Okareka. Better still, indulge in the rejuvenating hot pools at the Polynesian Spa. Bliss!
  9. * Make a pact with yourself to eat more nutritionally-rich kai. Smart eating will help you think better, feel better and perform better. So, add spinach to your scrambled eggs or swig back a home-made juice (so you know what is in it). Here’s an amazing beetroot juice recipe CLICK HERE. Or here’s a Choc Chia Pudding to try below which is full of chia seeds which boast Omega 3 alphalinolenic acid. This is good for your brain, building new cells, and heart-health. Chia seeds are great for satiety too ie filling you up! This also tastes amazing and you can eat it anytime for a snack. Hopefully this will stop you from reaching for chocolate instead!

 

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Post Run Choc Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

1 banana (skin removed)

2 cups almond milk

½ cup coconut cream

1 tablespoon rice malt syrup (or you can use maple syrup instead)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cacao powder

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

3 tablespoons Chia seeds (back or white)

Method:

Put all the ingredients (except the chia seeds) into a blender and blitz until smooth. Lastly, add the chia seeds and stir these in with a spoon. Pour into pudding bowls, or I put them into small glasses. Leave them to set in the fridge for 30-minutes or longer. Use a spoon to dig out the mixture and enjoy!

Rachel's Blog Award-winning writer & recipe creator, magazine columnist, wellness ambassador, yoga teacher & multi-marathoner.

 

 

Blog by Rachel Grunwell: Rotorua Marathon run ambassador, wellness blogger & magazine columnist, yoga teacher and Polynesian Spa ambassador. Follow her via InspiredHealthNZ’s Instagram and Facebook 

To enter the Rotorua Marathon event or find out more Click Here

This post was sponsored by the awesome peeps who “run” the Rotorua Marathon event. #collab #officialblogger #runambassador