How To Recover After A Long Run

The 440 Run Club founders reveal their go-to tactics for post-run muscle recovery.

So you’ve decided to take up running – maybe you’re training for a marathon, or found enjoyment hitting the pavement regularly for your mental and physical health – and now you’ve just smashed the furthest distance you’ve ever run, what do you do next? Celebrate? Definitely, but what you choose to do right after a big run will have a huge impact on your body.

Listening to your body’s needs is important, and since everyone is different, there are many great options to turn to for post-run recovery, but in case you need some thought starters, we asked Trent Knox and Todd Liubinskas, founders of The 440 Run Club to share their top recovery recommendations.

The Sydney locals took to long distance running as a way to improve their physical and mental health and created The 440 Run Club to bring like-minded individuals together. Now they’re taking the movement to the next level with The 1440 Run – a non-stop running event from 5pm Friday 29th April 2022 until 5pm Saturday 30th April, where relay teams and solo runners will compete to see who can run the most laps around the famous Bondi Promenade in 24 hours (or 1440 minutes).

Having spent the last six months training and preparing for the event, we asked Todd and Trent what they’ve got planned immediately after a full day of running.

“During a run, so much goes through our mind. Over the years the head noise has been frequent, and nowadays it gets better and better as we feed off each other during a race. We talk about our business, relationships, what we are going to eat, what we are going to eat again, and more of what we are going to eat!”

As you can imagine, food is the first thing the two reach for after completing a long run and your body will certainly require refuelling, but your muscles will also need some TLC. “We generally go for a swim, and recover by stretching and eating. It’s essential to stretch as we want to be able to move the next day.”

On top of this, their other post-run recovery tactics include sauna sessions to help stimulate circulation and increase blood flow to damaged areas, helping them heal faster; ice baths or cryotherapy to help reduce swelling and inflammation; and wearing NormaTec boots – a high-performance device engineered to accelerate injury recovery, relieve muscle pain and stiffness and enhance joint and muscle performance.