Mark Armstrong: When will my legs come back after marathon? 

The fact that sleeping well, eating sensibly and listening to your body trumps any device you can buy is often overlooked by people eager for a shortcut. 

In the last year I’ve got on top of my sleep and nutrition although phases of stress still impact them. However, that ‘listening your body’ part of the equation is a tricky customer.  

When your brain is inherently trying to keep you safe then it becomes difficult to know when you genuinely need a break.  

I’m writing this column nearly two weeks after running the Helsinki Marathon and my legs, and body in general, still don’t feel ready for any sort of effort.  

When I was mapping out my schedule rather naively, I thought I might be able to give Run Norwich this weekend a full send. After a midweek run with a friend it became clear that I won’t be able to do that. What would normally be an easy pace took me right back to those last few miles of the marathon. It wasn’t pretty. 

I’m really looking forward to being part of one of the Wymondham AC teams in the Round Norfolk Relay so I’m determined to get some life back into my legs before then.  

With the Berlin Marathon just two weeks after that then I think it’s a case of less is more until such time that energy is restored. Like so many, I may have underestimated just how much effort a full marathon takes out of you. 

What has been awesome is that part of my ‘recovery’ was spent last week in Chamonix with friends. We got to see some of the UTMB races take place and saw the female winner Katie Schide on her way to victory. The smile she had as she came into Chamonix will live with me a long time and you’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel emotional for these runners that have conquered the 106 miles with more than 10,000m of elevation. I just can’t get my head around it.  

The finish line at UTMB (Image: Mark Armstrong)

If you think that sometimes you take running a bit too seriously then go to Chamonix. I felt underdressed when not having a hydration pack on. If there is such a thing as ‘proper runners’ then they go here.  

I managed to fit a couple of run/walks at the end of the holiday and you won’t find a more picturesque running track anywhere; something that my son, Logan, loved tearing round. 

Mark Armstrong goes exploring in Chamonix (Image: Alison Armstrong)

It was a very different holiday to what I think all of us are probably used to and I loved every minute of it. Whilst I couldn’t run as much as I would have liked after the marathon, I did manage to do lots of yoga with the most stunning backdrop of the mountains and plenty of walking certainly got the blood flowing round the legs to aid recovery; we won’t dwell too much on the fact that there was also a lot of beer, bread and brie... but it was a holiday and you have to live a little. 

So, I’ll sign off wishing each runner the best luck at Run Norwich on Sunday. Whatever way you’re planning to run the race, it remains one of the highlights of the running calendar.  

The chance to run around our fine city can never be passed up... I might actually be able to appreciate it by taking it a little easier this year.