Wednesday Workout: Sore-Legs Central (How to Get the Lactate Out) with the Caldwell Sisters

FasterSkier · April 23, 2014

Isabel Caldwell nears the finish of the 2014 Boston Marathon on Monday while Sophie Caldwell (r) cheers her on. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/Twitter) — Isabel Caldwell nears the finish of the 2014 Boston Marathon on Monday while Sophie Caldwell (r) cheers her on. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/Instagram)

Two days after nearly 36,000 people ran that Boston Marathon on Monday, we’re willing to bet there are more than a couple still feeling the pain of the 26.2-mile run from Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston.

Isabel Caldwell, a former Dartmouth and Stratton skier and the younger sis of U.S. Ski Team member Sophie Caldwell, was one of them, but she didn’t feel as sore as she expected.

“My marathon went pretty well … I hadn’t done a whole lot of running before so I wasn’t expecting too much but I finished and had fun so it was a good day,” she wrote in an email. “The race experience was pretty amazing. There were so many people. I think I ended up finishing about halfway through the second wave of runners so I was surrounded by other runners the entire time. The sides of the course were also covered in spectators. It seemed like everyone was doing it for a greater cause this year, there were Boston Strong posters everywhere and all of the spectators and runners seemed very determined to make it the best Boston ever.”

We asked her what you do in the day (or two or three) after to relieve soreness in the legs and stiffness in other parts of the body. She wasn’t as sore as she was when she ran the Burlington Marathon in Vermont last year.

“I think difference is that last year at Burlington it was about 40 degrees and raining so as soon as I finished I got cold and my muscles seized up and I didn’t want to walk anywhere,” she explained. “For about a week afterwards I had horribly sore legs.”

Monday was warmer — upwards of 60 degrees by the finish — and Caldwell wrote that she had to walk a couple of miles to the subway, “which felt horrible at the time but was probably good for my recovery.”

Tuesday, she tried to stay off her feet.

“I have a lot of blisters, but I may try to roll out a little bit,” she wrote. “I probably won’t train for a few days and maybe just do a couple of bike rides later in the week.”

Her sister, Sophie, cheered her on near the finish. Definitely inspired to run a marathon someday, she wrote in an email that she’ll probably wait until after she’s done skiing professionally to avoid injury.

But the 2014 Olympian does know a lot about taking care of yourself after any race — especially endurance events.

No. 1: Fuel Properly
“Even though you might not have much of an appetite, eating and drinking enough would be really important,” Sophie wrote. “It’s probably also important to move a little so you don’t get too stiff and tight and then maybe an ice bath if you dare (I don’t).
No. 2: Accept and Minimize the Burn
“I think getting sore is inevitable, but there are definitely ways to make it less miserable! I was giving Isabel piggy back rides today, so I’m not sure she did the greatest job with recovery! In her defense, she had to sit in the car for four hours to drive back to Hanover.”

Isabel Caldwell and others in the Dartmouth crew who ran the 2014 Boston Marathon. (From left to right: Caitie Meyer, Oscar Friedman, Erik Fagerstrom, Isabel Caldwell, David Sinclair. Not pictured: Annie Hart) (Photo: Nancy Seem)