If you did the marathon ‘put your feet up until Christmas’

If you completed or took part in last Monday’s Dublin marathon be careful - because now is the time you may pick up an injury, a leading fitness coach has warned.

"Your body is in recovery mode and will be for the next month or so," says Mary Jennings, of ForgetTheGym. "Don't expect to run a speedy 5 km now.

Jennings, who does the Get Running programmes for The Irish Times, says if you did the marathon, you should just "run for fun" for the next few weeks."You may feel fine, but your body is recovering from the marathon and from five months of training," she says. "Remember, you invested a lot of time and emotion in it."

Jennings says you should take it very easy between now and Christmas. “Run for fun, get out and clear your head, or coach someone else,” she says.

Jennings says that it is important for runners not to let the marathon dictate their running future. “You may have had a negative experience - your time may have not been what you expected. That could be because you had unrealistic expectations.

She says you should take the time to go through the race, see what worked and what didn’t. “But remember, it’s only one race at the end of the day.”

She also says you should complement yourself for actually training and taking part in the race, as this is some achievement in itself.

In summary, she says, be kind to yourself for the next few weeks. Don’t worry about training schedules. “Enjoy nice hot baths, good food, plenty sleep and good times with friends and family,” says Jennings. “You all deserve it.”

More running and health tips at: irishtimes.com/healthytown, irishtimes.com/health or irishtimes.com/getrunning