Just ran my first marathon without training!! What now??

Hey everyone... I just ran the chicago marathon in 6h40min and I didn't train at all for it or eat enough for that matter... Training basically consisted of me running 3.5 miles last week...  It was a very last minute decision... My question to you is what should I eat and how much so that I can recover ok...

Haha, I probably saw you go by ... I was at the 20 km point having my (early) lunch at that Potbelly's before I had to go teach my class. I missed all of the fast people but I watched about an hour's worth of people with various expressions of pain, self-hatred, bewilderment, and some people still having fun go by. I was glad I was sitting and eating,  and not running. 

I say today, as far as eating goes, go nuts. Eat a lot, until you are satisfied, and probably have a lot of protein to help your muscles heal. Other people who know more will probably follow this up. But while you're waiting for them to respond, have a big sandwich :)

I ran a marathon in 1990 and trained for about 3 months with runs varying from 8-10 miles to a max of 20 miles before the actual marathon. Everyone has a different opinon on what works for them -- I never ran over 20/21 miles until the actual race. There are several training programs online that you can access via a simple internet search. Runners World magazine (on and offline) should have some fairly well-balanced itineraries. The imporant thing is to not run too often (e.s. every day) and do not increase your distance too fast. If you typically run 6 miles, your "long runs" can likely be pushed to 8+ miles but not 10+ or you risk overuse injuries.

In terms of eating, carbs are important. Complex are the best - whole wheat pastas, rice, etc.  I remember that Cream of Wheat was the BEST after a long training run. If you don't eat enough you risk injury because your body is trying to feed itself while you are pushing it to work harder. Depending on your weight, age, etc. you can burn upwards of 600 calories an hour running. I am 41 and in a 90 minute run will burn close to 850 calories. So eating enough after a long run is important.

Have fun. The marathon was one of the life events that I still remember. I just ran my first 1/2 marathon in over 18 years and am now thinking about training for another full marathon.

Good for you and Congrats!

Congratulations on your accomplishment!

Your muscles need to heal. Protein will help with that.

I suggest not to run for the next 3 to 6 days (at least) otherwise you might injure yourself. And then don't run hard for another week after that. Rule of thumb it takes a day per mile for your body to recouperate from a race.