The day after running a marathon can be pure torture on the body without the right mix of proper nutrition, hydration and rest. Over 17,000 roughed the San Diego roads this past weekend at the eighth annual Coca Cola Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon on June 5. Although the mild and gloomy day was perfect marathon weather, most finishers are hobbling around this week trying to recover from the stress of putting their bodies through 26.2 consecutive miles of running.

Olympic Marathon gold medallist Joan Benoit Samuelson, along with Lance Armstrong’s personal coach, Chris Carmichael, hosted an exclusive “Muscle Ache Monday” brunch on June 6 at the Hotel del Coronado, sharing tips on hydration, nutrition, training and recovery strategies.

Samuelson, certainly no stranger to marathons, is best known for her gutsy gold medal performance at the first women’s Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles in 1984, where she ran a 2:24:52 after having arthroscopic surgery on her knee 17 days prior. She has also won the Boston Marathon twice, in 1979 (2:35:15) and 1983 (2:22:43). At the Chicago Marathon in 1985, Samuelson won with a 2:21:21 finish, which is the second fastest marathon time ever recorded by a U.S. woman.

Samuelson, who took some time to talk to the Gay & Lesbian Times about her marathon strategies and her outlook on women’s elite distance running, said breaking down the marathon into sections typically helps her handle the distance, and is a strategy she often uses.

“First of all, if you look at the marathon as 26.2 miles it seems very daunting and overwhelming; so what I do is break the marathon course down into maybe a 10K section,” she said. “Then I might put my head back out on a 10-mile training loop – that I like and feel at home and at ease of – and then by the time I finish that I’ve put 16 miles down. Then you only have another 10 miles, so then I say, ‘OK, this is the race.’”

Samuelson rarely looks at a course description before running a marathon. “What I don’t know can’t hurt me,” she said. “Still, I come to run faster to see what’s around the next bend.”

Samuelson is putting in about 50 to 60 miles a week right now as base training before she catapults her training to a more intense level as the 2008 Olympic trials approach.

“I’ll be 50 then,” she said. “I’d like to run a sub 2:50 at that point. Right now I’m just trying to maintain.”

Winners in major marathons seem to be a rarity for U.S. citizens. Samuelson has hopes this trend will change soon. “Deana Kastor really gave us something to hope for,” she said. “She did a great job by winning that bronze in Athens.”

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Kastor came away with a solid third place finish, running a 2:27:20 in oppressive heat. Kastor, 32, currently holds the fastest marathon time ever by a U.S. woman, with a 2:21:16 at the London Marathon in 2003. Kastor bested Benoit’s previous U.S. record by a mere five seconds.

“I think what she did for American running is huge, and hopefully there are other women will follow in her footsteps and become inspired by what she did,” Samuelson said.

Right now, Samuelson believes that the U.S. is not dominating distance running due to grueling collegiate running careers, which can take away from post-college success.

“I think what’s happening is there are a lot of athletes who are very burnt out in college because the long distance runner is expected to run all three seasons – indoor, outdoor, and cross country,” she said. “Multiply that by four years of college and that’s 12 seasons of long distance.”

Samuelson told a crowd of about 50 people she was happy to be in San Diego again, and recalled her first marathon experience.

“I remember running my first marathon and I said, ‘never again - that’s it.’ Then I had a sound sleep two nights later and I said, ‘Well if I had done this one way, and done this a little differently, maybe I could run a little bit faster.’ But I’ve been saying that now for about 25 years and I’m still out there.”

Carmichael, who also spoke at the brunch, has two decades of experience in cycling. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team and was also part of the 7-Eleven team, which was the first American Team to ride in the Tour de France. He lent the audience his knowledge on recovery techniques, and said hydration is a key component.

“Staying hydrated during the event, and post, you have to replenish 150 percent of your fluid loss after the event is over because, actually, as you’re starting to replenish fluids you’re still losing fluids along the way,” he said.

Carmichael also explained that eating the right kinds of protein-rich foods immediately following an endurance event such as a marathon is critical.

“The evening meal afterwards is where you want to take in a lot more protein, because in the evening when you’re sleeping, that’s when your body’s own natural growth hormone is being released, and that aids in repair,” he explained.