Race done. now what?

If you've read my last Blog post, you'll know that a week ago I ran in the Race to the Stones 2025 event. And you'll also know that I stepped down from racing the 100km to just enjoying a day out on the 50km route instead due to the extreme weather (heat). It was the right thing for me to do.

All this meant I felt pretty fresh the following day when I was anticipating several days of fatigue. however many fantastic runners didn't alter their plans and soldiered on for the full 100km, or whatever their planned distance was and are now firmly in that "what now" phase. So I thought I'd try add some coaches advice to perhaps help a few.

Post race slump

Yes it's a thing, and honestly happens to most of us unless we have another event in relative quick succession to get back training for. Don't sweat it, it's part of the cycle and after a hard training period leading up to your race, followed by the excitement of the race itself, having nothing near or maybe planned at all can leave us all feeling....well, a bit meh!

How to get over it? There's no magic sauce but personally I find that setting a new goal or finding the next race tends to help me regain focus and drive, it doesn't have to be soon either, just something that gets you excited when you think about it.

It's ok to take a break. Actually it's recommended!

With running, and anything really, if you're super focused and pushing 100% of the time you're likely to experience burnout or worse, injury. Also, after race day you'll almost certainly be suffering fatigue both physically in your legs and mentally after the stimulation of training and racing.

This is the perfect time to put your feet up and take a wee breather. Science tells us that it takes approx 3 weeks for any noticeable fitness to drop off if you suddenly stop and do nothing, and even then it's very gradual. So whilst you might not feel that's necessary, taking a week or so isn't going to step you back. If anything, the mental break is likely to serve you well and bring back the hunger. (note, this is as always in relation to ultra running only).

So in short, take a wee break to allow your legs to fully recover and your mind to reset. For me personally, even though I had no noticeable fatigue in my legs, I've still forced myself to have a week without a single run - more for the mental resetting than anything else. Note, you can still run while resting if you prefer, just make them short (20-30 mins) and real easy (c4/10 on the effort scale). 2-3 runs in the week following a race, adhering to the above in terms of length and intensity is fine - if your body feels up to it. If you developed any niggles in the race, I'd go with passive rather than active rest or visit a professional in the relative field if it feels more serious.

One last thing here, as runners rest shouldn't mean we do nothing. I advise and practice daily stretching sessions in the evening and foam rolling each morning. Again nothing too intense, just enough to keep my legs for seizing up and helping them along the recovery timeline. I find meditation is also great during this period but each to their own. Eating healthy (OK after the inevitable day of gorging on crap) also serves as part a proactive recovery strategy - but we all eat healthy anyway right? erm.....

Just basic looking after yourself, you earned it.

Then what?

So lets say you followed my example and take a whole week off, now what? Well, sticking with my own example, I have another 50km race in September and an very tough 80km race in October, so whilst I don't want to get too comfortable doing nothing, I'm still easing back and this week I'll get 6 hours running in (peak training hours per week for me is about 9 hours at the height of my endurance training block for reference), but nothing too intense effort wise at all. I'll just be enjoying my running for the sake of running this week.

It's not essential you ease yourself back in after such a short break, but equally it doesn't hurt if you want to either. Listen to your body and if you've loose toenails or heeling blisters to contend with, then don't feel you need to jump back on to your next lactate threshold training block just because someone else is. Just get your legs moving a bit.

And next week........

Well next week I'll be right back on it and following the next phase in my training, focused on the two races I have coming up in the next 3 months. Feeling nice and fresh, with a new goal for motivation.

Obviously if you have just completed a race that proper kicked your ass, then lengthening the rest is absolutely fine and slowing down the return to proper training. I've taken nearly a month off after a race before, purely because I didn't feel like it, and you know what......that's fine, it brought me back more motivated than ever. We're all different and have a different set of circumstances.

Conclusion

Ultra running is hard, it's meant to stress your body and test your mental resolve to the max. So you have to play the smart long game. Don't panic about getting straight back on to an aggressive training block. Give yourself time to recover, relax and enjoy the memories of your race. Engage in some gentle but targeted recovery (eat, well, sleep well, stretch) and you'll be better for it once you start the hard cycle all over again.