Hi Everyone,
Wow, the weather across the UK has been fantastic and going into summer, it can only get better! With this great weather, there is so much fun to be had participating in outside activity - whether it be before or after work with your training partner/s or on the weekends with family and friends. Even if you’re feeling low on energy, a stroll through the park, taking in the sunshine can do wonders for your mood. Plus it will leave you feeling energized for the day or evening ahead!
Last month, we looked at our preparation, taper, goal setting and race plans to focus on leading into an upcoming race. With that mastered, I thought we should now cover the recovery process after races and how we can re-focus on our next goal and keep moving forward with our fitness routines. I believe we sometimes overlook the ‘recovery’ process after races. Even the elite athletes sometimes experience ‘down’ or ‘high’ periods after races (obviously depending on their result!) where they simply couldn’t be bothered with the little things after races that will greatly enhance recovery for the next event or simply so they can just resume some activity for week ahead. It is so important to recover well – as you put in so much hard work beforehand, you don’t want to lose this by getting injured or sick after an event!
For me, after I finish my race, I will get some carbohydrates into my body within 20min. Often I feel a bit sick after races and don’t want to eat right away, so an apt way of getting this fuel back into my body, is to have a sports drink – especially one which has a high concentration of carbohydrates/protein. Powerade have fantastic products especially for this – check out their website for information. If the race has been run in hot weather, you must refuel your body with electrolytes also – once again, have a look at the products on offer from Powerade – there is plenty to choose from including many flavours to suit you! If you can eat something, have a recovery bar, or a banana or a muffin. Make sure you have a good meal within about 3 hours of your race – I usually feel very hungry by this time so always look forward to going to a great café or relaxing at the after race event dinner enjoying some great food!
After you have had a bite to eat or consumed a recovery drink, you should do a bit of a warm-down. I know you’ll feel very tired, but the worst thing you can do after a race, is to sit down and do nothing. You should even just walk around for 10min or go for a little jog. Anything really – just to get the lactic acid out of your system and ensure your body won’t stiffen up as believe me, you’ll feel it the next day if you forget to do a little recovery exercise after the run! Even when I run marathons, often the last thing I feel like doing after the race is a ‘run’ warm down…..so I just walk. I know it is important to do a warm down. I really enjoy these walks as I take it very easy and think about the race, etc plus can take in the atmosphere around me of all the other participants at the event and how excited everyone is to be also finishing!
After warming down, ensure you have a change of clothes with you as often at events, you hang around for ages afterwards. If you’re in sweaty, running clothes, you could get sick quite easily from being cold. I always put on compression socks too, keeps me extra warm if I am hanging around at events also! Make sure you do hang around a bit at post-race events as all the Great Runs have wonderful after race parties and lots of things for the whole family to do. You can relax at these, enjoy a few drinks with your mates (although not too many as alcohol does delay the healing process) and have some lovely food. Plus usually the traffic is very bad getting out of events with so many participants. Why not just relax at the event rather than be stuck in your car for hours trying to leave?
If you have time – a great couple of extra things to do for recovery is to have a massage (often you can get a massage for free at the post-race expos/parties!) and have an ice-bath at home (freeze some ice cubes beforehand) or dip your legs in some cold water if there is any nearby the race or where your live. I always do both of these things after races, as it will give you that extra edge and won’t cost any money – just if you have the time or commitment to treating your body after.
I think is is helpful to do some sort of post-race analysis – it doesn’t have to take very long, just step back and think about how you completed your race – did you go out too hard? Did you finish fast? Did you feel relaxed during it or tired from the start? Many questions to answer – this doesn’t have to be complicated though. If you felt tired before the race, maybe you trained too hard in the week prior to the event. If you started too hard and couldn’t finish very well, maybe in your next race you need to work on your pacing. If you finished fast, maybe you are capable of a much quicker time. Write into our forum at
Take to the Streets if you want any help with post-race analysis! We are only too happy to offer advice! And hey, it is just a bit of fun to think about how you ran your race … as long as you’re keen for more and enjoyed it, that is the main thing!
In the week following the race, make sure you take a few easy days and do no hard training (especially no races). You must give your body time to rest and recover both physically and mentally. Maybe during this week, focus more on spending a bit more time socializing or time with your family rather than training as much. Then get back into it all again the next week and re-focus on your next event/ goal.
Good Luck!
Benita.