Conquering The Post-(Big) Race Blues

Having the right plan can help
to ward off those post-race blues.
Photo: bostonmagazine.com

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The post-race blues are a real thing.  And the longer the preparation time and more significant the event the more dramatic these feelings tend to be.  There is a way, however, to minimize or even prevent the phenomena.  It can be done with just three steps.

Step #1: Own It.  Learn From It.  Move On.
Race performances are almost always viewed through the narrow prism of "success" or "failure".  And often the greater the sacrifices in pursuit of these outcomes, the more pronounced the emotions.  Both pride and regret require an incredible amount of energy to maintain and ultimately neither will serve you well going forward.  The first step to beating the post-(big) race blues is owning the performance, learning lessons from the experience, and then moving on.

Own It
No matter what the outcome was or how you got there, you must take personal responsibility for what happened.  Growth is only possible if you acknowledge that it is you, and you alone, that determines your fate.  

Learn From It
If (secretly) the reason we challenge ourselves is for the number of "Likes" on our social media accounts after the event, then we potentially miss out on an incredible opportunity to achieve higher levels of performance.  What we learn from these experiences is far more significant that what we achieve from them.  Kudos, PR's, and trophy's only serve to bolster our Ego and keep us idling in place.  But if we can learn from the experience then we grow.  And with growth there is development both as an athlete and as a person.  

Move On.
This is often just as difficult for the athlete that viewed the event as a "success" as for the athlete that viewed it as a "failure".  But once the lessons are learned and cataloged, both need to tie a bow on the race and move on.  The longer an athlete commits energy to maintain the emotions of the outcome (positive or negative), the more exaggerated the eventual post-(big) race blues will be.

Step #2:  Get Back To Activity
For the same reasons the taper caused feelings of restlessness, sleeplessness, and anxiety the post-race period has the potential to do the same.  See my recent article on tapering and endocannabinoids.  The sooner you can get back to being routinely physically active the sooner you'll be able to balance brain chemistry and start to feel like yourself again.  You don't have to be running to take advantage of the mental benefits of exercise.  In the week following the race choose cross- and complimentary-training activities that limit or avoid impact.  Examples include cycling and strength training.  Keep the consistency high but the intensity and duration relatively low.  

Step #3:  Create A New "Why"
For the last six months or more, every training session had a purpose.  As athletes we crave a "why" for our efforts.  It gives the tough training sessions more value and motivates us to push through fatigue, scheduling challenges, and discomfort.  After the big race has concluded the "why" fades away in the distance.  We find ourselves struggling to find motivation to do much of anything.  The last step in conquering the post-(big) race blues is finding your next "why".  This may be your next race but it may also be your next cycle of training.  Whatever it is, finding your next focus will help set your intrinsic cause and effect mindset toward action again.

Why The Finish Line Isn't The End

A well constructed recovery plan
will help you get back to training
safely, effectively, and efficiently.

"The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race."  ~Anonymous

Most training plans are filled will intricate details of distances and pace targets that culminate with an event.  Yet what you do in the seventy-two hours following an event of marathon distance or greater plays a large role in how safely, effectively, and efficiently you are able to return to training.  Endurance athletes tend to have busy race schedules.  It's not unusual for some to have multiple events of marathon distance or greater planned in the same calendar year.  This ambitious race schedule not only places a tremendous emphasis on preparation but also recovery.  Here are the essential elements of a post-event recovery protocol;

Immediate Post-Race
They've hung the medal around your neck, you've visited with family and friends, and now you finally have a chance to sit down.  Take a deep breath.  While the race may be over, the event still has one last critical element to execute...the recovery.  

Once a race has finished the top three immediate recovery priorities are hydration, glycogen replenishment, and tending to minor medical needs.  The most effective way to re-hydrate is with an cold isotonic solution.  The amount is generally commensurate with the length of time and type of environment to which you were exposed.  A good place to start is with 20-24 ounces of this type of fluid.  Be cautious not to over-consume before you've tended to the second priority; glycogen replenishment.  The most effective way to replenishment glycogen following a glycogen-depleting activity is to consume a beverage containing a ratio of carbohydrates and proteins tailored to your individual needs within an hour of the event.  Finally, before you leave the venue make sure to tend to minor medical needs.  Commonly these involve the skin which is not only the largest, but also the most vulnerable, organ of the body and subject to integrity issues (ie. blisters, chaffing, etc).  

Post-Race Evening
Now that you're home and showered there are five things to do before your head hits the pillow for some well earned rest.  

1.)  Respect Food Cravings
Your body has a unique ability to signal which nutrients it needs through food cravings.  This is particularly true following an exhaustive event.  Listen to these cravings and follow their lead.  

2.)  Hydrate
Although it will likely result in you getting up multiple times during the night, continue your hydration plan.  Your objective is to return your urine to a pale yellow color.  It's worth noting, clear urine may be an indication that you have over consumed and potentially have placed yourself in jeopardy of electrolyte disturbances.  Pale yellow is best. 

3.)  Eat A High Performance Meal
Item #1 notwithstanding, the majority of calories consumed should be from healthy proteins and fats.  These nutrients accelerate skeletal muscle repair and assist in the regeneration of key hormones.  As much as possible attempt to limit simple sugars (ie. high fructose corn syrup) as they may contribute to inflammation during a time in which you are attempting to reduce activity-associated inflammation.  

4.)  Boost HGH To Aid Recovery
Consuming a serving of whey protein (mixed with water) within thirty minutes of bed time may enhance human growth hormone (HGH) levels.  HGH may aid in skeletal muscle repair of which you are going to need to do.  

5.)  Get To Bed Early
Although not always practical, it is good practice to get bed an hour earlier than usual.  Physiologic recovery occurs during rest.  Multiple factors may disrupt your sleep pattern following an exhaustive bout of physical activity so it's important to realize that even though you may have a hard time falling and staying asleep, as long as you are laying down you are resting and recovering.

The Next 72 Hours
Despite how you feel when you go down stairs, you are now well on your way to safe, effective, and efficient recovery.  But it's far from over.  The next three days are incredibly important.  Here are the items to focus on;

Physical Practices
1.)  No running for one (1) day for every ten (10) miles raced.  
2.)  Perform a 10-20 minute "active recovery" walk each day.
3.)  Follow that walk with some gentle mobility exercises.
4.)  Continue to get to bed an hour early each night.  

Nutritional Practices
1.)  Increase healthy protein intake in order to provide your body with the building blocks it needs to continue with skeletal muscle restoration.
2.)  Consume healthy fats to continue assist in the regeneration of key hormones.
3.)  Continue to hydrate to a pale yellow urine.  
4.)  Continue to consume a serving of whey protein (mixed with water) thirty minutes before bed.

After the 72 hour post-event period you should be feeling well on your way to completely recovered.  While you follow the "10 Mile Rule", consider adding some non-impact "active recovery" cross-training modalities to slowly increase your activity level and to mitigate significant alterations in form (ie. becoming stale).   

A professional endurance coach can not only provide specific details with respect to the recovery protocols listed above but can also provide guidance with regard to resumption of sport-specific training.  

Marathon Training: Seeing The Forest For The Trees

A well designed plan, executed
with consistency and purpose,
places an athlete in the best
position for success.

"To see the big picture, get out of the dark valleys, climb to the sunny summits."  ~Mehmet Murat Ildan

In the midst of a 16-20 week marathon training plan it's easy for an athlete to lose sight of the big picture.  Every day seems to be precisely orchestrated with minute details of distance, time, and pace.  Coupled with that are the endless emotional highs and lows of training hits and misses.  While it's true that athletes need to commit their full attention to making the most of every training opportunity, it is helpful to understand that a larger picture with a longer view does exist.  

The Daily Grind (aka. The Trees)
Endurance athletes are asked to focus on what's directly in front of them, taking on today's training challenge with full attention and commitment.  It is only then that the athlete optimizes the time spent.  Every training unit has a prescribed intensity and duration.  This is known as training volume.  Training stress is the daily accumulated volume of exercise (both endurance and strength training).  It's important to note that it includes training units that are successfully completed and those that are not.  

The Big Picture (aka. The Forest)
Endurance coaches are keenly interested in both the objective execution and subjective analysis of individual training units.  Both the objectivity (data) and subjectivity (feelings) help the coach to understand how the athlete is tolerating the training stress.  It can never be predicted, with any acceptable degree of certainty, how an athlete will handle a larger training cycle at the outset.  The flexibility to adjust a training plan from day to day, week to week, and month to month is the hallmark of effective athlete-coach communication and engagement.  

Ultimately the athlete-coach relationship results in the improvement of sport-specific fitness.  Fitness is the result of accumulated training stress over a period of months.  A properly designed plan will gradually place increasing training stress on an athlete to stimulate sport-specific accommodation.  Fatigue is a by-product of training stress and represents the impact of the last few weeks of training.  The difference between fitness and fatigue is referred to as form and describes an athlete's readiness to perform optimally.  During periods of advancing training stress, it's expected that an athlete will carry more fatigue than fitness.  This is represented by prolonged periods of negative form values and subjective reports of tiredness from an athlete.  Both are monitored closely by an endurance coach.

With one eye on the present, effective endurance coaches look ahead to the apex of training and the subsequent taper to assure that the athlete has reached adequate levels of fitness and then successfully shed fatigue while mitigating losses in fitness to arrive at race day in optimal form.  The specifics of the apex and taper help the athlete and coach set reasonable performance goals.  

While much planning, preparation, and focus is rightfully given to race day, endurance coaches must also see and plan beyond the event.  This includes immediate and remote recovery practices (nutritional and physical) as well as training logistics (time away from running and off-seasons).  Taken together, this overall training plan results in both readiness to perform in the short-term and long term sustainability of performance.