You dreamed for so long about running a race. After months of grueling training you finally did it! The past months you were so disciplined and focused. After you cross the finish line you start thinking about the celebration dinner and drinks. All the foods that you haven’t allowed yourself to indulge in, for such a long time because they would interfere with your training. The cold beer that your friend said is waiting for you. You are salivating as you pack up your things and leave the race. You definitely deserve it after all of your hard work.
OR
You just finished your race and are on such an adrenaline high that you can’t wait for the next one. Right there you decide you aren’t going to take a break and will start training extra hard in order to drop your time even lower than this race. Tomorrow you will wake up extra early to be able to train longer before heading to work.
Are these the best choices for your body post race? How much time should you recover after a race? What should you do while recovering? What should you eat?
Muscle Recovery
Racing damages your muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons. They need to recover before you are ready to start your next training schedule. Cyclists will recover faster than runners because there is less damage from cycling. Every step you take when running creates a larger force on the joints (see tips and tricks) than any force created while cycling. You can’t change gears while running to take strain off the body while going up and down different terrains.
If you were to completely stop all activity right after your race you will quickly decrease your fitness level as well as cause your muscles and joints to stiffen. Doing an activity at a lower resistance is an active recovery period. This will increase the blood flow and move the lactic acid around so that your body can easily eliminate it. There are many different studies about which activities you should do. Some researchers suggest that you do the same activity while others suggest that you use completely different muscles such as a runner will now swim or cycle. Neither has been disproven so you can decide if you would like some variety in your work out or stick with what you like.
Quite often people start training as soon as their muscles aren’t sore anymore. Ligaments and tendons take longer to heal than muscles. The best rule of thumb for post recovery is.
For every 2 miles or 3000 meters you run take on an active recovery day such as walking or a slow jog.
So if you ran a 10k you would have 3 easy days. A marathon would stay at a slow intensity for 14 days. Once you start increasing the intensity you may find that the soreness starts to increase each work out or it has never fully gone away then you need to take even more time off for recovery. Massage is a great help in relieving sore muscles and lactic acid, right after a race to aid in recovery of this soreness.
Another good check to see if you are ready to get back to training is to take your heart rate within a minute of standing up. If it is higher than normal your body is still recovering. Keep checking a few times every day to see if it changes. Your nervous system still needs to heal. Sleep is very important for the nervous system to recover.
Nutrition and Rehydration
One to five hours after a race your body is able to store glucose as glycogen at a much faster rate than usual. Glycogen is fuel for your muscles. The faster you can get this into your body the faster your muscles will recover. Foods high on the glycemic index are your best choice. Complex carbs such as whole grain bread, pasta, brown rice, and potatoes. If you are someone who gains weight easily be careful as to how much you do consume. It is better for your muscle recovery to consume a bit too much than too less, but not good for your weight. Try not to indulge in too many rich foods. A little won’t hurt, but try to maintain healthy and balanced meals the majority of the time. It can take up to three days to replenish your glycogen stores after a really tough running race. Cyclists are able to eat while cycling, while runners find it tough to digest foods while running.
Immediately after your race consume 1 gram each of protein and carbohydrate per kg of body weight. Within 24 hours of your race have 10 grams of carbs per kg of body weight to fully replenish your energy stores.
Rehydration is also crucial. You sweat out a lot of sodium of which is important for muscle contraction. Opposite to your usual nutrition you should add a bit of salt to your foods for a few days post race.
Weigh yourself every day after the race. Once you reach the same weight as you were pre race you know you have rehydrated yourself.
Continue with your active recovery until you are fully hydrated. Sports drinks are meant for post work out recovery. They contain glucose, sodium and other electrolytes and minerals necessary for recovery.
Races are great for goal setting and keeping you on track, health and fitness wise. Post race is just as important as your pre race training. Developing good recovery habits will help you race for many years to come.
Have a great race season! |
