Sometimes it's mental as well as physical especially if you loaded all your energy into a particular race. Do you have another race coming up soon that your excited about?

I'd say I recover much quicker the fitter I am. I can remember doing my first Olympic distance race 10+ years ago and being sore for close to a week. Now, two to three days after a 70.3 (depending on how hard I need to dig on the run) I feel I'm pretty much back to normal training.

For me, recovery isn't resting, but active recovery I find is better than doing nothing. Either an easy spin on the bike or an easy swim for a couple of days does the trick after a bigger race.

As a point of reference, I'm generally in a position to contend for AG podiums in bigger races and OA in smaller races.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Post race blues? WTF is that?

for a full or a half distance triathlon the following week is certainly going to be a recovery week. For both I'm taking a minimum of 2-3 days completely off. Then the rest of the week I do some easy swim or easy bikes. If I run, it will be at the tail end of the week and something short and easy. After the half, if I have another big race to train for I might add some intensity near the end of the week but it's likely to be short in duration. Part of it is mentally recovering

That's what I was wondering. After a big race I generally have the opposite effect, the post race bliss. Maybe if the race went badly it would be different, but I generally am in a much better mode the week or 2 after a big race.

I put out a decent effort last Saturday on a Sprint Tri, it was a C race and really just a longer training session...did a pretty fast and long run on Monday and then woke up sick as a dog on Tuesday. Perhaps it's the polin or perhaps I need more recovery than I gave myself. Dunno.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I'm with you. After a big IM, I am most typically enjoying playing tourist at the destination. And as soon as I'm back, I'm thinking about the next race, the next trip, the next big event.

It is not uncommon for athletes to experience a post-race blues a 7 days to three weeks after a race that would be considered an "A" race, pinnacle of their season, or anything that pushed their physical and mental limits via endurance, intensity, environmental conditions, etc.

The blues are just that: you just don't have anything "deep down/in the soul" for a little while after one of these "A" races, to go out and formally train. You can literally just feel depressed. A lot of times you can "ride" some peak fitness coming off a "A" race for a while, but eventually either psychologically and/or physically you experience a natural decline in the need or want for exercise. This could be because of many things, but just some of which could be:
there is no imminent "future" to look forward to; the race is over, now what?
lack of structured training
tiredness and deep fatigue from the race
disappointment from your "A" race results
You experience deep fatigue within only a few minutes of trying to workout
The list goes on

For the OP, I take a solid 2 weeks off (nothing, except easy walking, hiking less than 30, yard work) from a 70.3, 3 weeks to a month for an IM. The best way to handle the blues for me is focus on other things, like stuff that I put off and delayed because the last month of training and race prep likely took priority, and list is usually pretty long. Once my list is getting wrapped up and I'm getting ahead, boom, its been at least 2 weeks. Distract yourself from focusing on the training and racing for a while, let your body rebuild. Once you're in a place mentally (i.e. be objective) to look at the data from the season and race, you can start planning some stuff out, and get excited about the next race, new equipment you need, building your season, planning the race-cation, and subsequently getting back to work.

---

Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results