Race recovery ideas: Sock 'em to me

Triathlon Forum
1

So, it’s now 7 days after my half ironman race. I go on a 6 mile run this morning, at a pretty good pace. And feel fantastic. Then I go home and am overwhelmed with the need to take a nap. I was “out;” I mean this nap went on for a good 2.5 hours. (This after getting a great night’s sleep.)

Same thing earlier this week. On 3 different days I had a swim, a bike, and a run, each pretty short. In each case I felt GREAT during the workouts, but afterwards, would feel like taking a nap.

Last year (after my very first half ironman) I recovered better; I don’t remember feeling like napping.

So I might be a little overreached in my training right now. I raced GREAT (fast) but my “peak” workouts just prior to the race were NOT fast. Quite sluggish.

I don’t have any other signs of overtraining. No appetite problems, sleep problems, mental burnout, crabbiness etc. My training load in the 2-3 months leading up to the HIM was normal, not overdoing it, I think. But this year I did train a relatively ambitious volume for longer (since February) and I suppose there is a possibility my body has just decided it is “done” for the year.

Hood to Coast Relay is now 2 weeks away. (~16 miles of running.) My original plan was to do a mini-race simulation this Monday. 2 x 5 miles, a few hours apart. Now I’m wondering if I should just skip that. I should be able to do HTC on my residual HIM fitness and I’m not exactly racing with a competitive team. It’s just for fun.

Looking for recovery ideas here.

Stop training entirely for a few days/1 week/all 2 weeks, and just do some walking and yoga?
Keep doing s/b/r sessions, but keep them short and nap afterwards if I feel the need?
Run only - to keep limber for HTC - but rest on the other days (instead of s/b)?
Etc.

I did a search but could find precious little info here on race recovery. Most of it seems to be along the lines of, “I just did some light training for a week” or “I fully recovered in 2 days.” I’m looking for something a bit more specific!

Thanks in advance for the ideas.

2

Well, here’s my normal rundown. I am also 8 days post and I’m rarin to go, way better than last year where it took about 2 weeks to get back to feeling normal - this time was 5 days. Being 7 days out, it’s too late for most of it. Really sounds like you have overtrained, even though you say not, the reaction your body is having says contrary.

Immediately (<20min) after race I suck down a recovery drink. Yeah, I’m a consumer-weenie but I have no desire to prepare the RIGHT combo of foods to get the RIGHT amount of crap back into my body and quick. Including carbs, protein, and lots of anti-oxidants to help undo a lot of the damage I just did

next day, 30-60min spin

2 days post get a deep tissue massage by an EXPERIENCED massage therapist.
2 days post 30-60min spin

3 days post swim

I don’t run until a week later or so. Being a clydes, I also take more abuse than the smaller folk, and usually something is lingering hurting (like this year outside left ankle). So I will delay that a bit, but most folk would/should get an easy run 3-5 days post

Sleep, whatever the body says, it gets. I napped day 1, 2, 3. I wanted to nap day 4 work prevented that.

Eat, whatever the body wants, it gets. Listen to cravings.

1 week post , back into everything at low intensity ramping through the week.
2 weeks post, back to normal.

Usually I tend to race a sprint 2 weeks after my HIM just because of the ways the schedules work. I tend to do fairly well at the sprint and it’s my first “Real” speed work on the run (although bike/swim I’ll be back to it in a week post).

but from what you describe, you overreached. Starting in FEB for an AUG Half? That seems like too long to me, by a lot. I started in May.

I lack the experience to tell you re: doing minirace or not. For me, I’d skip it and continue to conserve myself for the next race. YMMV

hope it helps

3

Sounds like your tank is still on E.

I know exactly what you mean - you can have a great workout, but then you’re totally depleted. I’ve been there for a while - finally digging myself out. I don’t think it’s a muscle issue where something like massage is going to help. It’s everything in your body trying to repair and regain some kind of balance.

I vote for doing what you feel like as long as it’s short and low intensity. I wouldn’t race or push too much until you know that you’re back to normal. I don’t think it’s something you can force.

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And don’t forget you raced in very hot weather which took even more out of you. I’d sleep as much as you need and probably bag the mini-race sim workout.

I’ve swam twice this week, a big 1,100m and 1,500m, but that was enoug, and I’ve been falling asleep by 9PM nearly every night. THought about riding the cross bike yesterday, but didn’t. Maybe today.

clm

5

I felt the same way after my last HIM and I took the bike computer and watch off for a couple of weeks and just rode and ran around when I felt like it at a fairly noodling pace.
It is as relaxing mentally as it is physically. Good luck.

6

It’s true, my race was in the HEAT and I elected to spend some time lying in the med tent with ice on my forehead, cooling down. A nurse brought watermelon & pineapple to me (the perfect high-glycemic post-race food) and I followed that 45 min. later with the pasta salad and chicken. But, yes, I forgot that heat can have a lingering effect on the body so I will try to respect that.

I did get a massage. The muscles and joints feel fantastic. It is some kind of deeper fatigue.

I wouldn’t really say I was “training for a half ironman” since February. It was more like this: It was a very sunny spring here in northern CA and I just felt like being on my bike. All the time. I averaged about 6-7 hours a week on the bike in the spring, all LSD stuff, and that had the effect of shooting my weekly training volume up compared to last year.

Got invited to a zillion bikes rides today but instead, I’m just going to toodle over to the farmer’s market on my commuter bike. Done.

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions. I knew there had to be people on ST who would admit it takes them longer than 2 days to recover from a HIM!