Lucy B – Recovery Techniques
For me after a race, good or bad, I look to the future and start planning. It’s crazy that whilst racing you think “Why do I do this to myself?” but once you cross the finish line and see what you’ve achieved it’s easy to crave that feeling again. After Bogong to Hotham the 3 days following the race I felt great. Too good. I actually stopped and wondered if I had really pushed. It wasn’t until the Thursday after the race that I felt like I had been hit by a brick wall and that feeling stayed around for a solid week as I tried to figure out how I was going to get that good feeling back and be ready for my next race, The Shotover Moonlight marathon (Feb 20).
In the past, as a female I’ve never had to work super hard to place well, but it’s obvious to see the quality and quantity of females is much higher than before and it’s when you have a real battle on the trails that you become a lot more exhausted. This is something I have had to learn the hard way and now I look at my calendar and remove races within a one-month radius of another.
“Recovery is just as important as training” is probably the most relevant phrase I have come to understand. It’s great to train hard and race hard but it’s not sustainable if you don’t rest with the same discipline. Here are some ideas of how to recover after a race that I use and keep me feeling happy and healthy even with the brick wall feeling.
- Immediately after: Focus on the foods being placed into your body. After your race your body will want whatever it can have. Maybe you might use this as a reward to yourself – it’s important to take some time to enjoy and breath here
- A few days: Look back on the race, take time to find the strengths and weaknesses. Write these down so the next race you can plan with these in mind and find ways to minimise the negatives
- Within the week: Go for a small run with a smile. 30 minutes easy can change your feelings and kick start the next month. So whilst it might be the hardest few steps you’ll ever run, its important to flush the body, and maybe it’s best to go without the stopwatch
- The following week: A light week with some focus on strength and stretching. This week is a week of cross training, relaxing and enjoyment before you push up the intensity. Find the focus on stretching the muscles and how your body is responding. Maybe even have a massage if you can
- Planning the next race: Now you can look to the future. Find the next goal, but remember you will still need another week to find your feet again. Make the next running goal one that’s achievable, but still a challenge
It’s a complicated routine to build yourself up in training and then break yourself down in racing, and you have to walk a fine line to do it regularly. I am queen of over racing and undermining rest. Ask anyone: My Dad, my coach, my friends, Dave Byrne…But I am learning!
Since Bogong to Hotham I have revisited my plans for racing as I want the feeling of achieving my goal rather than half-assed attempts and receiving a finishing medal.
Looking to the future, for me it’s about the World Skyrunning Championships in mid July and the youth World Championships in late July (remember that thing I said about rest?). But with some time before and after this busy period I will be focusing on the need for quality not quantity in training. I’ll be fuelling the body with the nutrition I know it desires and taking some time to put the feet up and be a spectator at events or on a couch eating homemade kale chips…because I am THAT kind of person. And that’s what make me happy. After all, if you do what makes you happiest you’ll find your body responds in amazing ways.
Happy training, racing and recovering!