How to recover QUICKLY from a race

One race down, two to go. 
We just completed the Whitewater Triathlon and one week later, we will participate in Gulf Coast 70.3. Six days later, we will race Xterra Oak Mountain. 

Today we slept in and around 9am, we went for an easy ride. We left the house on our road bikes without a specific route in mind. We explored some different roads and made our way back to the house after around 2.5 hours. I ran an easy 38 minutes off the bike, listening to a podcast. 

Although there is no one specific guideline, rule or method to speed the recovery after an endurance event, I feel it's important to walk you through some of the factors that contribute to your recovery time after an endurance event, some of the mistakes that athletes make when recovering from an endurance event and a few strategies to help you get back to good health after an endurance event.

Why is race recovery important? 

When training for an event, you welcome (and need) intentional and residual training stress for proper peaking and then you need to provide the body with a taper, in order to reduce the psychological and physiological stressors of consistent training in order to optimize performance and enhance previous training adaptations. After a race, recovery is the time when the body returns to a normal state of health (physically and mentally), so that you can once again, consistently do high-quality training sessions with no residual fatigue from the last event.

Your body and mind go through a lot - physically, mentally, emotionally - to help you get to a race. Knowing how to properly recover from a race is a way of rewarding your body for all that hard work. But race recovery doesn't mean doing nothing and eating anything.

Many athletes make the mistake of training for one race at a time and not seeing the season as a progression of fitness from race to race. In other words, you can actually gain fitness from race to race, so long as you properly recover and continue with well-planned, structured training. Additionally, you may find that the more you race, the more experience you bring to the next race, allowing you to take smarter risks and dig a little deeper. Taking too long of a break between races may cause you to lose what you gained in previous training/racing. But if you rush back into structured training too soon, you may be at risk injury, sickness or becoming stale, tired and fatigued.

Factors affecting your race recovery

How fast or effectively you recover from an event depends on many factors. While it's good to have a plan for recovery after your race, listening to your body is key. Even within one season, your recovery may differ race to race - some races require a longer recovery time than others (physically and/or mentally).

• Distance of the event
• Athlete experience/fitness level/resiliency 
• Finishing time (time on the course)
• Racing intensity relative to distance
• Racing intensity relative to race priority/season planning
• Race preparation and ability (or lack thereof) to remain consistent to training
• Life stressors (family, travel, personal, work)
• Age
• Athletic ability/resilience
• Length of taper
• Health status leading up to the race
• Nerves/anxiety before the race
• Nutritional status leading up to the race
• Fueling/hydration execution during the race
• Pacing during the race
• Difficulty/ease of race course
• Environmental conditions on race day
• Terrain management on race day
• Type of course layout 
• Setbacks on race day (ex. dehydration, cramping, bonking, nausea/fatigue)
• Post race nutrition, including refueling and rehydration
• Post race sleep habits
• Post race stress
• Post race travel
• Timing of next race
• Mental state post race

Be mindful of the muscle, tendon, bone, joint, heart, organ and brain stress that occurs during an endurance event. Regardless of how your race went, respect your individual recovery process. 

Common mistakes made by athletes in the 72 hours post race
The 72 hours after an endurance event are crucial optimizing recovery. Poor sleep, dehydration, muscle and liver glycogen depletion, mental exhaustion and extreme muscle soreness/tissue damage along with any travel stressors will all affect recovery. Bouncing back too soon may negatively affect metabolic and hormonal health, central nervous system functioning and mood, not to mention lingering fatigue. In other words, if you rush the recovery, you may dig yourself into a hole that you can't get out of for several weeks, if not months - or the rest of the season. However, doing nothing may be just as bad as doing too much for active recovery can help speed up the recovery process. 

Avoid the following post race: 

• Using anti-inflammatories to reduce inflammation 
• Not executing a rehydration and refueling strategy in the 48 hours post race
• Not eating in the 12 hours post race
• Resuming "normal" training, despite being sleep deprived 
• Being too sedentary in the week after your race. 
• Rushinng back into intense training because a race didn't go as planned (ex. didn't PR, podium, etc.)
• Rushing back into intense training because you feel you need to prove something at your next race.
• Rushing back into training because you are worried about gaining weight.
• Rushing back to training because you don't know how to function in life without training
• You hate resting/recovery
• Training because your plan says so and ignoring signs that your body is too fragile/tired/weak/exhausted/sore to follow the structured workouts

Recovery tips
Here are a few suggestions to help you recover from a long distance event.

1. Give yourself two full days to fully rehydrate and refuel after the race. Understanding that it may take time for your appetite to return to normal, it's OK to eat what you crave but just be sure to eat and drink with a purpose to promote recovery. Not eating/drinking for 12 hours after a race is not good!
2. Avoid driving or flying in 4-8 hours after a race. Ideally, give yourself one extra night of rest before you are forced to sit for an extended period of time.
3. Avoid getting a massage in the 24 hours post race. Focus on daily mobility for the next 48-72 hours. Schedule a flushing massage at least 3+ days post race.
4. Skip the pills and focus on wholesome anti-inflammatory and gut-friendly foods like pineapple, fish, ginger and yogurt.
5. Wear compression post race. Graduated compression socks (and not calf sleeves) will help with blood flow, especially when driving/flying.
6. Use a safe,muscle relaxing cream (ex. we use Mg12) or Epson salt baths for tight/sore muscles after a race.
7. Avoid alcoholic beverages in the 48 hours post race.
8. Try to get yourself into a good sleep routine as soon as possible. It's suggested not to return back into structured training (or setting an alarm for an earl morning workout) until you can get a consistent 8 hours of good sleep.
9. Give yourself 2-3 days of no structured training and have fun moving your body with low-impact, non-weight bearing activity when it feels right. Avoid setting an early alarm for workouts or returning back to your structured training regime too quickly. There's plenty of time for that after you recover.
10. Since running is very corrosive on the body, it's advised to keep your runs short (ex. 15-40 minutes) and to lower the intensity when you return back to running. Every athlete is different so I will not make a recommendation when to begin running again post race so be mindful that most athletes can't heal damage tissues/muscles through running.
11. Understand that some body parts will recover faster than others but there could be deep damage inside you that you can't feel. Be careful with intensity in the 3-7 days post race.
12. If you can't keep good form during a workout, stop immediately. Poor/inefficient form is a sign that your body is not yet recovered and you could risk sickness or injury.
13. Have fun in the days after your race. While you may not need a complete break from training,  enjoy non-structured, lower intensity workouts and having a bit more free time in your day, as you slowly ease back into structured training before your next race. 

Keeping perspective of rest days/off-season.

Every athlete and fitness enthusiast will have intentional rest or active recovery days built into the training plan. Right now you may be experiencing a week (or more) long break from training to celebrate your well-deserved off-season.

Recovery (or rest) is important to your athletic development as it gives the body time to adapt to the stressors of exercise and to rejuvinate the mind.

As it relates to nutrition, recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. What you eat (or don't eat) on your rest day or during the off-season will impact your health.

It’s common for athletes to dramatically cut calories or avoid carbohydrates for fear of gaining weight when energy expenditure is low. Or the opposite occurs - a day off from training is seen as a day to eat foods normally avoided for health, body composition and/or performance reasons (aka cheat day).
Many athletes struggle so much with rest that the body never receives an intentional break from training/exercise.

Regardless how you much or little you enjoy your time away from training, unhealthy lifestyle habits may actually hinder your athletic development and set you up for a setback. Therefore, consider your rest day as a growth day – fuel and nourish your body to become a stronger, fitter and healthier athlete.

Because sports that include heavy lifting, endurance activity and all-out efforts can induce excessive inflammation, deplete glycogen stores and damage tissues and muscles, a break from training may be the only opportunity to strategically consume the right type of foods to help you take your fitness to the next level or return your body back to optimum health.

As it relates to nutrition during a day off from training.......

A proper diet includes what you eat on training and non-training days. Whereas many athletes feel rather organized with the diet on training days, rest day or off-season nutrition can be confusing as athletes may struggle to know what and when to eat with the reduced energy expenditure. The basis of a training-supportive diet starts with a healthy foundation of eating. Thus, what you eat on an off-day from exercise (or off season) should not be too different compared to what you normally eat on a training day. Because your workouts require you to strategically consume slightly more energy from carbohydrates, the major change to your rest day diet is the removal of foods that normally support your training sessions (ex before, during and after). Therefore, there’s no need to eliminate carbs or drastically cut back on calories. Use your time away from training as an opportunity to increase your fruit, vegetable, whole grain, protein and healthy fat intake and spend a little extra time in the kitchen on meal prep. Be mindful about grazing and mindlessly eating with your extra free time. If you have a low intensity, short training session (ex. 30-minute easy session) in the morning on your rest day, it’s not critical to eat before the workout so long as you eat appropriately after the workout and you are not experiencing any ill-effects (dizzy/lightheaded/nausea) from a fasted exercise session. 

Recovering from a training camp

A training camp sounds like an awesome experience....and it is!! But it's important to consider the purpose of your training camp in the context of your season so you benefit positively from the camp training.

At our recent Trimarni advanced endurance camp in Greenville, the majority of our campers were training for an Ironman event in the next 4-8 weeks. With months of accumulated training behind them and a lot of resilience and strength, we gently overloaded them with intensity and duration but nothing that would risk injury, burnout, sickness or a health issue. We carefully stretched comfort zones but strictly enforced proper nutrition before and after every workout, sport nutrition usage during all workouts and adequate rest and recovery between sessions. Each workout was planned with the mentality that we will challenge but not break our athletes. We had no issues occur at camp in terms of injury, GI issues or bonking and many of our campers felt stronger as the camp went on.

Having said this, not every camp has the same focus but every camp should be taken seriously for what you do in the days after the camp may make or break your season. Interestingly, many athletes can feel strong during camp and then in the 24-72 hours post camp, they feel weak, run-down, sick and depleted. This isn't unlike what is felt after an Ironman. While it's expected to feel exhausted for a few days after a training camp, it's not normal to feel like you can't get back into training later on in the week. Although each athlete is different, there are risks to participating in a training camp and one of those is not being able to bounce back into structured training.....which kinda defeats the purpose of a training camp - to boost fitness.

Despite feeling superhuman during camp (not to mention enjoying the stress-free atmosphere without work, kids, laundry, commuting and other daily to-do's), most athletes are eager to get back into training way too soon which places extra fatigue on an already fatigued body. Considering that the heart, brain and other organs experience just as much stress as the muscles, tendons and bones, it is important to respect the body in the 24-72 hours and focus on recovery before trying to get fitter, faster and stronger. You must recover first for the magic of camp to take in effect.

Having said this - recovery does not mean laying around, staying up late watching Netflix, drinking beer/wine and indulging on fast food. Exercise does a body good when you can move blood and loosen out stiff joints. However, working out when sleep deprived, run down and exhausted and in an underfueled state does you no good - no matter how "easy" you take it. Sleep and nutrition should be top priorities in assisting in the recovery post camp and should come before any training session. If you can't get a good night of sleep or eat well, don't make yourself train. Get these lifestyle habits dialed in before easing yourself back into training for the sooner you get your diet and sleep schedule back on track, the sooner you'll be able to stay consistent with your training.  And above all, be an active participant during every workout by listening to your body to ensure that you are actually recovering your body and not overworking it.

Although it's important to rest and recover the body and mind after a training camp, it's not always that simple. It's hard to rest a body that is extremely sore, depleted and tired - just ask any Ironman athlete who experiences post-race insomnia. This is why you really need to give your body time to recover and not "train" - but instead exercise with flexibility and attentiveness until your sleep, diet, GI tract, mindset and body return to good health again. You may struggle with motivation, tightness in the chest, fatigue, sleep issues, stiff joints and even question how in the heck did you put together so many great workouts throughout your training camp? This is all normal and expected so the more strenuous your training camp, the more cautious you need to be with your return to training.

Remember, consistency is the key to athletic excellence on race day. What you do on a daily basis matters more than what you can accomplish (or check-off) over the weekend or during a training camp. Be patient with your body and respect it, especially if it's not recovering as quickly as you'd like after a training camp. When you begin to feel healthy and normal again in the mind and body, that is a sign that you are almost ready to ease yourself back into structured training.

Listening to your body doesn't make you weak. It makes you a smart athlete who knows how to avoid injury, fatigue, burnout and sickness in order to prioritize health over training miles/hours. In the big picture, you'll accomplish far more than the athlete who is injured or sick from trying to get back to training too soon.

Proper recovery nutrition for every type of workout

As a sport dietitian who specializes in endurance sports, one of the most common questions I receive from athletes is, “what should I eat after a workout?”

For the performance-focused athlete, effective refueling strategies can help optimize recovery so that you can achieve the desired training adaptations from your workouts. But recovery nutrition is much more than drinking a smoothie after your swim, bike, or run. 

Specific refueling recommendations vary based on fitness level, volume, and intensity of the workout, body composition goals, menstruation (for females), and daily energy intake needs.

To help you get the most out of your training sessions and to reduce the confusion on what, when and how much to eat post workout, check out this recent article I wrote for Triathlete magazine online. 

To read more: The proper recovery fuel for every type of workout

Recovering from a half ironman distance triathlon

After Ironman 70.3 Florida, Karel and I were pretty sore. Like usual, we tossed and turned all night after the race and woke up exhausted. On Monday after the race, our almost 10-hour drive was rough. By Wednesday, we started to feel a little bit more normal and by the weekend, we felt mostly recovered. Oddly enough, we both felt like we recovered really quickly after the event, despite the normal post-race insomnia and soreness.

Being sore, exhausted and a little run-down after an endurance event is normal. And to be honest, I think many athletes enjoy the feeling that comes with racing in an endurance event as that post-race feeling signifies the effort that was needed to get from the start to the finish. It's kinda like you earned that feeling and you are proud of it. Thinking back to my very first half ironman 11 years ago, the feeling was unlike anything I had ever felt before. As the years went on and I had more half ironman distance triathlons under my belt, I could anticipate what my body would go through after a race. In other words, I became much more comfortable with understanding my body after an endurance triathlon event.

Although there is no one specific guideline, rule or method to speed up recovery after an endurance triathlon event, I feel it's important to walk you through some of the factors that contribute to recovery time after an endurance event, some of the mistakes that athletes make when recovering from an endurance event and a few strategies to help you get back to good health after an endurance event.

Why is recovery important? 

In training for an event, we welcome (and need) intentional and residual training stress for proper peaking and then we need to provide the body with a taper, in order to reduce the psychological and physiological stressors of consistent training in order to optimize performance and enhance previous training adaptations.

After a race, recovery is the time when the body returns to a normal state of health and mind, so that you can once again, consistently do high-quality training sessions with no residual fatigue from the last event.

Many athletes make the  mistake of training for one race at a time and not seeing the season as a progression of fitness from race to race. In other words, you can actually gain fitness from race to race, so long as you properly recover and continue with well-planned, structured training. Take too long of a break and you lose what you gained in previous training but come back to soon, and you remain stale, tired and fatigued with little ability to take fitness to that next level.

Factors affecting race recovery

How fast or effectively you recover from an event depends on many factors. For many athletes, a fixed training plan allows for no individualization that are relative to the factors affecting the athlete before, during and after the race. Even within one season, recovery time for one athlete may differ race to race, whereas some races require a longer recovery time than others.

Factors affecting race recovery include: 

• Distance of the event
• Athlete experience in the sport
• Finishing time
• Racing intensity relative to distance
• Racing intensity relative to race priority/season planning
• Race preparation and ability (or lack thereof) to remain consistent to training
• Life stressors (family, travel, personal, work)
• Age
• Athletic ability/resilience
• Length of taper
• Health status leading up to the race
• Nerves/anxiety before the race
• Nutritional status leading up to the race
• Fueling/hydration execution during the race
• Pacing during the race
• Difficulty/ease of race course
• Environmental conditions on race day
• Terrain management on race day
• Type of course layout 
• Setbacks on race day (ex. dehydration, cramping, bonking, nausea/fatigue)
• Post race nutrition, including refueling and rehydration
• Post race sleep habits
• Post race stress
• Post race travel
• Timing of next race
• Mental state post race

Although you can not control every factor listed above, it's important to consider that your post race recovery doesn't simply include what you do (or don't do) in the 24-72 hours after a race. Although completing an endurance event should bring you great satisfaction and confidence, prolonged activity (specifically in a race environment), plays a signficant role on your health and fitness status going into the race. And in addition to the muscle, tendon, bone and joint stress on the body during an endurance event, there is great stress on the heart, organs and brain. Therefore, recovery after an endurance event should not be taken lightly, nor should it be assumed that just because you complete a race that you will return to 100% health in x-days so that you can get back into training again. 

Common mistakes made by athletes post-race
The 48-72 hours after an endurance event, like a half ironman, are critical for optimizing recovery. Seeing that poor sleep, poor hydration and nutrition, extreme muscle soreness and travel will all impede recovery, athletes should be aware of the consequences of returning back to training too quickly. Considering that racing is a great stress on the human body, returning back to training too soon, without optimal recovery, may negatively affect metabolic and hormonal health, central nervous system functioning and mood, not to mention lingering fatigue. In other words, if you rush the recovery, you may dig yourself into a hole that you can't get out of for several weeks, if not months - or the rest of the season. 

Here are some common mistakes made by athletes post-race:

• Using anti-inflammatories to reduce inflammation 
• Not executing a rehydration and refueling strategy in the 24 hours post race
• Eating "too" healthy in the 24 hours post race
• Eating "too" unhealthy in the 24 hours post race
• Resuming "normal" training, despite being sleep deprived 
• Resuming "normal" training, despite form being affected by soreness and niggles
• Being too sedentary in the 3-4 days post race
• Returning back into intense training because a race didn't go as planned (ex. didn't PR, podium, etc.)
• Returning back into intense training because a race exceeded your expectations and you are itching to get back into training for the next race
• Returning back to training because you don't know how to function in life without training
• You hate resting/recovery
• Following a fixed training plan and not listening to your body post race. 

Get your body back into good health after a half ironman distance triathlon

As a general guideline, I don't believe that any athlete can fully recover in less than 72 hours after an endurance event as glycogen needs to be resynthesized, hydration status needs to normalize, tissues, muscles and fibers need to heal and sleep patterns must return to normal before any type of training (for physical adaptations) is initiated. However, moving blood can certainly help to expedite the recovery process. Here are a few suggestions to help you recover from a half ironman distance triathlon. 

• Give yourself 4-6 hours to rehydrate and refuel after the race. Understanding that it may take time for your appetite to return to normal, it's OK to eat what you crave but just be sure to eat and rehydrate with water and electrolytes. Not eating/drinking for 6-8 hours after a race is not good! 
• Continue to focus on good refueling and rehydration methods for the next 48 hours with permission to indulge as you wish, within reason. By this time, you should be slowly returning to your normal eating habits, emphasizing real, wholesome food options.
• Don't sit in the car or get on an airplane in the 4-8 hours after a race. Ideally, give yourself one extra night of rest before you are forced to sit for an extended period of time, so that you have an opportunity to move your body. 
• Avoid getting a massage in the 48 hours post race. Rehydrate yourself and focus on daily mobility for the next 48-72 hours. Schedule a flushing massage at least 3+ days post race. 
• Consume anti-inflammatory foods, like pineapple, fish and leafy greens in the 48 hours post race.
• Wear compression post race. Graduated compression socks (and not calf sleeves) will help with blood flow. 
• Use a safe and muscle relaxing cream (ex. we use Mg12) on any tight/sore muscles after a race. Avoid taking any anti-inflammatories in the 48 hours post race. 
• Avoid alcoholic beverages in the 48 hours post race. Avoid caffeinated beverages in the 6-8  hours before bedtime. 
• Try to get yourself into a good sleep routine as soon as you can. Do not allow yourself to return back into structured training until you can get a consistent 7-8 hours of sleep without waking up throughout the night. 
• To hurry the recovery process, it's advised to do something non weight bearing and very light  on the body in the 24 hours after a race (if you can spin on your bike for 15 minutes in the hour after finishing a race, that would be recommended). Instead of recovering by being sedentary, try to move blood through swimming and bike riding. 
• Give yourself 3 days to not follow a training plan but instead, exercise as it comes natural to you. When you have the time, go for a swim or spin but avoid setting an alarm or returning back to your structured training regime too quickly. There's plenty of time for that after you recover. 
• Avoid running for at least 72 hours. Since running is very corrosive on the body, it's advised to keep your runs short (ex. 15-60 minutes) while including walk breaks and running every other or 3rd day for the next 5-7 days (ex. if your race is on Sunday, your first run should be no earlier than Wednesday or Thursday and then for the next 5-7 days, you should be running 15-60 minutes every other day or every 3 days). 
• Understand that some body parts will recover faster than others but there is deep damage inside you that you can't feel. Generally speaking, you will not make any additional training adaptations for at least a week and for the less trained/fit, it may take at least 2 weeks to fully recover so that you can begin to train for physiological gains. On the flip side, an elite or trained athlete who is on the verge of overtraining or is racing very intensely, may require 2 weeks to feel fully "healed" after a race. 
• Accept that age, previous fitness and racing execution will affect your recovery. Don't compare your recovery to another athlete, focus only on yourself. 
• If you can't keep good form during a workout, stop immediately. Poor/inefficient form is a sign that your body is not yet recovered and you could risk further damage or injury. 
• Have fun in the 5-7 days after your race. There will be a time to push hard again. Enjoy the lower intensity workouts and having a bit more free time, as you slowly ease back into structured training. 

Everything you need to know about recovery nutrition

You may be surprised to know that vegetarian athletes can easily meet recommended protein recommendations for athletes of 1.2-1.8g/kg/bw protein per day. As a 24.5 year lacto-ovo vegetarian, I have acquired several go-to protein sources in my diet, like cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, grains and whey protein.

As a heavy proponent of real food in the daily diet, my food choices become much more functional before, during and after workouts and thus, I see the purpose of food (and engineered products) differently when it's used to support a training session.

As an example, whey protein is often consumed post workout, specifically when I have an intense or long workout (or two workouts close together). There is a tremendous amount of scientific research on whey protein, in relation to athletes, the elderly, menopause, weight management, preventing muscle loss in trauma patients and burn victims and assisting in performance gains.

Seeing that protein supports muscle and tissue growth, assists in immune system health, helps with tissue structure and supporting enzymatic reactions and fosters health endocrine functioning, without sufficient protein in the diet, your health can become compromised with added training stress.

Athletes should aim for 1.2-1.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day.

As an example, if you weigh 130 lbs (59kg), this equals 71-106g of protein per day.
To break this down, give yourself around 20-30g of protein per each meal which leaves you extra protein to consume during snack times and after workouts. Protein at meal time can help with satiety.

A few take-away messages on daily protein consumption:

• If you are intentionally trying to lose weight or you need to gain lean muscle mass, you will want to focus on the higher end of your individual protein needs to preserve lean muscle mass.
• On higher volume and higher intensity workout days (including double workout days), your daily protein needs should be on the higher end to optimize training-induced muscle adaptations.
• Post workout, don't miss a prime opportunity to recover with protein.

• Every athlete should recognize his/her own post workout preferences, based on appetite, convenience and type of workout. Recovery nutrition should not be skipped or an after thought but instead, it should be easy to find, prep and consume for any given workout.

The importance of recovery nutrition depends on the type, intensity and duration of exercise. Certainly you have heard this over and over again, that you should never miss the opportunity to refuel and replenish after a workout. If you don't recover properly post workout, you may experience the following: 

• Increased fatigue

• Tiredness

• Struggles with increasing lean muscle mass

• Struggles with decreasing body fat

• Delayed recovery

• Immune system depression

• Low motivation and energy

• Increase or delayed muscle soreness

• Inadequate replenishment of carbohydrate stores

• Poor training adaptations - increasing the risk for injury, sickness and overtraining

Many athletes assume that recovery is what happens in the 30-60 minutes post workout but from a practical standpoint as it relates to athletic performance improvements, recovery is everything that happens between two workouts. 

Therefore, it's to your competitive advantage to see every opportunity between the finish of one workout until the start of the next workout, to stimulate muscle repair and replenishment. You can do this through food and other recovery modalities like meditation, sleep and mobility work. 

Most research concludes that your ability to greatly adapt to a training stressor is dependent on what you consume within 60 minutes post workout. In other words, if you want to gain physical improvements, you need proper recovery nutrition and hydration. 

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Sadly, insulin has gotten a very bad rap in our society so simple sugar carbs, like juice and anything with sugar, are seen as a big no-no for athletes. (I'll save my thoughts on sugar for the athlete blog for another time). 

For the purpose of this blog, discussing maximizing recovery, when insulin is spiked post workout, anabolism (growth) is promoted. Low insulin and low blood sugar secretes catabolic hormones, which is completely opposite of what an athlete wants to achieve in the post workout period. 

Post workout, your body is extremely sensitive to nutrient intervention due to an increase in insulin sensitivity and an increase in membrane transport activity. This means that your muscles are highly receptive to soak-up nutrients. To take advantage of this open window, you don't want to miss out on replenishing fuel (glycogen) and promoting protein synthesis (which reduces protein degredation). Recovery nutrition is imperative to your health and development as an athlete!

You do not have to be perfect with your diet to have a healthy and performance enhancing diet. But recovery nutrition should be seen as part of your workout. 

Here are some practical post workout snack suggestions to eat (as tolerated) within 60 minutes post workout after intense or long workouts when you need a snack before a meal. 

• 25g protein powder + 8 ounce water + 1 banana  ­
• 8 ounce low fat chocolate milk + 10­-15g whey protein powder  
• ­8 ounce OJ + 2 egg whites  ­
• 1 serving applesauce + 15g protein powder + 4 ounce milk/4 ounce water
• 25g whey protein + 8 ounce water + 6-10 saltine crackers + honey 
• 25g whey protein + 1/2 cup cherries  ­
• 1 serving Greek yogurt + 1 orange
• 8 ounce milk + 10g whey protein + 1 slice bread + 1 tbsp nut butter  ­
• 1 slice bread + 2­-3 slice deli meat + 1 egg  ­
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese + 2­-4 dates

The first six options are ideal when you lack an appetite post workout or when you need something quick, convenient and easy to digest after an intense or long workout. 

After long or intense workouts, it's recommended to have a recovery snack first (options listed above) and then a real meal. 

When you are ready to eat your meal, your meal can be 30 to 90 minutes after the recovery snack.  

For EZ workouts, you can go right for a recovery meal of protein/fat and carbohydrates.    

Why choose whey protein post workout?   

The purpose of post workout protein is to stimulate protein synthesis. Due to it's high amino acid score and high bioavailability, whey protein isolate continues to rank as the gold standard of recovery protein as it digests quickly and rapidly to stimulate protein synthesis.

As it relates to muscle growth and recovery, the mTOR protein is key to muscle building and rejuvination. In response to loading the muscles with training stress, when mTOR is activated, protein synthesis is stimulated, which helps muscles heal and rebuild. mTOR is highly sensitive to leucine, found in whey protein. One 20g serving of whey protein isolate contains 3 grams of leucine. Other leucine containing foods include egg whites, fish, chicken and beef. 

Although whey protein is an animal based protein (milk is 80% casein protein and 20% whey protein), it is a fast digesting protein that is often well tolerated by lactose intolerant individuals. However, the primary and only ingredient should be whey protein isolate if a lactose intolerant individuals is trying whey for the first time or building up a tolerance. 

In a plant based (or vegan) diet, soy protein is a highly recommend protein source to assist in recovery as soy protein will raise blood leucine levels but not as effectively as whey protein. Hemp, brown rice and pea protein will provide protein but do lack all amino acids to make these plant based proteins complete. However, plant based protein powders should not be avoided in the diet for this reason as they are acceptable (and healthy) sources of protein and provide great value in a vegan diet. 

Why not real food after all workouts? 

Seeing that athletes have high energy demands and a real food diet is encouraged throughout the day to support energy and nutrient needs, a supplemental form of protein, post workout, alongside a real simple carbohydrate food (to help spike insulin) can make it easy to nail the recovery nutrition on a consistent basis - especially if you lack an appetite post workout or you need something quick, portable and easy. 

Selecting the "best" protein powder

Many athletes ask me about a "favorite protein powder" or have questions as to the "best" protein powder. With so many protein powders on the market, here are some of my criteria when searching for a quality protein powder.

1) Serving size - 1 scoop
2) Protein content per scoop  - 20-30 grams
3) Calories per scoop - 80-150
4) First ingredient - whey protein isolate
5) Ingredient list - short! natural flavors, no artificial flavors or colorings, no added sweeteners, minimal to no added sugar
6) Quality manufacture, reputable company
7) Use your best judgement  - is it a quality product manufactured with quality ingredients

Brands I often recommend: Solgar whey to go (vanilla), KLEAN, Blue Bonnet, Vega, Sun Warrior, Hammer Whey, INFINIT raw.

I would be happy to review your protein powder to see if it is something that I would recommend to athletes.

As for Clif Recovery protein (yummo) and other combined recovery drinks with carbohydrates, sugar, sodium and protein......

Ideally, I would recommend this type of recovery product when energy needs are very high and it can be difficult to consume adequate protein and carbohydrates in the diet (ex. after a very long workout or with two intense workouts within a few hours). Or for athletes who continually fail to meet energy needs throughout the day and need a higher calorie sugar/carb/protein recovery drink.  Typically, we use Clif Recovery powder as our go-to recovery drink (mixed with water) at our camps and I will often recommend to my endurance athletes after their long workouts in peak training. Seeing that many athletes lack an appetite after hot and intense/long workouts and crave fluids, it seems to be a very tolerable protein powder with a delicious taste. I typically add a little extra whey protein, cherries and water to my clif recovery drink (all in the blender).

Well, there you have it. EVERYTHING you need to know about recovery nutrition and protein powder. Well, maybe not everything but hopefully enough to help you nail your recovery nutrition post workout. 

If you need help navigating through all the advice on recovery nutrition as it relates to your personal journey, reach out to a sport dietitian to help you take away the guessing so that you can create healthy habits to help you create athletic excellence. 

Post Ironman Kona "long" ride

Look...mountains! 

It's crazy to think that it was just a week ago when we were swimming with fishes in the ocean, and sweating in the lava fields.

This past Saturday, we returned back to our mountains (with arm warmers) and explored a new route on two wheels (on road bikes).

I absolutely LOVE cycling this time of the year - the tree leaves are so pretty!

Our route was familiar to me as I had rode it at the Purple Patch Fitness (PPF) Greenville camp but it was new to Karel. It's crazy to think that we have lived here in Greenville for 2.5 years and have never done the  Green River Cove loop together!!

I am absolutely in love with this 20-mile loop! The beauty, the switchbacks, the descends, the climbing, the flat roads, the river views, the nice pavement, the quite roads, the mountains...it has everything a cyclist should love when riding on two wheels!

Seeing that we will ride this loop at the end of the 80-mile Hincapie Gran Fondo next Saturday (following climbing Skyuka mountain and Howard's gap), it was nice to preview it for an "easy" ride. 

3 hours and 15 minutes, 51 miles and around 4000 feet of climbing......so much fun!

Since Karel is always so kind to let me stay (suffer) on his wheel when he is training, I took some of the pulls to help out his tender, post IM Kona legs.

We hardly ever drive our bikes anywhere as we can ride safely from our doorstep to our favorite country roads, but to eliminate an extra 30+ miles of riding, we drove to Hotel Domestique and started our ride around 9:30am from the hotel (it's also a popular place where many cyclists start their group rides - also the home base for the Purple Patch Fitness Greenville camp). 

Here are some of the pictures I took from our ride.

I absolutely love riding here in Greenville - it's hard for me to not take more pictures! 

Karel is slowly recovering from IM Kona. He is slowly getting back to a normal sleep routine, his appetite is in full force and he has some deep fatigue in his quads. His training (exercise routine) is minimal as he is finally able to fully rest (and reset) his body after a long season of training and racing. 

This recovery is a bit different than the last two Ironman's this summer for a few reasons:

It's the off-season.

No more races until next season.

It's a true break from structured training.

Thinking about the recovery post Ironman, there are many factors that contribute to how quickly an athlete can recover from his/her 140.6 mile effort. Factors like racing intensity, nutrition (daily diet), fueling/hydrating (during the race), prior training/fitness, taper, execution, weather and race course terrain can all dictate how well an athlete can recover before he/she can slowly ease back into more structured training. 

But when your Ironman occurs at the end of the season, it can hit you hard - mentally and physically. Karel and I discussed this topic in great detail during our ride (despite 4000 feet of climbing, we kept the ride pretty conversational.....until Karel made me sprint up the last climb up to Hotel D!). There are a obvious and not-so-obvious strategies of how to transition from Ironman in training to Ironman finisher to finally, an athlete in the off-season.....where you instantly don't feel like an athlete anymore!

Don't over analyze your race. Reflect and then move on.

You are not lazy or out of shape. You are an athlete in his/her off-season.

Pick out the highlight moments in your race experience and keep reminding yourself of those successes.

Determine your weaknesses that were evident in your last race and decide your action plan on how you will continually work on them. 

Start planning your next season of racing.

Don't become sedentary - stay active with non-structured exercise that doesn't reflect triathlon "training".

Don't bash your body or diet/restrict calories. Thank your body and establish smart, realistic and sustainable healthy eating patterns that reflect your current exercise regime.

Plan more fun stuff - go for a hike, kayak/ski, travel, vacation, volunteer.

Select fun low stress, minimal impact events (5K, 10K, bike events, swim events, etc.) to keep yourself motivated.

Recruit your favorite (or new) exercise partners (ex. family or friends) to keep you motivated to work out for health benefits and stress relief.

When you recover, don't train for a running race. Start functional strength training.

Keep yourself "in the sport" - follow blogs, read articles, subscribe to magazines. Don't completely "check out" of the sport.

Give yourself a break - you deserve a break from structured training. Create a new normal and enjoy it. Don't wake up and live each day with guilt and a deep feeling that you should be doing more. There will be a time to train hard, set an alarm for an early wake-up, go to bed early and make sacrifices. Your off-season is not that time. 

Be ok with this temporary, but necessary, time to let your body fully recover and rejuvenate.

Your Ideal Recovery Meal

Are you under the impression that protein powder is the only way to recover after a workout?
-----------------------

Athletes who train consistently hard on consecutive days are the ones who are able to get stronger and perform better in races. The key to this isn't just a loud alarm clock or superhuman willpower, however, it's recovering quickly from training so you can train hard, day in and day out. Nailing your post-workout nutrition promotes quick recovery, reduces muscle soreness, builds muscle, improves immune system functioning, and replenishes glycogen—all key building blocks in setting you up for tomorrow's session.

When we consume meals or snacks as soon as possible post workout (ex. within 30 minutes), our muscles become primed to accept key nutrients that can replenish glycogen and encourage protein synthesis. As a reminder, recovery includes everything that happens between two workouts which theoretically means that your recovery nutrition "window" is open all day.

Together, carbohydrates, protein, and fats are essential to maximize recovery, and thus, training. When athletes load up only on protein or carbohydrates—two of the usual suspects in most recovery meals—athletes will likely fall short of meeting dietary fat needs, which play an understated but important role in overall health, as well as promoting feelings of fullness.

The day to day foundation of an athlete's diet should be made up of real foods—wholesome by nature and rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Whereas the purpose of recovery nutrition is to help an athlete refuel, rehydrate, and repair (and eventually build), athletes often fall short on recovery nutrition due to a rushed lifestyle, poor planning, loss of an appetite, or the tendency to reward or restrict food (for a variety of reasons). Coupled with a body that is mentally and physically exhausted, it's not a shock that athletes find it easier to make time to train, but not to plan healthy recovery meals.

Although recovery nutrition has evolved into a precise and complicated science, taking into consideration age, gender, environmental factors, fitness level, workout intensity and duration, endurance athletes should recognize that a real world setting may not allow you to eat perfectly after every workout. Thankfully for us, recovery nutrition is quite simple. 

Check out my latest Ironman article with a detailed 4-step guide to building the perfect post-workout recovery snack or meal.
Proper recovery nutrition is at your fingertips.

CLICK HERE to read the article. 

And in case you missed it:
Learn more about: Explore Cuisine Gluten-free pastas

And check out these recipes: Explore Cuisine recipes

Recovery tips from race to race

Photographer Pat Hendrick

Last Saturday was my first triathlon of the season and first race since the 2013 Ironman World Championship in October.

If you are a Trimarni follower, you know that the foundation of our philosophy lies in training smarter to train harder in order to reach success faster. But we also believe that if you want to train hard, you have to recover harder.

Recovery can be challenging for many athletes after a race. Some athletes struggle to physiologically recover from the damage that has been done through racing whereas other athletes struggle mentally to respect the body with rest after a race.

It's very difficult to predict how an athlete will recover from a race because there are so many factors that come into play. Even for myself, I find myself recovering differently from every race, every season.

What can affect your recovery after a race?

-Health and fitness status going into a race
-Weather and terrain of a race
-Race priority
-Stress/nerves/anxiety
-Race distance/intensity
-Diet/hydration status before a race
-Fueling strategy during a race
-Pacing strategy during a race
-Timing of the next race

It's likely that you have a few A or high priority races planned on your racing schedule this year and perhaps a few tune-up and/or lower priority races.

For Karel and myself, we have 3 top priority races this year.

In 4 weeks - St Croix 70.3 - A race (Karel and Marni)
4 weeks after St Croix 70.3 - Raleigh 70.3 (Karel only)
8 weeks after St Croix 70.3 - Ironman Austria (Karel and Marni) - A race
2 week mid-season break/visit Karel's family in Czech Republic
10 weeks after Ironman Austria (22 weeks from this weekend) - Ironman Wisconsin (Karel and Marni) - A race. Goal is to reach our season peak at this race and race the best we can and try to race our competition in order to 2015 Kona qualify.


As a coach, I try to be as involved as possible in the planning of my athletes racing season to ensure that the races are carefully thought out as to when they occur, what distances they are training for and any other variables that could affect their race day performance. It's incredibly easy to register for a race for all you need is a credit card and maybe the approval from your family or boss. But when it comes to logistics and timing of races, the stress can mount if an athlete is only considering the training investment needed for the upcoming race season.

Here is a blog post I did on planning your race season. 

When you consider the natural stress of training on the human body, just imagine the impact on the body, both physically and mentally on race day. At Trimarni, we try to  minimize racing "just to race" and to instead, give every race a priority as to the purpose of the race. Karel and I carefully think about the courses, dates, locations, competition and logistics of every race on our schedule. We knew that in order to peak properly for IMWI in September, we needed to lay out our entire season before it started (on Training Peaks - Annual Training Plan setting) to ensure that we periodized our training properly (got faster and stronger before we went longer), that we had adequate time to prepare for every race on our schedule, that our life would not conflict too much with our races and that we could afford the races that we choose and most importantly, we discussed the importance of making sure that we built in time from every race on our schedule so that we could properly recover from every race.

We really enjoy seeing our athletes save their best performance for race day and not leaving it all out on the "training" course when no one is watching. We instead want our athletes to make the investments when no one is watching and to minimize the withdrawals. In other words, we love when our athletes "cash out" when it counts on A-race, race day.

We want our athletes to consider the stress that it takes to prep for a race and also the stress that occurs during a race. Because we can not expect to peak at every race or chase a PR every time we stand at a starting line, it's important that if you are gearing up for a race (of any priority), you consider a few important tips as to how to properly recover from the race so that you can have the best season possible with your amazing body.

1) You can't train if you can't recover - Many times I hear athletes boast about how great they feel 2-3 days after a race and get back into training (especially intensity/volume) too soon. To ensure that your body is recovered enough after the race so that your "feel good" moment is not short-lived, I recommend to always give yourself a mandatory 7 days to recover from every race. What you do within those 7 days will vary from athlete to athlete and race to race but when it comes to rejuvinating, recovering and resting, don't rush this time. Seriously - you can't give yourself 7 days to recover from a race after you spent 3 or 4 or more months to prepare for your race?
Keep in mind that not only does the body gain fitness when it recovers from training but also with racing. And you can't gain more fitness if you aren't consistent with workouts. No matter how fast or slow you compete in a race, your body is going to experience damage. The more experience you have as an athlete, the better you (should) know your body and how it responds to racing stress. Think of the 7 days after a race as a time to avoid poor results in training just to go through the motions. My suggestion is to keep the training load light and flexible for the 3-7 days after a race. Active recovery without time goals (ideally an hour or less as you ease back into training) should be included in the 3-7 days after a race (ex. swimming, biking and further out from the race, form-focused running on a soft surface). I also recommend gadget free during this time. For the first two days after a race, restful sleep and getting your diet back to "normal" are more important than waking up at 5:30am the day after a race for a recovery swim.

2) Recovery tools - If you are willing to make an investment with your body to compete in a race, be sure to make another investment in recovery tools. I recommend a massage 2-3 days after a race and be sure to stay hydrated. Epson salt baths are encouraged as well as compression in the 3 days after a race. You have no  room for excuses if you have 110% Play Harder gear to wear after the race. Be sure to be mindful of how often you sit after a race. Although naps or extra sleep are encouraged, be careful of driving for long periods, sitting at work for a long time or any other times when you may find yourself trying to ignore aching joints, muscles and tendons from being sedentary. Remember, the body likes to move but at the same time, it doesn't have to break a sweat or have a high HR every time you move. I highly recommend stretching twice a day (the time is up to you) for the 3-4 days after a race (although you should be stretching anyways, on a daily basis). Be careful not to over foam roll, over stretch or over massage any hot spots but also be mindful of any "hot" areas that may need to be addressed prior to getting back into structured training.

3) Be patient - I hear this more in IM athletes after a race, but it's very easy to say that you "feel" recovered in the 5-7 days after a race but when in reality, there could be/ is still damage in your tissues. I encourage you to ease back into training slowly by just focusing on yourself and your own body. I prefer to pass on group workouts the week after a race for the tendency to push harder than if I was alone. However, social workouts where others are also not training, can be a great way to enjoy moving your body with minimal stress. Also, keep the intensity and volume low and do not expect a lot from your body. I promise you that your body will recover but it all depends on your health/fitness before the race, how you "raced" your race and your own ability to recover. As you allow your body time to recover after it allowed you to race, use your free time (that is not spent in your normal weekly training routine) to catch up on chores/shopping/cleaning, grocery shop, relax or to do something that you have been wanting to do but couldn't find the time.

4) A rested athlete performs well - I see a lot of athletes who do not meet their own personal expectations at a race, trying to get back into training too quickly after a race because of terming the race as unsuccessful. Rather than convincing yourself that training hard immediately in the days following a race will boost your fitness, reflect on what didn't go well in the race. Remember that you can't peak and PR at every race so perhaps unrealistic expectations were made for this specific race, the conditions were not ideal, you had extra stress in your life, you didn't pace your race well, nutrition didn't go well or you did race to the best of your ability with your current level of fitness. There are also athletes who do extremely well at races and feel overly excited and confident to get back into training. Just like the athlete who is frustrated with his/her racing performance, even the "successful" athlete needs rest. One of the biggest problems that comes from rushing into training too quickly after a race is getting sick (or feeling run-down) around 10-14 days after a race....when the immune system finally gives up. Additionally, if the body is not rested, the risk for injury, burn out and sub-optimal performance is at an all time high. Not sure about you but I thrive off consistency so the more I rest, the better I train.

5) Reset your mind - For most of the Trimarni training plans, we allow around 12-16 weeks to properly prepare for a race. Balancing training with life requires a lot and we know that every athlete has a breaking point - physically and emotionally. Post-race blues as well as other emotions that can fill your mind after races should be taken very seriously. For the athlete who feels she/he is invisible and sets out to race hard at every race has a high risk for mental breakdown at some point in his/her racing season. It's important that you take care of your mind after a race and reflect on the past journey that you were able to experience with your body, friends, training partners, etc. to prepare for your race. Regardless if you were training for a 5K or sprint triathlon or an Ironman or marathon, you devoted a lot of time, energy, money and effort into your accomplishment and the emotional commitment to your race can bring on a host of feelings after a race. It's important to do your best to keep these emotions positive. In my recovery period after a race, I don't take my eyes off my short and long term goals. No matter how the last race went, I know that I have the potential, drive and passion to always become a better, smarter and physically/mentally stronger athlete. I encourage you to celebrate the milestones of every race and to give yourself breaks throughout your season to recover your body and mind before you train for the next race.

2 weeks post IM KONA (recipes and pics)

Wow - I can't believe it's been two weeks since IM KONA.

After a few days, the aches, burns and chaffing subsided and that was a sign that I was officially in my off-season...and  I'm totally enjoying every day of it! Three full weeks of no weight bearing activity (ex. no running, plyometrics, etc.), no workout structure and no alarms. There's plenty of time to catch up on house chores, be super creative in the kitchen, take longer walks with Campy and just give a little TLC for my awesome body for what it allowed me to do this summer. And to rest up for a very exciting season of destination races: St. Croix 70.3 (May), IM Austria (June), IMWI (July). There's a lot of work to do in the off season after my recovery period and I am really excited to set new goals and to enjoy another exciting year with my healthy body.

Just to recap the past few weeks, there have been no post-race blues, no guilty feelings about no structured activity (typically 30-60 min of working out a day - swim, elliptical, walking, core/hip work. I've only biked once on my road bike) and a lot of transitions with Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition. There will be many exciting announcements to come but in the mean time I have been working on new services, camps/clinics, discussing coaching with potential athletes (love working with athletes who love hard work and dreaming big!) and Karel now offering Retul fitting and his pre-race "valet" bike tune-up service (IMFL is around the corner and there are many bikes in Jax that are now faster thanks to Karel working his magic on them).

And to summarize the past two weeks in pictures, I must say that my life post Triathlon season doesn't look much different than the training for two Ironmans over the past 22 weeks. Triathlons are my lifestyle, not my life. I will never stop eating for health as I know the same foods that help reduce risk for disease also help to fuel my active lifestyle. 

Can't beat this fall weather! I love my Campy walks!

What a stud - IRON DOGGY!

Sauteed kale with olive oil, tossed in a skillet with a stir fry of corn, cooked quinoa, mushrooms and onions - topped with asiago cheese. Side of cottage cheese (Daisy Brand 2%) and pineapples.

Road bike spin followed by a shop at the farmers market. Not a bad problem to have a bag overflowing with seasonal fruits and veggies. 

Putting my farmers market finds to good use - rye bread with scrambled eggs and fresh strawberries and a side of sauteed kale, onions, garlic, red peppers. 

Thin roasted, crunchy potatoes (425 degrees, slice thin and toss in olive oil and season with salt/pepper and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown) and a stir fry of quinoa, peas, tofu, tomatoes, chickpeas and mushrooms. 

Working at Baptist Medical Center South - I always leave with a better appreciation of my health and feeling so incredibly thankful that my body allows me to do what I choose to do with it. I also learn something new every time I see patient. Luckily, the day I worked last week wasn't filled with Cancer patients. Those days are always hard on my heart. 

Trimarni stew - broccoli, chickpeas, black beans, tofuy, garlic, onions, peppers, quinoa (or brown rice) + marinara sauce (about 1/2 - 1 cup) + water to meet consistency needs. Cook covered on low heat for 1 hour and plan for leftovers (they will taste great the next day).

Karel's Czech inspired egg salad - dill pickles, tomatoes, leeks, green pepper, eggs (hardboiled) and greek yogurt (0% Fage) on a bed of mixed greens. 

I spoke at 1st Place Sports as part of a panel of experts to a group of half marathon and marathon runners. My talk was on pre and during sport nutrition for training and racing. I gave away a lot of my special tips and suggestions and had lots of props. 

What a perfect combo for a snack (or pre dinner munchies) - cucumbers and feta cheese

Oh - SURPRISE! I got a new bike - thank you Karel!! 

.......Which means Trimarni and her one of a kind, custom paint job, is for sale! Email me if you are interested in the price and specs on the bike (Karel has kept this bike maintained since I got her with tune-ups at least every 2 weeks). 

And now - happy times are ahead. This weekend - Campy is taking his first trip to Miarmi for Miami 70.3 to watch Karel race and to cheer on all the amazing athletes (like Trimarni athlete Caitlin from Healthy Tipping Point) who is doing her first ever half Ironman!

After 12 weeks of working together - coach and athlete are reunited at last!

That bike (and the legs behind it) have the need for speed! 

I love making memories with these two!


Happy 5 year anniversary (10/26/08) Karel!! I can't wait to keep making memories with you (and Campy)

What a lucky doggy!

Great times in Miami! Can't wait for race day tomorrow! 

Recovering from your event tips

 To cap off three quality days of training, Karel and I joined a group ride in the Clearwater/New Port Richey area (while visiting my family) to see our second family - the Gearlink Cycling team. Karel and I were set up on a group ride in 2006 on my birthday and we are so lucky to have them all in our life. What great people.....who also taught me how to enjoy riding my bicycle!

After a 4:15 ride (with around 60 minutes or so with the 80+ rider fast group ride), it was time to cool off in the pool with my favorite furry friend.

My latest article from Iron Girl has to do with a few tips on recovering from an event to ensure that your hard work during a race does not leave you sore, depressed or injured after the race. Enjoy!

Recovering From Your EventBy Marni Sumbal, MS, RD, LD/N
Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, LLC

No matter how hard you push, there is stress on the body (emotional, physical and mental) during racing. Since it takes a long time for the body to prepare for an event, keep in mind that it also takes a time for it to recover.

Many athletes rush back into training too quickly and experience injuries, sickness or burnout a few weeks to months down the road. Recovery depends on many factors and not always can you "feel" yourself being 100% recovered. Here are a few tips to kick start the recovery process.

1. Relax - Take your time post-race and move around, celebrate, cool off, rehydrate and refuel.
2. Exercise – You can't train a damaged body or one that is low in fuel. Exercising is fine but give yourself at least 3-7 days before you do anything structured. Stick to non-weight bearing, gadget free activities.
3.  Recovery tools - Compression, ice, epson salt, elevation are great to boost recovery.
4. Sleep - Even if you experience post-race insomnia, try get a little extra sleep with an earlier bedtime for a few nights or with short naps when possible.
5. Refuel - Replenish glycogen, hydrate and help with tissue/muscle damage by focusing on a mix of low residue carbs w/ a little quality protein and water with electrolytes (ex. fruits). Eat/hydrate every few hours for the next two days, as tolerated and monitor the color of your urine for hydration purposes.
6. Natural anti-inflammatories- Pass on the bottled anti-inflammatories and choose ginger, pineapple, celery, fish and cherries to help with inflammation.
7.  Protect your immune system - You are highly susceptible to illness and infections post-race. Be sure to keep your immune system healthy by keeping chaffing areas clean and being aware of any blisters or lost toenails.
8.  Goal setting - Set a goal so you are motivated to train again but wait at least 4-6 weeks before racing again. The body and the mind need recovery and with new goals, a bit more training. You have plenty of time to race again, be patient and respectful to the body.
9. When in doubt - give yourself 2 more days after you feel 100% recovered before you return to structured training. It's always better to take it easy for a few extra days and give yourself a little more time to soak-up your recent accomplishment and to thank your body.

Read more: HERE

Ironman Lake Placid RR: 140.6 miles post race

(Photo from Megan Wiseman - 3rd place)

It's been two weeks since Ironman Lake Placid and thankfully, the body remembers nothing of the race. 

                       

But because there has been minimal working out and no structured training for the past 14 days, there hasn't been a chance for the body to notify me of any residual micro tears in my muscles and fibers that would cause me to experience lingering fatigue, soreness, burnout and aches post Ironman. Now I will say, 6th time around, I am very in-tune with my body after racing for 140.6 miles and knowing what to do post race is just as important as considering what not to do post race.
Here is how the exercise routine looked for the past two weeks, with no structure or alarms to tell me that I had to do something. Everything felt good when I did it and I stopped when I wanted to stop.
Mon - Wed post race: nothing
Tues post race: Walking around on Whiteface mountain for an hour
Thurs - 45 min swim
Fri - 45 min Swim
Sat and Sun - 2 hour road bike, EZ spin
Mon - 45 min swim + light core/hip work
Tues - 1:45 road bike, EZ spin
Wed - 45 min swim + hip work

Thurs - 45 min run (5 min walk on incline 5% @3.5mph, 5 min running @ 6.5 mph (ran by feel) w/ no incline. Repeated this 4 times for a total of 20 minutes of running + 5 min walk cool down. 3.5 miles total, no soreness, fatigue or issues before, during or after the run or the next day. 

Fri - 20 min swim
Sat - 2.5 hour social ride w/ my friend Heidi
Sun (today) - plan is 1.5 hour bike + 30 min run (1 mile run + 1-2 min walk). Not a "brick" but just using the bike to warm-up my legs

Mon - back to training, easing in slowly with 9 weeks until the 2013 Ironman World Championship.

After I crossed the finish line and fell into the arms of two amazing volunteers (who were strong enough to catch me and my jello legs), and they asked me if I needed medical.
My reply in a joking manner "No, I'm ok. I'm just tired because I did an Ironman!"

They laughed and asked me what I wanted/needed. 

My reply "I need to find my husband, he just did his first Ironman."

And there he was, right in front of me. With his Mylar blanket keeping his body temperature warm after taking a dip in Mirror Lake to rinse off all the gels, sport drinks and sweat from his first-timer Ironman body, Karel gave me a big hug and said "WOW - you did awesome babe!" 

The first thing I asked him was "How was your race?"
Such a funny question since we were both on the course together and saw each other several times on the bike and the run, but never did I guess, think or wonder what Karel's finishing time would be. 

He replied "10:03"

I couldn't believe it. I kept telling him that was so amazing and he told me he was really happy and proud. The best part of it all was when Karel was running down the finishing chute and heard Mike R. call his name as a first timer from Jacksonville, Florida, Karel said he got emotional as he has been anticipating this day without knowing how the day would ever turn out. I was so happy that he experienced that finishing line to the fullest because that is what the Ironman is all about. 140.6 miles and no matter how the race goes, it is all turned around in those last few tenths of a mile as you approach the finishing line as a member of a special group of individuals who can officially call themselves "Ironman finisher". 

As I hobbled my way with the volunteers to some chairs, I noticed there were a lot of guys around me and many who were making their way to the medical tent. I couldn't take in any solid food as usual, only water. 

After Karel told me about his race, I managed to look at Garmin for the first time in the history file and after switching over from swim, to bike, to run, I told Karel that I ran a 3:48 marathon! I couldn't believe it! Of course, this is after I told him that it was the hardest run of my life, I had to sprint to the finishing line and I am not sure if I am 4th of 5th (if I will get a Kona slot but I may have a chance), my quads were burning the entire race and I really dug deep to finish strong.  I kept looking at my watch as I read 

"10:43, 140.6 miles."

It's funny that in an Ironman, you can go into the race with your current level of fitness and anticipate a finishing time. But the only thing that is certain is how many miles you have to cover until you get your finisher medal, hat and t-shirt. Never can you chase a time for 140.6 miles is a long way to go.

For Karel, his two goals were to qualify for Kona and to break 10 hours. Of course, big goals for your first Ironman. Karel and myself are motivated by our goals and we love to put in the work for them in a balanced way so that are action plan has results. I would never tell Karel or any of my athletes to not dream big, even if the goal is not possible at this point in time. The key is making sure that your goal/dream motivates you but does not distract you from enjoying the journey. Karel never put too much pressure on himself that he would need to compare himself to the crazy fast guys in his 35-39 age group (with only 6 Kona slots) who can swim, bike and run their way to a sub 9:30 Ironman or that he would hate his training because he can't get faster quick enough. What Karel experienced with the Ironman journey is that his body only let him do so much throughout training and he was only allowed to accept his current level of fitness within 24 hours of the race and what he could do to execute a strong, well-paced race. He did just that and without taking too many risks, he is motivated to improve his swim and to learn to be a faster triathlete.
Never would I want anyone to not dream big but at the end of the day, your race day performance is not titled good or bad just because of a finishing time. After sitting around in the finisher area for a good 15 minutes until my body felt semi-OK to take a picture ...

I told Karel, just like I did at IMWI when I crossed the line in 4th place, 90 seconds behind 3rd place and only 3 Kona slots again, that I was so happy with my performance that I wouldn't care about not getting a Kona slot. I did exactly what I trained myself to do and that was to race a strong race. You never know how the cards will be dealt on race day and when things are going well, I recognize them and don't expect things to go even better. Sure, I got ran down by many girls but I was racing a strong race for me and my body and that was worth celebrating.

Toughness comes from overcoming personal limits, obstacles and doubts. You have to argue against the internal voices in your head that scream at you to slow down. Your body gives you feedback that you are not able to maintain this effort to the finish line and that your energy levels are falling. No one but yourself can experience these feelings and no one but you can overcome them.....unless you choose to give in to the pain.

No matter the distance of your upcoming race, how you choose to execute the race or your finishing time, you are a tough, strong athlete because you have prevented barriers which would have stopped you from reaching the finish line and have shut-up the thoughts that tell you it is not possible.

After grabbing our phones from our transition bags and getting our bikes, I checked my phone in my pre race gear bag and was overwhelmed by the messages from our friends and family. Absolutely shocked is a better way to put it as I couldn't believe how many people tracked us throughout the day. Deep inside, I think I heard everyone so we thank you!!

We got on our bikes and painfully (ouch!) rode our bikes 3 miles down the road to our cottage while cheering for the athletes on the course. And this is why I love the Ironman...athletes still with over 13 miles to go on the run and they are congratulating us for our accomplishment. Just amazing!

When we arrived home, we both collapsed on separate beds and chatting with our families. Karel's family in Czech were tracking us all day and you could only believe how excited his parents were since all they knew of Karel was him as a cyclist. 

I took a cold epson salt bath and spent some time dealing with my tummy post race (nothing abnormal) and finally managed to get in some nutrition - pretzels, fruit, glass of milk, leftover small slice of pizza.

I packed some pringles, tums and saltines for later as well as 1 FIZZ in my water to replenish electrolytes. 

Nearing 10:30pm and completely exhausted, sore and aching all over, it was time to head back to the race to cheer on the last hour of finishers. 

It was dark on River Road and on our bikes, pedaling super duper slowly, we cheered for the athletes and told them we expect to see them at the finish line when we get there. Volunteers still on the course, it was all becoming so real that we really just did an Ironman together!

We met Laura and her boyfriend and family at her place and I could finally congratulate her for her amazing first timer 6th place age group finish and we all walked to the finish line for my favorite part of the Ironman..the last hour. 

Thank you again for all your support, cheers and kind words over the past two weeks.

I look forward to sharing my 7th Ironman journey with everyone.....starting tomorrow!