Post-Race Recovery: What Should I be Doing and How Long Should I be Doing It For?

In addition to recovering from the physical demands of the race, the quality and duration of your rest period should also be determined by your state of mind and ability to mentally bounce back.

One runner crosses the finish line of their long-awaited marathon after months of a happy, healthy, and successful training block and thinks, “okay… so how long do I have to take off until I can run again!?” Another runner, who trained for and ran the same race, crosses the finish line after a grueling training block of missed runs, aches and pains and thinks, “thank GOD that’s over, I need a major break from this.”

Even though these two runners trained for and ran the same race, both the duration and quality of their suggested recovery would be very different. The amount of time runners should take off after a big race, as well was what that time off really looks like, is not black and white and depends on a multitude of factors.

Let’s start with how we should think about recovery. I like to group “time off” from running into 3 different categories: full rest, active recovery and non-running fitness.

For full rest, think about a TV marathon, reveling in your race being done and not leaving the couch except for snacks and the bathroom. Full rest is best suited for the 1-2 days following a half or full marathon, and involves limiting time on your feet and doing little to no exercise except some casual walking. We need full rest after a major event like a full or half marathon to give your body a break from the musculoskeletal impact of hours and hours of running. Some runners, typically more experienced and seasoned ones, only need 1 day of full rest, whereas newer runners who completed their first long distance event might need more time to bounce back and get rid of soreness.

The next level of rest we’ll call active recovery, which you can think of as a longer walk, recovery yoga or a stretching session. Active recovery, best done after 1-3 days of full rest, is a great way to slowly reintroduce movement, shake off some of that residual soreness and serve as a bridge between full rest and resuming a fuller exercise regime. Similar to full rest, some runners are quicker to exit the active recovery phase and get into running or greater intensity exercise, whereas others need a few more days of low intensity.

The non-running fitness phase is exactly what it sounds like. You’re still taking off from running but you are returning to all other forms of exercise, like strength training, boxing, pilates, or tennis, to name a few! This phase is optional, as you have some runners that will return to running after their full rest and active recovery, and some that want a whole season in this phase. You also have those that checked their long distance race off their bucket list and are done with running, who will stay in this phase for the foreseeable future.

Now, the time component of how long to be in each phase of recovery is dependent on a multitude of factors and can look very different on a case-by-case basis. There’s experience, race length, quality of training block, and future goals, to name a few of the factors. For simplicity’s sake, let’s group everything into two categories: physical and mental.

The physical component is more straightforward: the longer you trained and the longer your race, the longer you should take off. For a 5K race, you can take anywhere from 0-3 days of recovery, meaning more seasoned runners may jump into active recovery for one day and get back to business. Others may need longer. For longer distances like half or full marathons, on the physical side only, I like to use one week as a solid baseline to go off of. That could look like 2-3 days of full rest and 4-5 days of active recovery. The mix is very runner-dependent. I like to use one week as a baseline because it’s a standard and safe amount of time to take off from running following a major race, but the mental component really will dictate how much you deviate from that.

For anyone that has trained for a race, or runs in general, knows that running is just as much mental (if not more) as it is physical. This is especially true for those that are not in the leisure running realm and are diligently following a training plan, training for a coveted goal and are doing long runs and speed workouts. Training requires tremendous sacrifice, persistence, patience, focus and commitment. This looks like waking up early on your Saturdays for multi-hour runs, leaving social events early for a good night’s rest, lacing up your shoes when you really don’t want to, and maintaining all of this for months with nothing but your own motivation to push you. Tell me that’s not just as exhausting as a hard run!

Since running is physical and mental, we have to think about recovery that way, too. The physical recovery is important, but the mental recovery is critical. Jumping back into running or any sort of training before you’re mentally ready puts us at risk for burnout and potential isolation from our passion for what we’re doing. There tends to be a high correlation between the quality and perception of a person’s race and how quickly they’re mentally ready to resume training. Going back to the beginning with our two runners crossing the same finish line, runner A will likely be willing and ready to resume easy miles after a week of full rest and active recovery, whereas runner B may want to remain in active recovery for multiple weeks. Both are okay. Both are taking rest that is commensurate with the level of perceived effort and mental toll of the race.

When you’re finished with your big race, take a deep breath and celebrate all you have accomplished. Reflect on your training, your race, and how you felt through all of it. If you have that urge to run and get back into training, take care of the physical component before doing so. If you had a really hard go at it but are not willing to throw in the towel forever, take care of your mind and heart first. Think about what made this training block so hard, and give yourself time to miss running and feel that drive again. As Olympic medalist and NYC Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan says, “a setback is just a set up for a comeback.” Celebrate your accomplishment, take note of your wins, learn from your mistakes, and recharge your battery. Running will be here for you when you are ready.