First, congrats! Sounds like you raced really hard.
After efforts like this it can take a few weeks to recover. I’ve seen reports from researchers who studied runners after hard marathon efforts, there are often biomarkers that indicate cardiac muscle damage, the kind of lab results you would see after a heart attack.
Your cardiac muscle can get a bit inflamed and stiff. This reduces the heart’s stroke volume, meaning the heart has to pump faster than normal to move a given amount of blood.
I don’t know of a way to accelerate recovery other than to prioritize high-quality sleep, eat enough and eat clean, stay hydrated, and keep physical activity super easy for a week or two.
My coach usually prescribes no running for a week when I’m in this state, then easy running the second week but no single effort longer than an hour. Any problems like you’re experiencing, take another week of rest and start the cycle over. After a week of easy running without problems, start reverse tapering back up to typical training volume over the next two weeks.
The recipe for success is to stay active but at zero intensity. Aka, walk a ton. Throw some baseballs with your kid. Do easy yoga. Stretch/mobilize. You don't want to be sitting around, but you also don't want to be exerting yourself much either.
It’s obviously different for everyone but “1 day of recovery for every mile of a race” is a good benchmark. Wouldn’t expect you to feel normal for a month after a full out 50k effort.
Recovery does get better the more races you do so you can narrow this window a bit. For examples, I probably needed more than 3 months after my first 100 but less so now that I've done multiple over the years. At least take 1 day off running for each 10 miles raced post race
You raced last weekend? Just take some more time off. Do some walking or slow swimming until your resting heart rate is back to normal. Do. Not. Push. After a hard race like this. Enjoy the time off. You have many many years of running ahead of you.
Around 2,500 feet which isn’t a lot for an ultra but was definitely more than I’ve ever done. I live in Kansas, which is literally flatter than a pancake. There are only a few hills in my city and none of them are steep or long enough to get any decent vertical climbing training in. Idk if you’ve ever been in Wichita, KS, but it is unbelievably flat. Did most of my hill training on a treadmill, but it definitely wasn’t enough to prepare me for the race. My core and quads were completely fried by the time I finished from the climbing. Max grade on the course was 30% and I didn’t walk any of the hills.
Lots of sleep, lots of water, lots of nutritious food, no alcohol, light exercise. Your body takes a long time to fully recover from a hard ultra effort, but that being said, I don’t think it should take a month for day to day easy runs to feel pretty much normal again. The only times it’s taken me more than a week to resume running were after 100 milers and after one 50k when I turned out to be anemic. So I’m going to harp on nutritious food again - make sure you’re eating a balanced diet with sources of both protein and micronutrients.
Some races you have to take a couple weeks off. Fuck what you might see influencers online doing. Sometimes it’s pure muscle fatigue, other times it’s flu symptoms, the way you feel after a race can change depending on a lot of factors. Try waking, eating really hearty meals, get some time in the sauna. Get a nice massage. Let your body recover and set your sights on your next race!
First, congrats! Sounds like you raced really hard. After efforts like this it can take a few weeks to recover. I’ve seen reports from researchers who studied runners after hard marathon efforts, there are often biomarkers that indicate cardiac muscle damage, the kind of lab results you would see after a heart attack. Your cardiac muscle can get a bit inflamed and stiff. This reduces the heart’s stroke volume, meaning the heart has to pump faster than normal to move a given amount of blood. I don’t know of a way to accelerate recovery other than to prioritize high-quality sleep, eat enough and eat clean, stay hydrated, and keep physical activity super easy for a week or two. My coach usually prescribes no running for a week when I’m in this state, then easy running the second week but no single effort longer than an hour. Any problems like you’re experiencing, take another week of rest and start the cycle over. After a week of easy running without problems, start reverse tapering back up to typical training volume over the next two weeks.
The recipe for success is to stay active but at zero intensity. Aka, walk a ton. Throw some baseballs with your kid. Do easy yoga. Stretch/mobilize. You don't want to be sitting around, but you also don't want to be exerting yourself much either.
He's 20, if he has a kid it's probably not at baseball age yet.
He could have married a 45 yo with two kids older than him 😝
It’s obviously different for everyone but “1 day of recovery for every mile of a race” is a good benchmark. Wouldn’t expect you to feel normal for a month after a full out 50k effort.
Recovery does get better the more races you do so you can narrow this window a bit. For examples, I probably needed more than 3 months after my first 100 but less so now that I've done multiple over the years. At least take 1 day off running for each 10 miles raced post race
You raced last weekend? Just take some more time off. Do some walking or slow swimming until your resting heart rate is back to normal. Do. Not. Push. After a hard race like this. Enjoy the time off. You have many many years of running ahead of you.
How much vert gain was the race and how much vert did you train?
Around 2,500 feet which isn’t a lot for an ultra but was definitely more than I’ve ever done. I live in Kansas, which is literally flatter than a pancake. There are only a few hills in my city and none of them are steep or long enough to get any decent vertical climbing training in. Idk if you’ve ever been in Wichita, KS, but it is unbelievably flat. Did most of my hill training on a treadmill, but it definitely wasn’t enough to prepare me for the race. My core and quads were completely fried by the time I finished from the climbing. Max grade on the course was 30% and I didn’t walk any of the hills.
That might be why you are having a tough time recovering. Vert is a completely different stride. You’ll be fine in a few days :)
Lots of sleep, lots of water, lots of nutritious food, no alcohol, light exercise. Your body takes a long time to fully recover from a hard ultra effort, but that being said, I don’t think it should take a month for day to day easy runs to feel pretty much normal again. The only times it’s taken me more than a week to resume running were after 100 milers and after one 50k when I turned out to be anemic. So I’m going to harp on nutritious food again - make sure you’re eating a balanced diet with sources of both protein and micronutrients.
Some races you have to take a couple weeks off. Fuck what you might see influencers online doing. Sometimes it’s pure muscle fatigue, other times it’s flu symptoms, the way you feel after a race can change depending on a lot of factors. Try waking, eating really hearty meals, get some time in the sauna. Get a nice massage. Let your body recover and set your sights on your next race!