When I turned 30 seven months ago, I declared this year “The Year of Jen”.   I didn’t have a firm idea of what that meant at the time, but basically I wanted to have a year of great adventures and epicness(yes I know that’s not a real word).  Although The Year of Jen is over halfway done, the Summer of Jen has just begun!  While The Year of Jen has unfortunately not been entirely epic (I did do my first destination race, the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in Disneyland, but I haven’t taken any international trips and I still don’t own a puppy), The Summer of Jen promises to be interesting to say the least as it features me subjecting myself to 2 hardcore races: the Mt Evans Ascent and the Pikes Peak Ascent.  I also have a couple of other fun, less intimidating, races on the calendar.  First up: the Greenland Trail Race 8 miler this weekend.  Which brings me to the topic of post race recovery.  Since I have more than usual on my racing calendar this summer it will be important that I properly recover from all of my races and training runs.  This means good post exercise nutrition, proper stretching (something I’m not always good about) and rest days (but not too many).

Here is my plan for the first race of the season(note: this is based on science as well as personal experience).

Post race nutrition recommendations

-Within 30 minutes of finishing consume:

• Carbs (1-1.5grams/kg body weight)
•  Protein (10-20 grams)
• Fluids(16-24 fl oz for every pound lost)
• Electrolytes, particularly sodium (1 pound of sweat loss contains about 100 mg Potassium and 400-700 mg Sodium depending on if you are a salty sweater-which I think I am)

*My real world plan: since this is only an 8 mile race I’ll go with the lower end of the carbohydrate recommendation, for me that will be about 62 grams of carbohydrate. Since I won’t be weighing myself pre and post race to determine exactly how much water weight I lose (and I haven’t bothered to do training runs where I calculate my sweat rate), I’m going to have to estimate.  My plan is to drink 1 packet of Generation UCAN chocolate protein shake (33 grams carb, 13 grams protein, 140 mg Potassium, 240 mg Sodium) made with 12 oz soymilk (15 grams carb, 9 grams protein, 150 mg Sodium, 450 mg Potassium) as well as 20 fl oz of G2 (12 grams carb, 75mg Potassium, 270 mg Sodium).

Grand total: 60 grams carbohydrate, 22 grams protein, 660 mg Sodium, 665 mg Potassium, and 32 oz of fluid (but I’ll probably drink another  8 or so ounces of plain water as well).  A little high on the Potassium (who knew soymilk was such a good source?!) but otherwise pretty spot on.

Post Race Recovery

-Cool down: to burn as much lactate from your legs as possible (and lessen soreness) it’s recommended to go for a short slow jog or walk after the race.  I’m not hard core enough to go for a run after a run, but I will make an effort to walk around.  Any movement will help. Definitely don’t jump straight into a car or you’ll regret it later!

-Stretching: after cooling down to help keep muscles as loose as possible. I’m not always good about stretching, but my plan is to spend at least a few minutes stretching all of the muscles in my legs, butt, and hips. I won’t have my foam roller on me, but will use that later in the day as well.

-Rest days: I once heard an exercise physiology professor say that an athlete’s rest days are actually the most important training days.  They are the time when the body really heals and recovers, allowing it to work harder in the future and get stronger.  My plan is to go for a bike ride the day after my race to keep my legs loose, take the next day completely off, then resume with an easy run the day after that.  Then back on to full on training for Evans and Pikes!

So there’s my plan. Take what you find helpful, tweak it for yourself, and wish me luck with the Summer of Jen!