After a race there’s always two aspects to be analysed. How is your body (physical aspect) and how’s the head (psychological aspect) dealing with the ups and downs and the fight with ourselves? It’s normal and a good stimulus for us to not always be 100% happy with how a race went. Because there’s always at least one thing that could be optimised. Important is, that we can use this to learn and improve ourselves for the next big day.
The head is the one thing, it’s important to “digest” your race experience and save it somewhere in a positive manner, so that it doesn’t come back as a problem at a later stage. In your 2PEAK training plan you have the option of thinking through your race again and note down any critical factors, so that you can deduce your consequences from them. You’ll also be able to use your notes and compare them over time (to do this, click on your race and answer the there asked questions; see image). Try to find the main limiting factor(s) of your performance and write them down. Was it the head, the will, the motivation, the weather, cramps, missing energy, bad technique; what exactly hindered your performance?
No matter if your competition has different kinds and distances and levels of sport in it, most of us “suffer” from the same side effects. Sore muscles, heavy legs, water in your legs/feet, tired muscles, fatigue… kind of funny how we do this to ourselves over and over again… Many of these side effects and be mitigated. You’ll find a list of how to below:
Nutrition
Before and after a race, make sure you have a balanced diet (proteins, carbs, healthy fats, fiber…) especially in the first two hours after a race you should get something into your system (food or a recovery shake, etc. ) to help your “broken” muscles recover
Easy/slow movement, the day after
Even when movement is probably the last thing you have got on your mind after a race, try to go for an easy walk, run or ride on your bike, the better the sooner after the race. This is to get your metabolism moving so that it can help your body transport any “toxins” out.
Sleep
What you take away from your body during the day, you have to give back to him at night. The harder the race was, the more sleep you’ll need for the next few nights. Sleep is and will always be the most important recovery method.
Taking things slow
Of course it is important, that you take some time off but to say that you won’t do anything for an entire month but rest, is totally over doing it. Listen to your ¨body and try to avoid entire rest days without any movement. Rather concentrate on active recovery days with easy/low impact things (going for a walk, getting a massage, doing a different kind of sport, etc.)
Trust 2PEAK
If you’ve entered everything into your training plan correctly, including your race(s), then 2PEAK will tell you what and how much you should be doing. More recovery strolls, etc. can be added at any time.
Use the battery
Use the battery in your plan so that we know exactly how tired you are feeling after your big day and so that the training can be adjusted accordingly. (if you want to read the article on what the battery is and how to use it, you can find it in our knowledge base under the following link: The 2PEAK Battery Explained
The most important thing when it comes to the topic of racing is the fun. All of this suffering and hard invested work isn’t really worth it otherwise. So don’t lose your fun and take care of your body while doing what you are doing. Let’s train and recover together to reach your goal, whatever it may be. You can do it and we got your back.