With September coming to an end and The Ring and Pine Creek both done and dusted, I wanted to examine how I managed my recovery between and after completing these two long efforts.
Monthly Mileage Chart as of 9/24
1.) Daily Movement
In my experience, the best “recovery tool” is both the cheapest and the simplest: Daily Movement. Now, does this mean you need to go out the day after a 71-mile or 101-mile effort and run? No, probably not, although I did do daily 3-mile and 1-mile “streak savers” after completing this month’s races. What it does mean, however, is that walking, whether structured or unstructured, is essential. You don’t want to lounge on the couch, lie in bed, or sit in a static position (sitting at a desk) for hours on end without getting up and moving around (sleep being the exception). For me, this meant continuing my daily dog walks (around 4 miles total per day spread across three walks) and general movement (yard work, walking around town, etc.).
2.) Dropping the Mileage
We all like to run, but sometimes it’s important to, in the words of Mister Kenny Rogers, know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em. In practice, this meant cutting my mileage going into The Ring (à la tapering), then keeping it low the 6 days after The Ring (before Pine Creek that weekend), and then cutting it even more the week after Pine Creek (7 miles total for that whole week). I won’t be back up to my “normal” 55 miles per week until the first full week of October, which I will carry through Stone Mill and into Devil Dog 100-mile in December. This “mileage buildup” after Pine Creek has been slow on purpose to give myself time to rest and reset physically and mentally. Is everything perfect? Of course not. But it’s better than it would’ve been had I tried to keep the mileage high without giving myself downtime.
3.) Embracing the Calories
Eating and running long distances go hand in hand, like spoons and ice cream. You can’t complete these big efforts on an empty stomach, and you certainly can’t recover from them on one, either. So after both races, I did the only sensible thing: eat everything. Now, this doesn’t mean I ate pizza after pizza, or pint after pint of ice cream (even though that sounds like a lot of fun), but I did bump up my portions, snack intake, and expand my usual assortment of food choices after both events. Did I gain some weight? Maybe a pound or three, but everything gained will be lost once the training starts up again in earnest. Meanwhile, I think it’s time for another cookie….
4.) New Goals
I’m sure the last thing most people want to think about after accomplishing a big goal is what’s next. (I, for one, like to enjoy my accomplishment, at least for a little while.) But I’m also a firm believer in always having something next–a next project, a next race, a next target. I don’t want to indefinitely languish in the outcome, whether it was good or bad. So as this “block” has drawn to its end, I have shifted my attention to my next 100-mile race, Devil Dog, which I will run in December. This year is the race’s 10th anniversary, and with it comes a new buckle design, some sweet swag, and a chance for me to notch my tenth lifetime 100-mile finish. I’ve finished Devil Dog before (2023; DNF (knee) in 2025), so I’m looking forward to avenging last year’s early exit and building upon the previous success I had in 2023.
A Final Word
I’m not the biggest fan of back-to-back long efforts. I prefer to spread things out, but sometimes things happen, and there’s nothing to do except embrace it. A challenge is a challenge because it’s hard. Doing hard things is fun. But when you do hard things, you have to remember to also embrace its opposite number. Without rest, it would be impossible to perform the feats we, as Ultrarunners, put ourselves through. I’ve learned through trial and error (so much error!!) how important this downtime is to general health and fitness. I’m in this for the long haul, not the short run, so embracing downtime is all part of the process.
Until next time.