So you nailed your 5-10k race. Now it’s time to nail your recovery. Prioritising your recovery allows your body to turn race effort into adaptations and improvements, without  dragging fatigue into your next training block. But recovery doesn’t mean you have to sit on the couch for a week. Here’s our guide on what to do post race.

How should I recover, and when should I start?

You can begin active recovery from the day after your race. Things like yoga, light cycling, swimming and walking are ideal. Low-impact movement can help reduce stiffness, increase blood flow and begin to restore neuromuscular coordination. 

If you suffer from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) you can gently incorporate other sports and forms of movement until it resolves. Avoid taking anti-inflammatory medications as they can disrupt the body’s repair processes.

Recovery from a 5-10k race can take up to 1-2 weeks for beginners, whilst more advanced runners can be mostly recovered within 3-7 days.

Getting back running

You can start running again once you feel ready This may be before you are fully recovered if you keep it easy). (A 15-30 minute run is plenty for your first run). If that run goes well, you can gradually increase your running back up to your normal levels.This should take place over a week if you’re advanced, and over two weeks if you are a more novice runner). Don’t rush this process, but do keep moving throughout. Some people like to keep the same routine but swap the modality. For example, you could do some light movement at the times you would normally run. Keeping your routine - and movement - can help preserve motivation and avoid post-race blues.

Why is it so important to take your time building your training back up?

When you’re thinking about returning to training, it can be useful to understand what’s going on under the hood. Faster running can be something of a shock to your central nervous system, particularly if you are new to racing. There will be some muscle fibre damage and tendon or connective tissue strain. You may also get temporary muscle stiffness and loss of elasticity, as well as cardiovascular strain.

By allowing the body time to repair and adapt while incorporating appropriate loading (which stimulates quality repair), you are setting yourself up to run even faster next time. If you jump back in too soon, your body won’t have time to adapt and rebuild.The two main things you should be focussing on to support your recovery are sleep and good nutrition. It’s really important to prioritise these as they are the only scientifically-robust methods of recovery that don't interfere with your body’s adaptation.. Make sure you have sufficient protein (1.6-2g/kg/day) and carbohydrate (4-6g/kg/day) (that means a 70kg person needs 112-140g of protein and  280-420g carbs per day). These are rough guidelines and nutritional requirements vary, but to simplify: make sure you are getting both protein and carbs at every meal.

Here’s what optimal post-race recovery might look like for different running levels:

First time racer:1 week of active recovery (yoga, swimming, cycling) followed by 1 week gradually returning to pre-race levels of training.

Novice: 3-5 days of active recovery followed by 4-5 days of easy training, then cautious return to full training when ready

Intermediate: 2-4 days of active recovery followed by 2-3 days of easy training, then return to full training.

Advanced: 1-2 days of active recovery, 2-4 days of easy running then ease back into normal training.

We hope this gives you more of an idea on how to ace your recovery so you can keep running strong and smash those PBs. You got this!