The Morning After...Race Day.

Post-run care is as important as pre-run as it is healing and setting up your body for your next run/race. In honour of all the running machines in town that hit the road in the TC10k race yesterday, here is a post run care guide for your body.

1. Give yourself props ~ A pat on the back and a job well done! 10km is a great accomplishment whether your first time completing or 50th, whether a PB (personal best) or a Sunday stroll. Make sure you take a moment today to really feel gratitude for your strength to get to that start line, for your body caring you through that journey and your will power for getting you to the finish line!

2. Re-hydrate ~ all that sweat dripping down your face, must be replaced. Water carries nutrients to those tired muscles and flushes out the lactic acid causing muscle soreness, among so many other things! Water is best, but look for foods rich in liquid to supplement that such as soups, lettuce and fruit.

3. Electrolytes ~ Water alone is important, but electrolytes must be replaced too! If not, you will be prone to muscle cramping and charlie horses for the next few days. What to munch on? Bananas - great for replacing the missing potassium. Canned salmon eaten with the bones will not only provide calcium, but is also a great source of antioxidants needed to fight the oxidation that occured during pounding the pavement. In our society, salt is not difficult to come by, and it is unlikely that you are going to need to take extra steps to assure you replace it. However, if you are concerned and a heavy sweater while training, sparingly add some sea salt to your dinner tonight.

4. Stretch ~ see Post Run Stretch: 5 Must-Do Poses for poses that will help those tired muscles recover and feel rejuvenated!

4. Make it a gentle training week ~ give your muscles a chance to repair and keep this week easy. Try some cross training, such as swimming, to get the blood moving without causing additional muscle damage.

5. Sleep ~ try to get to bed early tonight, and give your body some much deserved and needed rest and repair time.

6. Tub Time ~ the 24hours + post run have given some time for the inevitable inflammation to go down. Enjoy a soak in the tub tonight with some epson salts to help remove the toxins.

5. New goals ~ take some time by the end of the week to look forward. Think about new goals and how you are going to implement them.

I would love to hear your next goals, and see how I can support you in reaching them! Let me know, post a comment, message me...