After a demanding triathlon like a 70.3 or full-distance IRONMAN, we all know the feeling of that post-race hobble. As your body recovers, it’s okay to swim and cycle within 2 days after the event, but don’t jump back into running too quickly.

Athletes who return to running too soon after a race will often feel flat, tired or — even worse — get injured. Take a few days off from running after a race to allow your body to rebound and recharge.

Recovery from the run takes longer than swimming and cycling due to the eccentric load placed upon your body during the race. Exactly how soon you return to run training depends, in part, on how your triathlon went.

Did you walk more than you ran during the event?  If so, then your return to running can be within a 4 to 7 days.

Did you actually run for most of your IRONMAN marathon? Congratulations! Now take a full 7 days off from running and then ease back into training with 3 light days. Then, and only then, should you implement the following workout.

Post Race Run Workout

For today’s Workout Wednesday powered by BioAstin, we will insert short, high intensity segments into an otherwise low intensity aerobic session that will help you regain your running form. Between each interval, maintain a workload below or equal to your aerobic effort. The bulk of the workout is at a light effort that allows your muscles, tendons and connective tissue to fully lubricate, stretch and recover from the race.

The purpose of this session is to reintroduce the stimulation of your faster twitch fibers but not to clobber yourself!

This workout is not only effective post-race, but also when coming back after a break from running.

Warm Up

12 min

If you’re running a gentle rolling course of 1 to 4 percent gradients, be light on your push off so as not to excessively tax the Soleus and Achilles. Start slowly!

Main Set

28 min continuous.

Hold an aerobic — or slightly easier — pace, speed or heart rate.

Insert 10 x 25 sec of gradual pickups, finishing the final 10 sec of each repeat at your 600m – 800m speed.

An easy way to execute this workout is to start each repeat every 2 min. This interval allows a 1 min 35 sec rest interval between the efforts.

Cool Down

5 min

Total Time: 45 min

#WorkoutWednesday is powered by BioAstin, one of my top 5 recommended supplements.  BioAstin Hawaiian Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant that supports cardiovascular health and muscle recovery… perfect for athletes who are training hard.