Post-Race Blues

Anna Boom

Choosing Your Next Goal

The race is done. You never thought you'd get to the final day, and then to the finish line and then you did it! And it felt amazing, didn't it? No matter what your time, or the weather, or any of the other hundred external influences, YOU DID IT!!

Congratulate yourself and take a huge amount of pride in you. Indulge in something you always wanted for a little while: maybe a relaxing massage, a long bath with bubbles and candles (without or with your spouse), a nice ice cream sundae, that new Coach bag, a pedicure. The list goes on and on.

You may find that once you've indulged, that you find yourself a little down, sort of depressed even. Do not panic; this is normal.

For those other moms out there, remember your baby blues? That time after delivery when you had done your best in planning and growing this beautiful little human for ten months, then went through a considerable amount of pain and effort for hopefully a short time, and then it was over. Racing is the same feeling. It is the Finisher's Blues. You may find yourself feeling a little lost, like what next? Your daily schedule was set up before to fit your runs in; your weekends were all mapped out for the past few months.

To get past the Finisher's Blues, take a nap when you can. Rest and drink lots of water, or tea or what tastes good. Then go for a walk or slow run with no goal or purpose, just to be outside. Leave the watch and Garmin at home. Take it out on trail if you can. Enjoy the feeling of being free from a training schedule for a little while. This is what goes into a good mental recovery. You need to relax and accept the break happily.

Then ask yourself, what is next?

Nago Half Marathon perhaps.......

Or the Ie Island Half Marathon maybe........

Whatever your next goal or race is, enjoy this period of recovery!

Post Race Blues

So you've all successfully trained for and completed the infamous Kinser Half marathon, and for some of you it was your first ever half marathon - well done! Having a goal and working towards it is often challenging but also equally exciting, and the greatest reward of course, is when you reach that goal and realize that all of your hard effort paid off! But what now? Where do you go from here, and what do you do with all of that built-up energy?

No doubt many of you are on a high right now, still reeling from the excitement and charged-up atmosphere of yesterday's event.

Just love Anna's enthusiasm and infectious smile

But some you may already be coming down off that high and thinking that you'll be quite content to go back to whatever it was you were doing before you started training. And the rest of you may find that you're spiralling further downwards into some type of mirky quandary that leaves you feeling sad and maybe even slightly depressed.

If that's you, don't worry! This is quite normal after a race, and can be easily remedied if you look at it from a positive perspective. Race day is over, and with it, all of those training runs you loved to complain about yet were quietly proud of. The empty feeling some of you might soon start to feel can best be filled with new goals; goals that are realistic and achiveable. They don't even have to be running goals; they can be academic, career-focused, hobby-related, or if you want to put your running shoes back on, then athletic. Or, they can be a combination of any of these.

If you're like me, I like to set goals that push me further in all areas of my life, and that's one of the things I most appreciate about running and racing. Every time I finish a race I feel compelled to start planning my next racing and training goal, but at the same time it forces me to consider other areas of my life that could benefit from change and progress.

Consistently setting new goals for yourself keeps you focused on moving forward rather than stagnating; it's hard to stay depressed when you are motivated by what you believe you can achieve. And if you doubt that you are capable of achieving goals, then just remind yourself of what you accomplished yesterday and you'll quickly realize how truly capable you are!

Looking forward to seeing even greater things from you ladies.