{"id":33926,"date":"2014-11-06T07:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T12:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=33926"},"modified":"2021-05-13T06:13:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T10:13:04","slug":"marathon-post-race-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/marathon-post-race-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"You Ran a Marathon, Now What? Getting Past the Post-Race Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Marathon
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Forty-eight hours after Tracey Mayling finished her first marathon<\/a> in New York City on Sunday, the high from the cheering crowds and exercise-fueled endorphins had worn off. It was replaced by irritation as she reflected on her performance. \u201cThere are all these things I wish I would have done differently,\u201d says Mayling, a 34-year-old financial services consultant from Manhattan. She wishes she hadn\u2019t gotten stuck in a long bathroom line and missed her running wave<\/a>. And she regrets not running alongside the pacer who might have helped her reach her goal time of 4:15. Instead, she finished 11 minutes slower. <\/p>\n

The self-criticism was paired with another unexpected emotion: Sadness at the thought of losing the close friendships she\u2019d developed with her running buddies during training. \u201cI have this sense of, \u2018Now what?\u2019 Are we still going to hang out on Sundays and run?\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Experts call the discombobulated feelings many athletes wrestle with after a big competition the \u201cpost-race blues.\u201d They can range in severity from a short-term funk to more serious clinical depression. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to the feeling people have after a wedding or finishing a big project or finals in college,\u201d explains Jim Afremow, PhD, author of The Champion\u2019s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train and Thrive<\/a><\/i>. \u201cWhen we accomplish a goal, it\u2019s easy to lose your focus and feel adrift.\u201d He once had a client who suffered from the syndrome after pitching his first Major League Baseball game. \u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019ve been spending my whole life working toward this. I did it. Now what am I supposed to do?\u2019\u201d says Afremow.<\/p>\n

Getting Back to Normal<\/b> <\/h3>\n

The initial challenge for many athletes lies in flipping the switch from focusing on a big goal to transitioning back<\/a> to a normal routine. This can require everything from re-jiggering your exercise schedule, to catching up with work, to family or social obligations you put on the back burner during intense training. The psychological adjustment can also be difficult. \u201cTraining gives us self-esteem and an identity and a physical release. It\u2019s also exciting to say, \u2018I\u2019m training for a marathon<\/a>!\u2019\u201d says Afremow. \u201cSometimes there\u2019s disappointment because we had expected a marathon to transform us.\u201d And it\u2019s not always rewarding to return to our regular lives, which are often filled with family demands and a backlog of deadlines.<\/p>\n

After Mindy Bobe, 36, finished her first marathon<\/a> in New Orleans in 2012, she savored the chance to sleep in the following week, instead of getting up in the pre-dawn hours to fit in runs before her two young boys woke. \u201cI was on such a high afterward. Crossing that finish line was a really big deal. You have such strong emotions because you\u2019ve worked so hard for so long, and then it\u2019s over so quickly,\u201d says Bobe, a pre-school teacher from Daphne, Alabama who writes the blog Road Runner Girl<\/a>. \u201cBut the next week I was depressed. I thought, \u2018What can I do next? Is there anything bigger than this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She signed up for a half-marathon<\/a> right away and now makes sure she has another race on the books before each competition. \u201cThat way I go right back into training mode,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Living with the Letdown<\/b><\/h3>\n

Even if you can quickly get back into the swing of things, athletes are susceptible to ruminating about what they could have<\/i> done better for weeks after a race. \u201cWe all tend to be extra critical of ourselves, and for perfectionist athletes, a performance is never good enough,\u201d says Afremow.  <\/p>\n

Weeks after Carlos Londono completed a half-Ironman in Princeton, New Jersey in late September, he chastised himself for not sticking to a strict training schedule. He had high hopes of finishing the punishing 70.3-mile triathlon in under six hours. Instead, he shaved just 10 minutes from his 7:14 finish at his first half-Ironman in Maryland earlier in the summer. \u201cI said to myself, \u2018You\u2019re such a slacker,\u2019\u201d says Londono, 47, a management consultant from Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He told himself he should have gotten up earlier on the weekends to fit in longer bike rides and run more frequently on the treadmill when he was on the road for work. \u201cIt was a constant mental fatigue<\/a>. If I wasn\u2019t telling anyone, I was thinking about it a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took Londono nearly a month to appreciate what he had accomplished. Most notably, he took nine minutes off his swim time. During his first half-Ironman swim, he had panicked and struggled to finish. The second time, \u201cI mentally overcame my fear of open water<\/a>, and that\u2019s big,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I feel a tendency to be critical, I go back to that thought and remind myself of my progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lonely
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Healthier Perspective<\/b><\/h3>\n

Got a case of the post-race blues? It\u2019s normal to feel adrift for a while, or experience a range of emotions once that bib finally comes off. Here are some tips to help get you back to your old self again.<\/p>\n

1. Have some fun.<\/b> It\u2019s easy to forget what life was like before all-things-running overran your life. Ward off the blahs by planning something fun for yourself in the weeks after your race. \u201cThis is the time to let your hair down and indulge your carefree side,\u201d says Afremow. Have a couple beers<\/a>. Go on a trip. Plan a great date night. Take a week off from running. It might seem scary \u2014 but a short hiatus could spark a new appreciation<\/a> for the sport. <\/p>\n

2. Set a new goal<\/b>. \u201cEven if it\u2019s just a 5K, you want something to look forward to,\u201d Afremow says. If you\u2019re disappointed about your last performance, you\u2019ll have a fresh opportunity to focus on a new goal. Try something different like a mud run<\/a>, or inspire a newbie runner to lace up for their first fun run<\/a> with you. You’ll find it’s rewarding to invest your efforts into something other than calculating your splits.<\/p>\n

3. Redefine your definition of success.<\/b> Disappointed you didn\u2019t finish the marathon in four hours? With so many factors out of your control, it\u2019s important to acknowledge that meeting your goal sometimes just isn\u2019t in the cards. Instead, how about looking at your 4:15 finish as your own silver medal?  Or, think of finishing as your bronze accomplishment. \u201cEstablish multiple goals and create your own personal podium,\u201d says Afremow. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be all or nothing. Think about the many ways you were awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Got a bad case of the post-marathon blues? It\u2019s common for runners to feel down after the race-day endorphins wear off. Here\u2019s how to get back to normal, post 26.2. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":33935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[159,110,108,282,341,357],"class_list":["post-33926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-anxiety","tag-race","tag-running","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2running"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}