I finally ran yesterday — 11 days after the race.
Taking a 11 day break is not bad. But, intending to run for the last 7 days and not running is… I hate to label it as “bad”, but at the very least, it’s a waste of mental energy. All the worrying, making excuses, and slight guilt is not the same as a break.
A break would have been better.
Feeling down, unmotivated, even mildly depressed is normal after a big, anticipated event, whether that be an incredible marathon, Christmas day, or an enjoyable vacation. Post-race blues, post-trail depression for hikers, getting back to reality, no matter what you call it, it’s a real hump to get over.
Sometimes it just takes time, but if you’d like to speed along the process here are 6 suggestions for beating post-race blues. I’m going to try them out myself.
Beating Post-Race Blues
1. Reflect and process
No matter if your race went amazing, amazingly bad, or just OK, you can get mentally stuck on it.
I really enjoy writing race recaps because I can reflect on the race and process it. Releasing into the world how I performed and how I thought helps me learn and let go of it.
Write it out. Share it, if you like. Talk it over with a friend. Let it out.
2. Fill the time
Marathon or ultra training can feel like a full-time job. Training for any distance takes a significant amount of time.
Preferably before the race, decide what you are going to do afterward to fill the empty spans of time.
This is my 3rd year participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). After my big race in November, I dive into 50,000 words in 30 days.
If you purposefully replace your training time, you are less likely to find yourself moping around for the 3rd day in a row.
3. Give back
After working toward a personal goal, looking out toward the community can be a great change. Volunteer for a race instead of running in it, volunteer for a running-based charity, clean up at the park you run in.
By pulling yourself out of you, you can see running for its bigger picture and not just wrapped around that one race last week.
4. Sign up for another race
Jumping into another marathon or other huge effort won’t do your body any service, but a race with a different purpose can encourage you to keep running some and give you something to look toward.
Show up at a local 5K, travel for a race, run an unusual distance like 8K or a 5 miler, or try a trail run. Try something different with no high-stakes.
Try a Color Run
In Savannah, we have a giant bridge run a month after the marathon. It’s a fun race with costumes, finisher medals, and beers. I’m looking forward to being in the race crowds again, but for a less stressful reason.
5. Transition plan
What do you want your off-season to look like?
Do you want to run the same number of days? Do you want to do more swimming, biking, or yoga?
Work slowly toward your new habits and you’ll find yourself transitioning from Marathon-go-getter to a more balanced person (I kid… a little).
6. Try something new
If you are starting an off-season, this is a great time to try something new.
Two runners I know finished up their half-marathon in November and are now trying cross-fit.
I am looking forward to more bouldering, yoga, and pole dancing which I didn’t have time for during training.
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My Post-Race Plans
I think my indecision around my off-season and this year’s blues are intertwined.
I have a general idea of what I want to accomplish this winter: I want to rebuild the arches in my feet and improve my running form. But how I will measure progress, how that will look day-to-day and week-to-week, I don’t know.
I want to boulder, pole, and do yoga, but I haven’t decided how much, when, or where. And of course, I still want to run.
As I flounder in my plans, it’s easy for me to shrug off running or doing that first pole session.
Rest is good, both physical and mental, but at some point I need to create a little structure, because that’s where I thrive.
First steps: Continue NaNoWriMo, make a physical therapy appointment and ask for guidance, and do a 30-day yoga challenge on YouTube, possibly with Erin Motz or Adriene.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday. Leon Neal/Getty Images
CNN
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Thursday could be his final chance to convince a receptive American president of his country’s war aims.
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The precise details of the “victory plan” Zelensky plans to present in separate meetings to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unknown, having been closely held until they are presented to the American leaders.
But according to people briefed on its broad contours, the plan reflects the Ukrainian leader’s urgent appeals for more immediate help countering Russia’s invasion. Zelensky is also poised to push for long-term security guarantees that could withstand changes in American leadership ahead of what is widely expected to be a close presidential election between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The plan, people familiar with it said, acts as Zelensky’s response to growing war weariness even among his staunchest of western allies. It will make the case that Ukraine can still win — and does not need to cede Russian-seized territory for the fighting to end — if enough assistance is rushed in.
That includes again asking permission to fire Western provided long-range weapons deeper into Russian territory, a line Biden once was loathe to cross but which he’s recently appeared more open to as he has come under growing pressure to relent.
Even if Biden decides to allow the long-range fires, it’s unclear whether the change in policy would be announced publicly.
Biden is usually apt to take his time making decisions about providing Ukraine new capabilities. But with November’s election potentially portending a major change in American approach to the war if Trump were to win, Ukrainian officials — and many American ones — believe there is little time to waste.
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Trump has claimed he will be able to “settle” the war upon taking office and has suggested he’ll end US support for Kyiv’s war effort.
“Those cities are gone, they’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelensky. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt,” Trump said during a campaign speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Comments like those have lent new weight to Thursday’s Oval Office talks, according to American and European officials, who have described an imperative to surge assistance to Ukraine while Biden is still in office.
As part of Zelensky’s visit, the US is expected to announce a major new security package, thought it will likely delay the shipping of the equipment due to inventory shortages, CNN previously reported according to two US officials. On Wednesday, the US announced a package of $375 million.
The president previewed Zelensky’s visit to the White House a day beforehand, declaring on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly his administration was “determined to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevail in fight for survival.”
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“Tomorrow, I will announce a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine’s military – but we know Ukraine’s future victory is about more than what happens on the battlefield, it’s also about what Ukrainians do make the most of a free and independent future, which so many have sacrificed so much for,” he said.