One of the most important facets of any race or training is recovery. Recovery is important to fix any problems on race or training day, but also so you can continue training or feel normal the next day. I knew recovery from Ironman would be difficult, but I had developed a plan to help me get through recovery in the best way possible.

In previous Half Ironman races, I’d finish the race with a bit of recovery, and aside from a little soreness in the mile, I was fine the next day. I realized at the end of the race that I had actually pushed my body further than ever before. I knew I would have to deal with a big recovery. I started that recovery immediately after finishing the race. I had packed a bag for my wife to bring me that contained a mixed bottle of Accelerade, two ibuprofen, and my compression stockings. I forgot to put my compression stockings on right away, but I swallowed Accelerade and ibuprofen. I took time off with Accelerate because I was still grossed out from all the nutrition I had taken in the last few hours.

I got a massage at the end of the run which I think helped at least send me down the road to recovery, even though I was numb from all the hours of work. Then I walked quite a bit with my family. My feet were tired and sore, but I wanted to keep moving for some reason to avoid cramping or pain. We headed to the results tent, then headed back to the convention center to get my bags. I never found my special needs bike or special needs running bike, but all I lost was a pair of socks and a CO2 cartridge along with a spare tire tube. When I retrieved my bike from the transition area, I could feel my back tightening along with my calves and hamstrings. I stopped and did some light stretches which certainly helped to relax some of the issues there.

We got to the truck and I got my bike in the back. My wife drove and we headed to the hotel which was about a 15-20 minute drive. My mind was spinning with all my thoughts for the day, but my body was really tired. When we got to the hotel, my whole body was tensing up. The ibuprofen had definitely helped with the swelling a bit, but I walked like a stiff 80-year-old. We got inside and I showered. It felt good to be in warm water and get all the dirt off me. Until that moment I didn’t feel like eating anything, but I started to get very hungry. We get dressed and head to Chili’s. I ate a moderate amount for myself, but my taste buds were certainly not normal. I wore my compression socks through dinner and until I got to bed that night.

We got back to the hotel and I collapsed on the bed. I had a hard time sleeping that night like my whole body. In hindsight I should have taken a couple of sleeping pills before bed to help me sleep. I slept from time to time during the night.

The next morning we woke up. My kids begged me to go to the hot tub and pool. Even though I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t walk very well, I thought the hot tub war water would help and it sure did. I enjoyed the warm water and stretched while in the water, especially my hamstrings and calves. By this time, I was feeling pretty good and ready to drive the 7 hours home. I should have run about 2 or 3 miles, but decided against it. The weather had turned cold. I walked on the treadmill a bit, which seemed to help.

We packed up all our stuff and headed home. The only thing that really bothered me was my lower back and the bottoms of my feet. I’m usually a second day sore person, which means I’m much more sore on the second day than the first. In fact, I hit a wall of pain on day two. I think the recovery day 1 run would have really helped me, but I didn’t.

In general, my recovery was good. I was sore the rest of the week, and I really took the week off since I wasn’t racing the rest of the year. By Wednesday of the following week, I felt human again and virtually all my pain was gone. Next year I plan to run a couple of miles the day after the race and then run a couple more days the following week. I think this easy run will relieve some of the pain and feel more like a regular hard training day.