When you complete your main race for the year, be it a triathlon, cycling race or running event, the post-race blues can hit hard. The finish line celebrations die down, the immediate ‘I did it’ elation fades and suddenly you’re left thinking: now what? Post-event ennui is something pretty much every athlete will go through at some point. After months of training, focus and sacrifice, it’s normal to feel a little flat and adrift when it all stops.
In this blog, six-time Ironman finisher Jen Lucas-Hill shares some top tips to help you beat the blues, reset your goals and get your motivation back after a big race.
Why do so many of us experience the post-race blues?
The post-race blues are quite a complicated feeling to navigate. Of course, if your race didn’t go according to plan – it’s quite easy to understand why you might feel sad and disappointed. But if the race went well, and you still find yourself in a slump – that’s when it gets more complicated. Because there’ll be part of you that thinks you should just be happy with your achievement, or at the very least – relieved that you don’t have to get up at 5am to train before work everyday anymore. So then, not only do you feel a little bit low and flat… you also have this uncomfortable guilty feeling about being anything other than happy.
So let’s start by getting one thing straight: it’s completely normal, and you’re 100% allowed to feel a bit low after a big race, even if it went well. You can be proud of what you achieved and grateful for the experience, yet sad that it’s over or a little lost about what’s next. The two feelings can coexist. And if your race didn’t go well, once the dust has settled you’ll still be able to find things to be proud of and things you can learn from.
Loss of focus and structure
The post-race blues can occur for a number of reasons. Of course, if your race didn’t go according to plan there’s an element of disappointment and a type of grief about what could have been. But what about when your race went really well? Why do you still feel low? For many it comes down to the loss of structure, focus and routine. You spend months (sometimes even years) with this one goal in mind. Your daily routine starts to revolve around it. Each training session ticked off gives you a sense of achievement, and it’s getting you closer towards the end goal. When you cross the finish line and the job is done, suddenly that structure and laser focus disappears. It’s normal to feel restless and adrift at this stage – and we’ll share some tips later on what to do to bring yourself out of the post-race slump, without trying to dive straight back into training too fast and ending up burnt out.
The emotional rollercoaster
Another thing to keep in mind is that taking part in a big endurance sport event like a triathlon brings with it a huge emotional rollercoaster. The stress of the balancing act that comes with managing training around your everyday life. The heady mix of nerves and excitement in the days leading up to the start line. The darkest mental depths you have to dig to during the race to keep yourself going when things get tough. The intense high when you make it to the finish line – or the crushing low if the race doesn’t go your way. All of that comes at a huge mental cost. The body and the mind keep the receipts. And it’s often when you finally stop – in the days or weeks after a race – that they decide to cash in. As uncomfortable as it might be, this is why it’s important to give yourself the space and the grace to just feel what you need to feel. Don’t try to fight it back or hide it. Be honest with yourself and those around you, and it’ll help you to process the complicated melting pot of emotions.
How to cope with the post-race blues
So that’s why the post-race blues happen. Now let’s look at some practical things you can do to help you navigate them.
Celebrate your success (even if the race didn’t go according to plan)
The best advice I’ve ever been given? “Look at the mountain you just climbed up”. I think for endurance athletes in particular, we can be guilty of always looking ahead to the next thing. The next goal, the next improvement. We treat ourselves as a constant work in progress, which keeps us driven. But we forget to take a beat and look back at what we’ve already achieved, and how far we’ve come.
When the post-race blues start to creep in, take a moment to celebrate what you’ve just achieved – even if the overall race result wasn’t what you hoped for. You can do this in a number of ways. Whether it’s talking it through with your coach to identify what went well, or even just privately writing down ‘3 things to be proud of’ to help you get a clearer perspective.
The conversations around what you can improve and what needs work can come later. But in the immediate days following the race, allow yourself to just be loud and proud (even if that doesn’t come naturally). Wear your finishers’ tee. Show off your medal. Be your own greatest cheerleader. You deserve it.
How to find positives if your race didn’t go according to plan
Maybe you didn’t finish in the time you were aiming for. Maybe you didn’t finish at all. I’ve been through both of these scenarios during my 10 years (and counting) in triathlon. So I know how crushing it can be. But I’ve also had to force myself to find positives, otherwise the disappointment would have eaten me alive.
- Reflect on the process and identify the things you did well. It might be how you trained, it might be the attitude you brought to race day… it might even be that you were able to make the sensible choice to pull the plug on your race instead of risking your long-term health to drag yourself to the finish line. I’d say almost 99.9% of the time, regardless of the final outcome, there will be something you can be proud of. Find it, and hold on to it.
- Keep perspective. This will sound harsh, but I’ve had to have this very same harsh conversation with myself. At the end of the day, it’s just a swim, a bike or a run (or all three if you’re a triathlete). It feels all encompassing – but whether you win the race or don’t even make the start line. That doesn’t change who you are as a person, and it doesn’t change how the people who care about you perceive you. People care about you, not your Ironman finish time. The world will keep turning, and you’ll have another opportunity to show yourself what you’ve got.
- Better, not bitter. I first heard these words from former-pro triathlete (turned Ironman commentator) Laura Sidall, speaking on a podcast I listened to not long after my first ever DNF. And they’ve stuck with me. Because you can put all your energy into being sad, mad and disappointed. Or you can give yourself a few days to process the emotions, and then start focusing on what you can learn. That shift in energy will instantly make you feel more positive. This isn’t a failure – it’s an opportunity.
Rest and recover
Look, I’m the Queen of trying to outrun my feelings by diving straight into the next training block. And I’ve learned the hard way that it catches up with you eventually. It’s crucial that once your main race for the year is over, you give yourself some proper time to rest and recover. Your body and your mind need this time to replenish their resilience and be truly ready to go again. Skip the recovery, and you’ll struggle to keep making progress.
This doesn’t mean you have to become a couch potato. You can still exercise, but focus on doing activities for fun – rather than trying to jump straight into another structured training plan. Think social runs, cafe rides and easy swims. Make the most of this time to just do what feels good – you’ll be grateful for it once you are back into structured training and you’re dragging your sorry carcass through VO2 max intervals!
Have some fun!
Following on from that rest and recovery point, now is the time to have some fun, too! Do all the things you couldn’t when you were in the depths of training. Take up padel or pickleball or whatever the kids are playing these days. Go paddleboarding. Meet a friend for coffee in regular clothes, instead of showing up sweaty and Lycra-clad halfway through a bike ride. Chances are you’ve had to be disciplined and say ‘no’ to a bunch of stuff during your peak training block, so now is the time to start saying ‘yes’ and enjoy the down time.
Now what? How to get motivated again after a big event
Alright, so you’ve been through the process. You’ve rested, recovered and (if you’re anything like me) are now the proud owner of a paddleboard and a new hyperfixation hobby. So what’s next?
This is where things can get strange, because once you decide you want to get training again – motivation can go awol. Here’s how to get back on track.
Reflect on what you can improve
We’ve done the celebrating, now it’s time to return to your race with your ‘film critic’ hat on. What could have been better? What would you like to improve for next time? Get specific here: we all want to just ‘get faster’. You need to look at your training and your individual performance to identify precisely what you can focus on in your next training block to achieve that.
Set specific goals
Based on those slightly more critical post-race reflections, set yourself some specific targets to start working on. This will help to shape what your winter training looks like, and what additional guidance you might need to seek. For example, let’s say you want to improve your Ironman bike split. That’ll involve building your endurance, improving your threshold numbers (so your Ironman pace naturally gets quicker) and it might also involve dialling in your bike fit and taking a look at your fuelling. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve and the steps you need to take to get there will make it much easier to start training again with a renewed sense of purpose, motivation and focus.
Choose your next adventure!
Me? Booking races when I should be booking therapy sessions? Always! Joking aside, getting an event in the calendar gives you something to look forward to. Alongside picking your ‘main event’ for the following year, it’s also a great idea to pick some smaller events or adventures in the interim. It might be some cycling time trials or shorter running events. Or it might be a bikepacking adventure or ticking off some bucket list cycling routes. Nothing shifts the post-race blues like having a new adventure to look forward to (as long as you’ve given yourself the time and space to recover properly from the last one).
New kit day joy
Let’s face it, there’s nothing like a bit of good old retail therapy and there’s nothing like fresh cycling or running kit to get you motivated and out the door. Check out the latest drops and get some ‘new kit day’ joy in the bag!