Post-race recovery

As expected, I'm more sore/stiff today than yesterday and that will only get worse by tomorrow. There are many elements that go into the post-race recovery. I've researched for hours about different methods of recovery and have found some common traits:

Rest
Hydration
Nutrition
Depression
Running again

REST
It is essential that I REST for the next few days. I had given some serious thought to doing some very light biking to try and get some of the lactic acid out of my muscles but my body is having nothing of that. The best thing that I can do is to keep my body moving a little bit at a time. The easiest thing to do would be to sit on the couch but that is not going to help the healing process. I'll probably go for a walk with my dog at some point today but that's it. I'll follow this same protocol for Monday.

HYDRATION
No matter how much I drink, I still feel thirsty. I've been drinking water since the minute the race finished but I still feel dehydrated so I'll continue to drink water throughout the day.

NUTRITION
Immediately after the race, even though I know the importance of restoring my glycogen levels, I had zero appetite. I forced myself to eat a bagel though. Last night I had this strange craving for red meat. I normally don't eat red meat and had to do some research to find out why I was craving it. It turns out that this is very normal and it is the body's way of telling me that I need to repair my muscle tissues. As my appetite returns to normal today, I'll begin to eat more carbohydrates as well as proteins.

DEPRESSION
I found this very interesting and as I read more about it it made sense to me. There was such a build-up to this race for me and now that it is over I'm left with "now what?" I also use running as a way to reduce my stress levels so I'll have to find another outlet for the next few days.

RUNNING AGAIN
Most research shows that I can resume my running again in about 3 days. My plantar actually made it through the race without too much difficulties but I want the pain in my knee to subside before I go for another run. I'll either go for a light run on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week for no more than 5-6 KM's. From there I'll build up my mileage slowly.

I've thought about doing one more 50KM before the end of the year, in the middle of October, but I'll make a final decision on that at the end of this week. If I don't do that race then I probably won't do another race again until next year but will cotinue to keep my mileage/endurance levels moderate to high. Next year I want to compete in the 50 KM Ontario Ultra Series and do one 50 Mile race. The 50 Mile race will take about 6 months of training but thankfully I have the support of a great group of trail runners who will help me with my training.