A post half marathon recovery plan to help you recover from your race

You crossed the finish line. Now what?

What you do in the next few hours decides whether tomorrow feels like ‘a little sore‘ or ‘I can’t do stairs.’

Here’s how to get through the rest of the day, and the days after.

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Immediately after crossing the finish line

Once you’ve crossed the finish line, keep walking. You’ll probably do a small amount of walking as you move away from the finish line and pick up your gear bag.

But after that, keep walking for a few more minutes to gradually return your body temperature to normal and prepare your body for recovery.

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Change into dry clothes (if you can)

You’ll cool down fast once you stop moving, and standing in damp gear makes it worse.

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Eat and drink your carbs ^{1 2}

You’ll need to refuel your muscles with carbs—through fluids, food, or both. 

After racing, it may be easier for you and your stomach to refuel with fluids instead of food.

But everyone’s needs are different so let’s talk about post-race drinks and post-half marathon recovery food. 

You will need to take on fluids lost during your half marathon—water and electrolytes to restore hydration and carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores.

After your race, drink 1.5–2 cups (or 12–16 fluid ounces) of a 6–8% carbohydrate solution (that’s 6 to 8 g carbohydrate per 100 mL of fluid) to replace fluid and sustain blood glucose levels.

So if you’re looking at nutrition facts of a drink, look for:

12 fl ounces = about 24 grams of carbs

16 fl ounces = about 32 grams of carbs

(Chocolate milk is a good option if it fits your diet and preferences.)

Once you’ve taken on some carbs, you have more recovery drinks for runners to consider.

Post half marathon recovery food. Look for high-carb options that your race may provide (like bagels and bananas). Or throw a snack into your race bag like pretzels and hummus, an energy bar, or a smoothie pouch. 

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Elevate your legs

Lie down and put your legs up. Against a wall, on a pillow, on the couch, whatever’s there. A few minutes is enough.

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Take a nap

If you choose to elevate your legs in bed, you may drift off to sleep, and that’s a good thing. A 20-minute nap, if you can squeeze it into your schedule, will give your body time to repair itself.

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Eat a post half marathon meal

Your post-half marathon recovery meal might be about 2 hours after you finish your half marathon. And this meal, (like your post-half marathon recovery drink and snack) should be filled with carbohydrates. 

But, I wouldn’t get too strict on the grams of carbs in your meal because this is probably a celebratory one, and you should definitely enjoy what you want to eat.

Relax, go for a walk, and get some sleep

Go for a walk to shake out muscle stiffness and get the blood flowing.

Do a few mobility exercises to help your joints move through their natural full range of motion. 

Do something that’s relaxing for you so you can drift to sleep. Anytime you can sleep well will help your body and mind recover from running. 

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