Post-Race Blues: What Happens After the Finish Line?

if we don't back ourselves up, who is going to do that? You are your biggest cheerleader.

You can always find the small things to criticize and improve, but if you don't celebrate your achievements, it's not as meaningful

Hello and welcome to the Athletes Compass podcast where we navigate training, fitness and health for everyday athletes. After months of training, sacrifice and anticipation, crossing the finish line of a big race should feel like a high point. But for many of us, it's followed by an unexpected emotional crash. In this episode of the Athletes Compass, we are going to explore the often overlooked experience of post-race depression or blues

what causes it, how to navigate it, how to move forward with purpose and perspective. If you're feeling lost after your last big event or supporting someone who is, this conversation will offer strategies and insights to help you. We'll talk about four parts of the topic. Why does post-race depression occur? How and why to celebrate your accomplishments, taking some time off and setting a goal for the next event. So let's talk definitions first.

What is post-race depression and how common is it among endurance athletes?

I think it's pretty common, isn't it? I think we all experience a little bit of a blues after a big race. Maybe not like local 5k race, but when we've put in the work and dreamt and suffered through the big race and crossed that finish line, eventually it will sneak up, a little bit like, ⁓ now what?

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. So when in my days, we would call it AIDS after Iron Man Depression Syndrome. Because I've done a lot of Iron Mans and that's always what we would sort of talk about. yeah, I think there's all of a sudden this reduction in the endorphin levels that are sort of in the brain and whatnot. So yeah, and like the...

the cortisol levels are high around the event and then they're kind of, you know, they're a lot less now, which, we need that, you we often talk about cortisol as kind of a negative thing, but it's actually, you know, it's got sort of both ends. It's really important sort of as well. Important, like it makes you feel good too at the same time. So yeah, there's just, there's all these various different neurochemical

processes that are all of sudden changing. And yeah, you're adapting sort of to this new normal. lots of physiology going on in the background. It's a real occurrence. You're not just, if you're listening to this and you think that you're unique in this, you're not. It's just so common. So yeah, like what do you do about it, I guess is sort of the obvious question, right?

Yeah. And I think some of it can be related that we don't celebrate our accomplishment. Like, yes, we get that medal hanging on our neck, but then, you know, everybody moves on. Your family has gone through the same thing as you did. They've tried so hard to support you and then it's over. So they are moving on to

Thank

You know, ⁓ okay, so mom came home from this race. Now we can get back to normal and now mom will pay a little bit more attention to us and ⁓ they just move on. And I think a lot of the time when I hear athletes struggling with the post-race blues is one question that I ask, well, did you celebrate? What did you do to celebrate?

We can get back.

And yes, it could be, you know, new gear or they take out family for gratitude dinner or something, but many of us don't celebrate it. don't like, we don't, we don't put an end to it. We just kind of like let everything, you know, go. And, and sometimes it is good to have a partner to go through the race.

race day and even a few days after. I'm lucky to have Paul coaching me and we always talk about the race after. It is such an important thing because you go through not just things that maybe didn't go as planned and you can learn from them, but just to kind of process the whole thing and it is the end of that whole training block.

It ends in the race and unfortunately many people don't get to talk it through, so it really does end there. But if you have a coach or you have your friend or even hanging out after the race with somebody else, if it's a friend or a teammate and just going through each other's race reports, even writing it down on our forum, please do that, we always love to read your reports, that can help.

get reported. That can help

kind of like the process will happen and really kind of like the pin the needle of the whole process and the ways and what did I learn and maybe you can start thinking about those things. I think that's celebrating and expecting on that.

kind of like process what happened and really kind of like ⁓ pin the needle on the whole process and you know the race and what did I learn and maybe even started thinking about what's next. So I think like celebrating and reflecting on that is

important.

Absolutely.

I

know that after doing nationals, you know, for cyclocross, you know, it's in December and I have finished that race several times and realized that, okay, I have dedicated this whole season to cyclocross and now it's December and it's cold and dark and I need to figure out what I'm going to do next. And you know, it's the, I don't want to train and I just had a

One of my athletes has finished, Ironman Ottawa. And he just stopped training and just did stuff around the house and kind of just took care of himself and his family before moving on to something else. So how do we know when this feeling after the race is

Mm-hmm.

just fatigue or kind of the letdown and something a little more serious like depression. How can we tell the difference?

Hmm. That's a good question. And certainly, you know, I don't think any of us can claim to be real experts in this other than our, you know, our own sort of history and background in it and having experienced it ourselves, probably with both, but I think maybe, you know, more of a clinical depression to answer your question, Paul, would be sort of prolonged. it just doesn't go away. It doesn't continue. ⁓ whereas

with respect to what we're talking about today, the AIDS, the after Ironman depression syndrome, post-race blues or whatever. This is almost, you almost kind of got to expect it because you remember just going back to why this is all happening in the beginning with the race, there's this huge dopamine surge, right? Dopamine pleasure hormone. Everyone's like, you just, you're, the dopamine centers are so fired when you're, you know.

doing your A event for the year kind of thing is a huge accomplishment. And then that's all of a sudden taken away in the time course that's following. There's not really too much you can kind of do about that until the regulation centers are getting used to their new baseline. you've got to, it's almost an addiction issue, right? Like exercise is there, it's a positive drug.

like exercise is, it's a positive drug,

But at the end of the day, is, we're all drug addicts, all of us listening to this in a little bit of a way. We've got this relatively positive addiction that we call exercise and training. we're all used to that. And when it gets pulled away, that's kind of that process. But to answer your question, Paul,

but at the end of the day, it is, we're all drug addicts, all of us listen to this in little bit of a way. We've got this relatively positive determination that we call exercise and training, and we're all used to that, but when it gets pulled away, that's kind of that process. So, to answer your question, well, yeah.

something clinical would be something that is really, you can't get up out of bed.

it's having a really hard time kind of regulating your mood, your normal mood thereafter. And that's when you need to talk to someone a little bit more about this. Like that episode we did with Pete, Paul and others. So yeah, that's kind of more the, that's when things, you gotta look further into things.

Yeah, I think if you can't find joy in anything else either, if you can't find joy outside training either, I think that's a pretty good sign that you might need to talk to ⁓ a professional.

Yeah. You know, I love that word joy. And the only reason is because, well, not the only reason, but one of the key reasons is we're actually developing a tool. We have developed a tool in Athletica that Andrea has developed. it's basically, it's listening to your comments that you leave in Athletica. And it's looking, it's, I think I've spoken about it before, but it will be coming to life pretty soon.

Yeah. You know, I love that word joy. The only reason is because...

and it's our semantic analysis. Looking at your sentiments, it's looking at the words that you choose, your mind chooses to write in terms of your comments. And you subconsciously might not actually be aware that you're using language that might have more of a sadness resonance to it versus a joyful resonance to it, but...

we in Athletica have picked this up and we actually published a case study on this. We've proven the concept and now we'll actually be implementing this in for both athletes that are self-coached as well as coaches to be able to kind of flag when that sadness is of is sort of prolonged. And we can link to the paper that we're speaking about but.

But yeah, think tools are coming to actually flag that further for the user to your question, in terms of when this is too prolonged and you're not starting to use more joyful comments because there's this cascade of the thousands of different words that we could choose. You can actually place these on a continuum of more joyful or more sad comments. yeah, again, geeking out, I just think that's so cool.

I think the tools are coming to actually flag that further for the user to your question in terms of when this is starting to grow longer. You're not starting to use more joyful comments because it's this cascade of thousands of different words that you can choose. You can actually place these on a continual of more joyful or more sad comments. And again, I would like to thank that.

What role do you think identity plays in post-race blues or depression, especially if someone has centered their life around preparing for this event, especially for a big event like an Ironman that is kind of all-consuming with training?

Yeah. I think if somebody's identity is to be a triathlete and that big event passes by, or you don't even get to the start line, which is, it's possible. It can totally spiral you down into depression for sure. But if you can see yourself as somebody who does triathlon.

It's not as big of a deal to, you know, do the race and then continue to look forward to finding something that gives you joy and purpose. So I think tying yourself up to, you know, an identity or I am a triathlete instead of, you know, I am someone who does triathlon can be a pretty big deal.

There's lots of, I think there's lots of different ways and lots of different perspectives and lenses to look at this question, Paul. And I would, think I've probably gone through lots of different sides and being on different sides of it. So I would have the earlier on years when I was a competitive triathlete, you know, in the elite level and I very much weighed, had a heavy identity on being a triathlete.

so much so that I pulled out of Kona. stopped. Basically, I wasn't going to place high up in Kona. And it was wrong, but at five miles in the marathon, I walked back to my hotel. it was a regretful moment as a young triathlete. It was really good in terms of the learning experience, because it stuck with me forever. It really stung.

and I never dropped out of a race thereafter because I just never, I always wanted to still finish something after that. But I, at that point in my development, I was very much had this identity wrapped up of I was going to be a triathlete that goes to the Olympics and all these sorts of things. It was so important for me. But yeah, and then of course.

We're all a work in progress, right? And I think I'd slowly sort of developed more and more towards ⁓ what sort of Marjaana is saying here. I'm no longer a triathlete. I'm someone that likes to do triathlon or someone who likes to train for triathlon or train for an event. And I'm doing it for my health and fitness. I think we're all sort of a...

a work in progress on that, but I think very much the point, the identity can probably relate to the severeness of the potential depression thereafter, because I was highly depressed. I remember going on after dropping out of that race or not doing well in a certain race. So at different degrees, depending on different contexts, as we always say, I think.

And how do you teach this to your daughter who is swimming? Does she identify herself as a swimmer or someone who loves to swim?

Cool.

Well, that's a really good question. I think she's on the the fence. So just for a little more context, my daughter is she we've just returned from BC provincial championships, where she got three podiums and one one one event. ⁓ She's a freestyle butterflyer. And so top top swimmer at least for her age in this province and ⁓

My daughter just returned from BC Provincial Championships where she got three podiums and won one event. She's a freestyle She's top top swimmer at least for her age.

I would say she definitely has, she's still developing so she's not totally accessible.

I would say she definitely has, you know, she's still developing. So she's got, she's not totally obsessed with it. She's,

she's about to hike a huge mountain with one of her friends, you know, overnight in the BC Rockies. so, you know, I think she's got, she's definitely quite balanced around all these different things. but, so she hasn't, I don't think she's definitely got that key identity as where she's just a swimmer yet.

but she's certainly interested in potentially pursuing that one. So it's not there yet. It's a good question. But yeah, it can be quite strong, especially when you're getting all the strokes, you know, when you're, when you find you've got a talent in one of these sorts of things, you want to sort of throw your identity towards that. And that's the risk for all of us. And there's, here's the push and pull of that dopamine and relief sort of thing. And then again, we've been in the car on holidays ever since this, this championships and she's, she's felt

she's expressed more relief following her big, big event and most of her success. she, which obviously shows the pressure that she's placed on herself to kind of go in there and, you know, perform to the level that she was ranked at, right? Swimming's really easy. You've, you've, put a qualifying time down and you, everyone else gets to see that time. So the ranking is quite, is quite easy and, but you still have to deliver on the day at the big event.

Mm-hmm.

So yeah, she felt relief and kept saying that just how happy she was to be on holidays thereafter. yeah, so many different emotions that are out there.

Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, super cool.

Steve Magnus in his book the win the inside game uses that exact language with

you know, are you a triathlete or are you someone who likes triathlon? And that is a huge difference. I think that that's, you know, we all get sucked into that sometimes, or, know, that's, that's our identity. Marjaana you talked about celebrating the event and finishing it. Why, why do you think it's time? Why do think it's important to take the time?

to reflect on and celebrate that effort and achievement.

I think it's a stepping stone to what's coming next. I think it's nice to celebrate. It sounds a little controversial almost to throw a party for yourself, but...

You don't have to have a lavish party, just even if it's just that, I'm going to buy new running shoes or something like that. Or like reflected, keep a journal or like I said, writer, race report and celebrate it. if we don't back ourselves up, who is going to do that? You are your biggest cheerleader.

You can always find the small things to criticize and improve, but if you don't celebrate your achievements, it's not as meaningful as if it comes from other ones. That's for me. I don't need the external validation from medals, but I think if we always just finish one training block with the race and then move on to the next one,

Ten years goes by and we're like, what have we accomplished? You know, feel unaccomplished if you don't celebrate what you've just done.

Thank you.

Yeah. And I think some of those, mean, gosh, I just love that race report thread. It's my favorite thread on the Athletica forum. No question. Hands down. Athletica users that write their, you know, their experiences down there. Just so, just know, I read them all and I just, I don't know, I get a lot of joy out of listening to your processing on what your

experience was like, you know, I think with all of us, we have this mind and we have a window to our experience and we have this body that, that can do these amazing things. And it's, it's so cool to kind of, you know, like kind of Marjaana says, you're, you're here, your own reflections and your own processing of the experiences that went on whilst you performed the, these incredible, you know, events.

that not every human out there can do. I tell Marjaana as a coach sometimes, like you are, the emotion you should be experiencing is gratitude often because like you're the one that everyone wants to be. Everyone on that course is watching you and wishing they had the power to do what it is that you are doing. So bravo to you for doing that. And it's just wonderful to kind of.

listen and try to get a little bit of an insight into what you've experienced in this process. And again, it's a moment in time. We're not on this planet forever. And it's just, what do you want to do with the moments that you have? And it's pretty cool to do these incredible feats that not everyone else has the ability, capacity, tenacity to do. So yeah, bravo to all you.

and keep them coming.

Yeah, keep them coming. I know race season is starting to wind down, so we should have a long list of race reports.

In the Northern Hemisphere, but you

in the northern hemisphere,

know,

the Southern Hemisphere is picking up and we're starting to see, you know, on the Athletica inbounds and stuff. Everyone from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia are really getting on board

but the southern hemisphere is picking up and we're starting to see, you know, the athletic inbound stuff, everyone from South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia are really getting on

Yeah.

starting to, they've seen all the successes like the

and starting to, they've seen all the success

And Brazil too.

Evans and whatnot and Cindy Maloney's and Marjaana Rakai's and stuff that people have had and they're, you know, they're jumping on the Athletica bandwagon, which is really cool.

team together and whatnot, and Sydney Bolognes and Marjaana Rokai's and stuff that people have had and they're, you we've a of people on the

So sometimes races

I hate to use the expression meets our expectation because expectations can be so wild, sometimes the result may not go very well. How do we process that? Is that part of the race report and the storytelling?

I'm fine.

I think so, yeah. And now I have to put money where my mouth is, but I haven't. Did I write from Calgary? I don't think so. Because my race in Calgary was like, meh. The highlight was to race with Cindy, but rest of it was just like, I don't know if I want to do this again. It's just like meh. And granted.

You

Yeah.

I think that was a really good point, Paul, because leading up to that, I did not have a really good training blog. I kind of just like signed up for the race just to have a race to look forward to. But there was so much stuff in my life going on this summer that I never really got into the, I wasn't locked into this goal race, right? So I think everything kind of like snowballed.

into meh And that is, it's okay. Sometimes, you know, like, I think, I think I wrote on my comments that maybe this is it for triathlon. And Paul said, no, give it some time. Give it some time. But I think the mental load of my summer was just too much that I couldn't gather up the, you know,

the energy and the focus into doing the race. Like at the race week, I was just like,

Yeah. But I mean, like that's, that's the process too, right? Like you're a, you're a more experienced athlete now too, right? And mean, Cindy's, Cindy's a great example where she, she finds these different races and stuff that light her up. So she mixes it up every once in a while. She'll do a mountain bike race, you know, or she'll, yeah, she'll, she'll go and do a marathon or a Boston marathon. Just finds kind of like a new challenge that's within her, but it's still something that's sort of a little different. So she's not always doing the same, you know, rep.

So.

Mm-hmm.

know, repetitive weeks, weeks, week in and week out. Just make, just change up the goal a little bit, which I know we're going to talk about possibly in the next episode. So stay tuned for that one. But, but yeah, like that's, that's kind of a good, a good reflection also when you're in that reflection mode as you've been doing. And I know you'll probably have something to tell us about on the, on the goals, how you've kind of evolved to this one too. But I was also, but I was going to kind of,

Mm-hmm.

Go back to Paul's question, it was really about looking at expectations versus outcome. And again, back to Micaiah on the swimming, this is a really key, like as a dad with a bit of a coaching hat on, I'm not her coach, but I'm her advisor. we as a family were just sort of saying, yes, you've hit all these times, you're ranked very high. There's obvious expectations that are coming up with. And you would be the same every Athletica user. You can see what your...

power or pace profile is. From your chart, you can see what you are predicted to be able to ride, run, swim, row, et cetera. We can see that from that chart. It doesn't necessarily mean that you will necessarily execute that on the day. It's within you, but you've got to sort of go and do the job. But we were very clear.

with our Micaiah just, you know, it doesn't matter whatever happens, you've done all this great training and irrespective of what the outcome is, we love you no matter what. And it's just, just go out there, do your best as long as you try. We're still gonna love you just as much thereafter. So it's, you know, the same for yourself, right? We all need to love ourselves. If you love yourself and you love...

you can love others, you can give to others. So it's a really important principle sort of for us to all take and especially if we're talking about these things around identity, you know, and going into these events. So, you know, and again, trying to kind of prevent this crazy potential catastrophe of a depression thereafter, like,

I know I always do. I was

love yourself first and foremost, love yourself no matter what happens, but do indeed try your very best, know what is within you, still have dreams. I know I always do, I always kind of dream a little, I might get a little bit more out, might be something a little bit special on that day. I'm sure

kind dreaming a little bit more of something special that day.

you know what I'm talking about, listener. And yeah, that's, but I think that's good advice.

So we've come to an end of an event. We hopefully have done some celebrating. We've done some journaling. We've done some talking with people. We've processed the event as best. Should we jump right into training? Should we take some rest? And if we should take some rest, what kind of rest? Should we do a complete rest, active recovery, something else? How can we forestall some of that post-race depression?

Yeah, good question. Definitely. mean, look at you. We got to go back to the physiology there again, right? Remember that we've got, we've had all those, that dopamine is been, it's gone. It's been, we got to give it a little bit more now, right? So you do need to, we need to start moving again. We need to start ticking over again, even if it doesn't feel all that great. And maybe there'll be some niggles and stuff that are kind of lingering around often from,

from any of these races, especially if it's running based where there's quite big insults in terms of the muscle damage that occurs. It's hard to kind of move those joints and stuff around, but at least if you can kind of get out walking, even if it kind of pains you to do so a little bit, or swimming, spinning the legs over in the bike, any sort of movement, getting outdoors, being around people.

processing and talking it through like Marjaana was saying. I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about the next event that'll naturally come through. I think the common thing for people to say after they finished a race is, I'm never, ever, ever doing that again. It's usually six to 24 hours later. It's like, I wonder.

What can I sign up? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

It can be the next goal, right? And

that's the time, I think, when you can kind of start to do that after the A-Race is done and dusted.

Yeah, I...

Yeah, don't sell your bike immediately after a bad race

because you're going to regret it. Yeah.

Yeah, or throw it in the river. Yeah.

I would also say

like I hear oftentimes like, oh yeah, I was in Cloud 9 the first week and then I felt the blues coming in. So I pulled out my credit card and signed up for new Ironman and then 10 Ironmans later, they're like, oh, I guess I should have maybe stopped at some point. So I would actually advise to take some time to not, you know, like...

Keep your credit card in a wallet and don't sign up for a new race immediately after. But remember we did the recovery from Ironman study that you did, Prof, and all the physiological markers show that you were pretty much recovered within a week. And I think like take the week and just like enjoy being in Cloud 9, especially after

You

Hmm.

That's right.

big raise and big achievement because those come so rarely. And when it's in the back ⁓ view ⁓ mirror, then you want it back, right? So just let yourself reflect and don't hurry the process. Do something that gives you joy, whether it's going for a walk with your dog or

Mm-hmm.

Meet up with a friend and just like enjoy the little time that you don't have to like, you know, try to get all the puzzle pieces together because you want to get your training done and do yoga, go for a, you know, bar class or whatever it is that you want to do that you don't have chance to do. Otherwise when you're in the training.

⁓

That's awesome advice for sure because again, reflect on the whole build cycles that you're in, right? Where time is, you know, there's not much time and you're really putting it all towards training and no doubt when you're out training, you're thinking, ⁓ my gosh, I so wish I had time to do X, Y, Z. Well, now you do. So go, yeah, make sure that you go and...

Take that time to go and do those things that you said you would when you were training and whatnot. Don't waste the day away and just sit on the couch and watch Netflix or whatever it is. Get out there and do all those things that you were dreaming about.

I think about my Ironman athlete again and how much time he spent prior to the race training and preparing. He has a family and he works full-time job and basically his third job besides his family was training for this Ironman. When he got done,

He kept very active by doing the kind of housework and painting and getting things done around the house. That's how he stayed active. And I thought that was a really good idea. He did an Olympic distance kind of family event this weekend and did pretty well, but he just was taking it easy and taking that rest time for himself.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's awesome because you're right. After you do these crazy races, you've built this huge endurance aerobic platform. I know Marjaana has experienced this herself where she came back after doing Ironman Worlds and it was about two months later. She really wasn't doing much of anything in terms of training, but she'd come in and she did the velocity sessions and she would just be hitting it out of the park in terms of her 30-30s.

She was getting that huge kick. So just like your athlete, Paul, who's not doing much, he's just keeping busy around the house, doing all the various things, not training that much, but that aerobic base, remember, if you look on training peaks or, sorry, or Athletica either with basically the CTL, the fitness, it holds for 42 days, right? The 42 day algorithm. Well, yours will too, right? So it's kind of holding to that.

And yeah, you're gonna be able to still launch into using that

fitness for at least 42 days.

I would say actually lot longer. Like it was so weird. I was mentally pretty empty. Like I was pretty done after the Worlds. I had done two full Ironmans in a few months. And I was thinking to myself like, I need

sign up for these races because I was feeling so freaking fit. And I wanted to do like, I can't let this fitness go to waste that you built so.

You work so hard to build, right? So I did like, I just signed up for 50k trail run and a marathon that I love these local races because you can sign up like a week before. So I signed up in December, I signed up a week before I signed up. Like, oh, I'm going to run marathon next weekend. And I hadn't really run long distance at all after Worlds in September, but

When you go through these build phases for Ironman and you do the Ironman, that fitness stays. It's not, you know, like even if the CTL goes down, your fitness is still there. It's not like equal to their theoretical fitness. It is there. And just by doing some high intensity weekly velocity sessions, it just allowed me to kind of raise it to another level.

And I would say, like I kept training.

It's not like I was training for Ironman, but I've kept the fitness going because I love training. That's what I love to do. So I do train, but I wasn't really blinders on training. If I wanted to take a day off, I took a day off. Or if I wanted to change things up, I did. And even at the end of February, that's a long time. That's like five, six months.

I did the ski race and I was super surprised. I'm like, I can still perform with lot less strict training.

Yes, she did.

So pretty

cool.

So when we finished the race, we've started to process it. We've got some solid thinking about our race. We've celebrated. When is the right time to start thinking about a next race or the next goal? I how long should we give ourselves?

How long is a piece of string? don't think there's a right or wrong answer on that one. It's whatever, it can be different contexts that are going to, know, someone that's probably new to the sport and just absolutely they're fully committed for, you know, this is what they want to do for the next five, 10 years, whatever, right? Well, they're going to be right away. They're going to be looking at the next, you know, piece of cheese at the end of the maze. So it's like, yeah, there's no...

Yeah.

Yeah

Yeah.

Yeah, there's no right or is right away is probably the answer for that individual. But then for someone else that's a little bit done, been there, done that, but know that this is a positive input into my life. And it does help me regulate my mood, my mental health, my physical health. Then, yeah, I think it's probably, you've got to kind of like what Marjaana was just sort of saying, you've probably got a 42 day plus to just sort of.

kick back and wait for it a little bit. you know, there could be an easy two months there in off season, say for example, and then looking what's kind of coming up on your next race calendar in the next summer sort of thing. What might excite me next year? Just for an A race and then there can be many different B races and C races along the way. That's sort of what I would think.

I think a lot of people who are new to endurance racing, they get such a huge rush out of racing that they sign up to several races like monthly. And I just want to note that, yes, that's exciting. And I've done that too, but at some point you do need to take that off season to let kind of

some of that fitness go, but also kind of like refuel your tank, not just physical, but mental, mental tank. You gotta feel that burn. You gotta feel that fire in your belly. Like what excites me? Like pick something that you're like, that's kind of scary. but it also excites me. And when you think about it, you're just like, you have a little bit butterflies and you're thinking, can I even do that?

That's my method. That's how I find my next goals.

I

That's good. And if you want me

like that.

to put my pro athlete coaching coach hat on, the general rule I have with my athletes is we do after the biggest A race, let's say it's a world's event or whatnot, it's mandatory two to three weeks off and where almost no correspondence with the coach thereabouts, just to kind of really...

really put a break on the constant communication back and forth. And then it would be also, they come back to me. It's like when they're ready, they make the first move, in other words. So it's not coach driven, it's the athlete is like, all right, I've had two weeks of really just kind of doing whatever, I'm hungry to start getting the training kind of again.

Thank

And that's usually three weeks later is usually when you get that next email for saying, all right, I want to start ticking over again kind of thing. So yeah.

So the last real question that I'm curious about is, you know, we're talking about the athlete and what they can do. What about coaches and friends and family? How can they support athletes going through a phase of feeling a little down after their event and feeling that emptiness? What can they do?

Well, first one for all of us, listen. And again, so that's probably the key thing, right? So listen, be aware of it, and then discuss with them, right? Like help them work through those emotions that are being expressed as a result of the neurochemistry that we spoke about. Just recognize, work through, and then encourage.

encourage movement and other activities, right? Like, can we go and do that chore around the house that has been, we've wanted to do ever since and there's no excuse anymore. Let's get doing, let's get moving, let's clean the windows, let's whatever, let's clean the garage out, whatever the chore sort of may be that they can kind of do together. yeah, just being active with them, I think.

Yeah, I might have promised my husband to do a couples high rocks.

⁓

There you go. Awesome. Love

Yeah, I don't know. We have to find a ticket. Apparently it's...

it. Where is it? Which one? Houston? You got to take it because they're always so sold out, aren't they?

Yeah, yeah. So we'll see. I might get a long time to prep, but yeah, I might have

him that we'll do something else that is not triathlon related that also he feels like he's good at.

Pupples, Hirox.

at

he's

picked up swimming, so that's exciting. We went swimming on Saturday. Yeah.

nice. I love it. Speaking

of HiRox, folks, don't forget that HiRox plans are in Athletica with Coach MJ here on the program, who's given all the ⁓ video demos on all the various different Hyrox movements, all the station movements. She does an incredible job. yeah, be sure to check those out if you're looking for an alternate...

Thank you.

activity or goal post-Ironman or endurance race.

Yeah, or if you want to build up your strength, those are also available on Velocity.

Incredible. Incredible.

Anything else we want to add to our discussion about post-race blues and depression?

Nothing is wrong with you. This is part of the process. So yeah, it's natural part.

think that's important.

Yeah, I would agree.

I would agree. I mean, I would almost kind of expect it to kind of come. It'll be in different degrees for different people. But yeah, sadly, it's just kind of a part of the, it's part and parcel of what it is that you're doing. Remember that it is sort of that withdrawal of the dopamine response that we get from that constant training and then the actual big event itself, big, huge dopamine.

hit in your brain and then all of a sudden that's not there anymore. So it's just it's kind of natural. Don't sweat it, but recognize it and then continue to work with others to work through it and and just stay out there. Keep moving, keep sleeping and all will be fine soon. And if it doesn't, as we spoke about, make sure you go get get special help from wherever you can.

Agreed. Thanks for listening today to the Athlete's Compass podcast. Take a moment now, subscribe, share, and let's keep navigating this endurance adventure together. Improve your training with the science-based training platform, Athletica, and join the conversation at the Athletica Forum, especially for your race reports. For Marjaana Rakai and Dr. Paul Larson, I'm Paul Warlowsky, and this has been the Athlete's Compass podcast. Thanks for listening.