With Coach Alexa, Online Running Coach and in-person coaching in South Oxfordshire
Shared Struggles, Shared Solutions
It’s been one of those weeks where little themes start popping up in the conversations I’ve been having with my runners. Someone recovering from a respiratory illness. Someone beginning that gradual tapering process toward a big event. Someone else going through a really busy and stressful time with lots of work, travel, and commitments.
It was interesting, because the theme that came up was actually about the things we can do, generally, to support our bodies – whether we’re in recovery, under stress, or just navigating life. And often, those are the things we most easily forget.
Three Core Areas: Rest, Nutrition, and Hydration
I found myself offering similar thoughts and tips to all three runners, even though their situations were different. The guidance came down to two main areas:
- Rest, recovery, and sleep
- Food and drink – what we’re taking on board
Let’s start with food and hydration.
Fuelling the Body for Recovery and Adaptation
The food we eat and the hydration we maintain provide the ingredients our bodies use for recovery, adaptation, and healing. Whether that’s from illness, injury, surgery, or training, our bodies go through very similar processes. They need those ingredients to rebuild.
Apart from the air we breathe and the vitamin D we get from sunlight, everything else – what our bodies create, build, and grow – comes from the nutrients in what we eat and drink.
So whether you’re recovering from a bug, feeling run down from lack of sleep, travel, and stress, or you’re in a taper phase before a race, focus on:
- Good, nutrient-rich food
- Plenty of vitamins and minerals
- Staying hydrated
- Eating good quality carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats
That balance will give your body the ingredients it needs to support any of those situations – and help you deal with all the other stuff you’re throwing at it. Whether it’s illness, training, racing, or just a full-on life.
Recovery Through Sleep and Downtime
But it’s not just about giving your body those ingredients. You also have to give it the time to do something with them.
That means sleep. As much as you can.
That means rest. Prioritising high-quality downtime.
We need proper rest – physically inactive, mentally calm – to let our bodies process what we’ve given them. That’s when your body takes all those wonderful ingredients and goes to work in the background.
It might be immune system support.
It might be your brain rewiring and absorbing everything from a busy week.
It might be physical recovery from recent training.
The Balance That Keeps You Going
So that balance – the input from food and hydration, and the time to let your body do something with it – is vital. It helps your body cope with everything, from running to all the other demands of life.
I wanted to share, because I think there’s something to learn in that.
Give your body what it needs – and the time it needs to do something with it.
Happy running.
