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recovery after long event/swim
efswim
Brooklyn, NYNew Member
Hi all,
I recently swam my longest swim ever, ~46k, on Sunday. I felt great and quite honestly felt like I could have kept going if I wanted/needed to. I finished later in the evening on Sunday so Monday felt like a "reintegration" day, finding my appetite again and getting a good night's rest Monday evening. However, I have since continued to feel totally drained and lethargic even being 4 days after the swim. I am relatively young (32), have been eating fine, and sleeping full 9+ hours each night since the swim. I am wondering about other folks' experiences recovering after a long swim / how long did it take you to feel "recovered." Thanks for sharing any experiences!
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I love this question! I have now done five swims over 20 hours, 3 were over 24 hours, with the most recent being nearly 30 hours and 80km. One thing I've learned is that the longer the swim, the longer the recovery I need.
Here are my notes in terms of what I've come to expect for the weeks after a 24 hour swim:
Days 1-3 muscle and joint soreness rapidly improves. Very difficult to get a full nights sleep. I usually feel moody and sometimes sad even if the swim went really well. I get pretty bad brain fog.
Days 3-7, swimming slowly feels comfortable, but I tire quickly, sometimes still moody. Brain fog starting to improve.
Days 7-14 I regain the ability to sleep a full night restfully. I start to get some of my "zone 2" abilities back, that is I can swim for 30-60 minutes at a "comfortably moderate" pace
2-3 weeks My speed/pace is normal, but I fatigue more quickly
3-6 weeks, My endurance rapidly improves and by week 6 I'm totally back to normal and feel great.
So, as you can see, it can take weeks to be completely back to normal, but for swims less than 20 hours the above progression happens much more quickly.
I listened to a podcast about this recently and the physiologist (Dr. Shawn Bearden) said that under a microscope, muscle fibers don't look normal until months after a 100 mile ultrarun.
For you, @efswim, It's sounds like you are doing great with your recovery-- the sleep is key. Be patient with your body, take notes and see how you feel day to day. Everyone is a little different, so see how it is for you. It would be great to hear how it goes over the next few weeks. Congratulations on an epic swim!!
Beyond the physical stuff, post-race blues is a real thing. Here's a blog post I found that has really lovely advice: https://www.whereyourfeettakeyou.com/where-your-feet-take-you/2018/05/09/6-tips-for-beating-the-post-ironman-blues
The first time I swam a 21 mile swim, (2 way Windermere), I couldn't lift my arms the day after. I also found it difficult to eat for a couple of days. The following year, my recovery from the English Channel was so much faster. I could lift my arms, swim the next day, and eat proper food. That was much the same for the next few swims.
I have found that, even though the swims I do now are shorter, (7-12 miles, no longer, I'm semi-retired), I'm feeling tired after them. I read an article recently that said the aging of the body doesn't happen gradually and consistently. There are, apparently, big changes in your 40s and again in your 60s. The article makes interesting reading but I know plenty of 60+ and 70+ swimmers who are successfully completing incredible feats of endurance.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drastic-molecular-shifts-in-peoples-40s-and-60s-might-explain-age-related/
I couldn't tell you if my body's ability to recover from long swims was affected in my 40s because I was already in my 50s when I started, but I have noticed that I feel more drained immediately after a swim nowadays, possibly because I may have dialled the training down too far. I'm planning on upping it again to see if it makes a difference. That said, it only takes about half a day to feel normal again.
My most recent long swim (Memphre) had me taking a LOOOOONG time to recover. I attribute that to a significantly less than optimal preparation for the event.
There's a new sort of humble when your Mama has to help you hook your bra, is all I'm sayin'.
Also, I found that if I sat still for too long, BAM! I'd fall asleep.
Thank you for sharing. I am realizing my fatigue is MUCH more mental/emotional than physical. Physically I had slight shoulder pain for 1-2 days after my swim, but overall I was impressed with how well my body physically responded. It has been more of a depressive, down feeling that I am experiencing leading to fatigue. I enjoyed how this article gave permission to accept the fatigue as valid. I have been fighting with myself as I'm not interested in going to the beach (let alone the pool...) even though it has been beautiful this week in NY. It is interesting how this feeling has been so prounouced now event though I have swam in large events before (NCAAs, Olympic Team Trials, etc..) my theory is I had lots of teammates around experiencing a similar feeling whereas this event I "swam alone." Alas, thank you for sharing I am grateful for this online community.
Yes! I finished in just under 8 hours, so certainly less than 20. Physically I felt honestly totally fine after about 2 days. I think it has been the mental/emotional drain that has lead to fatigue. Thank you for sharing this podcast and sharing your experience.
I had to have my [nearly 80 year-old] mom lift my luggage into the overhead on the plane home after I swam the Border Buster, which was one of my first long swims. Yes, definitely humbling! I'm sure people watching were wondering...