This weekend will mark the end of my running season and the beginning of the recovery phase. It is really the end of one season and the beginning preparation for the next one. How a person recovers now will dictate how they will feel and thus perform 6 months or so from now.

Every recovery phrase is person-specific, based on their unique chemistry. However, there some some basic musts and a handful of must-nots that are universal. The MUST list consists of the following:

• Rehydrate and Re-Mineralize. This is fairly obvious but there is a good possibility that many endurance athletes spent the past season in a chronically dehydrated state. Now  is a time to increase fluids — water, pineapple juice and cranberry juice (assuming one is not diabetic of course) would be at the top of the list. Add liquid minerals and you will address another major issue — chronic mineral depletion. Note, most of the time, the problems are with trace minerals, not so much the macro minerals.
• Growth hormone increase. GH is a hormone that will  help to rebuild and regenerate the entire system. After many hundreds of miles running, cycling or swimming, own organs, glands and various structures have taken a pounding. Now is the time to allow for the healing to occur.
• Reduce inflammation. Just as many have spent the season chronically dehydrated, most if not all have spent the season dealing with chronic inflammation. Training causes inflammation. Events cause inflammation. There is no way around this. There are ways of dealing with. The 2 big stars of the anti-inflammatory show are pharmaceutical grade fish oils and Wobenzyme enzymes. You will not find anything more effective that these. For the next 2-3 months of recovery, it is common to use 2-3 times the recommended dosage (which is typically a maintenance dose, not a therapeutic dose). Consuming fish, pineapple and any of the greens is also great here.
• Muscle repair. These guys have worked hard and worked long lo these very months. They took care of you and now it is time to repay the favor. The aforementioned HGH and anti inflammatory substances will address many aspects and L-Glutamine will fill in the blanks. Consider 2-4 g per day or at least every other day. Yellow, brown or golden fruits, grains or vegetables are the prescription here.
• Heart and its backup systems. The heart is the emperor and the emperor has 4 supports – adrenals, thyroid, cerebellum and blood. Each should be targeted in a very specific fashion. This is perhaps the most important element of recovery. (For more details about addressing the Heart and the 4 back up, order “Eating According to the 5 Elements” from http://www.hghplus.net).
• Kidney energy. The kidneys are considered the organs that produce most of the energy for the entire body. When it is drained (as would be the case after hard training, events and the season), it desparately needs to be supported. There are a variety of substances that will do this and this should be geared for the person. Most common ones are Fo-ti, Ren Shen and Eucommiae.

By supporting, nourishing and regenerating these major areas, along with sleep, rest and proper food intake, the endurance athlete can successfully recover and be prepared for the next season ahead.

What to avoid? These are pretty simple and obvious to most. They are:

• Weight loss plans. This is not the time to begin something like this. If you want to lose weight, wait at least 3 months to allow your system proper time to recover. Should you begin something like this, you are draining an already drained system.
• Detox, reduced calorie or fasting programs. This too is very obvious and should be avoided for the same reasons. Your system is already drained. If you drain it even more so, you are weakening your immune, cardiovascular, respiratory and other systems. Beside, what are you detoxing from? Unless a runner works in an asbestos factory during the day, the amount of training (and sweating and moving of lymph etc.,) is more that enough to allow the body’s natural detoxification pathways to work extremely effectively. This is one of the greatest byproducts of endurance sports.

These and other variations are the antithesis to recovery plans. They invite injury, sickness and various illness to visit and stay a while. They also reduce performance for future events and/or trainings, as stated in the sports physio literature.

There you have it — solid guidelines to rebuild and recovery, post event, post hard training and post season. Follow the guidelines, adjust according to your chemistry and get ready for a successful, safe, injury free next season!

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