First thing
after you cross the finish line, if it’s cold, you will want to hose
off and get into dry clothes as soon as possible. Take this from my
personal experience! Even if it’s not cold, you will want to get into
dry, clean clothes quickly so you can be comfortable and enjoy the
post-race festivities.
After the race, you should definitely rehydrate
because you’ve likely lost a lot of water and sodium through sweat
during the race. There is usually food and refreshments after the race,
merchandise booths, first aid stations, and maybe even music. There
will be an award ceremony for the top finishers and then people will
usually hang out for a while and enjoy the day and watch as the rest of
the racers finish. Since these races often have staggered start times
and send groups of racers in waves, there will be racers both starting
and finishing throughout the day, although the competitive waves
usually are the first to start in the morning.
Above photos from left to right:
Racers low crawling through mud under barbed wire at both a Tough
Mudder and a Spartan Race, respectively.
In the days and weeks immediately
following your race, you will want to continue to hydrate and rest so
that your body can recover from the race. As mentioned above in the
training portion, the general rule is to take a day off of training for
each mile run. You can either take these days completely off and simply
stretch to help speed recovery, or you can also do low intensity
cross-training such as easy swimming, easy walking, yoga, or something
similar that will allow to you recover but still move your body.
After the event, you may now be addicted
to this type of racing, and ready to sign up for another event, or you
may be glad for the experience but vow to never go off-road again.
Either way, I hope that you enjoyed yourself during your race and have
at least a few good memories that you’ll take with you, and maybe a few
great pictures to go with them! Choosing which type or types of races
you like to do is like choosing what flavor ice cream you like. There
is no right answer, so whether you like these races or hate them, at
least now you know one way or the other and can move forward from here.
