The race is over. You're feeling really tired and maybe it's hard for you to stand up. However, your day is not over yet. You've got to do a cooldown! Here are some pointers about warming down.
Why Cooldown?
The purpose of cooling down is to return your body to its preexcercise level. It prevents muscle tightness and helps blood return to other parts of the body besides the legs and arms. In other words, cooling down helps prevent injury.
How Do I Do a Cooldown?
Here's a little guide on how to cooldown:
- Keep moving! Right after a race, try not to sit or lie down. Instead, keep walking around and
- When you feel like you can jog again, go ahead and run about a mile nice and easy.
- Stretch! It is just as important to stretch after a race as it is before because of the possibility of cramping. In my experience, when I stretch after a race, my muscles always feel much better the day after than they do if I slack off and don't do any stretching. If you haven't already, I recommend that you check out the stretching page. However, be careful not to overstretch. Your muscles are very fatigued after a race, and stretching too hard can lead to injury.
- Eat and Drink! Puting something in your body after a hard race can really help the recovery process. Drinking lots of water or gatorade and eating bagels, raisins, bananas, or power bars can make you feel so much better.
- Congradulate yourself! No matter if you came in 1st or 51st, you've ran as hard as you could and should be proud of yourself. If you had a bad race, try to learn from it and get ready for the next one.
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