This title is not the name of a new Metallica\/Phish mashup collaboration. It\u2019s a post-race phenomenon I\u2019ve experienced and it\u2019s the best phonetic resemblance I\u2019ve come up with. The general rule of thumb of race recovery is that you need one day per mile. Thus, you need three days for a 5K, six for a 10K, etc. It\u2019s why 100 meter runners can do multiple races in one day, for example.
Regardless of what the math is, the day after a race, I can tell I\u2019ve put my body through a significant amount of exertion. However, while I feel the aftereffects, not only do I like running the day after a race, I almost feel compelled to do so. If for no other reason, it allows me to release the \u201cnyech.\u201d
What\u2019s the nyech? I don\u2019t really know. It\u2019s not an overaccumulation of fast food or sugar residue in the system, nor is it something that results from having been sedentary. In a way it\u2019s the opposite. Following the day or two leading up to a race, the warm-up, and the then race itself, where I\u2019ve been maxing out my body over a decent distance by sweating profusely and burning plenty of calories and whatever else my body needs, I\u2019m likely pretty depleted. And yet, when I run the day after a race, I feel like I\u2019m releasing something. Maybe it\u2019s scar tissue from the effort, both physical and mental. Or maybe I\u2019ve unleashed some parts of my muscles during the race that I don\u2019t normally use and it\u2019s settling them back into a normal function. Or, maybe there\u2019s some strange overaccumulation of adrenaline and endorphins. Maybe it\u2019s a combination of all of these things. I don\u2019t know if running the day after a race would work for everyone but whatever the nyech is, running as part of the recovery process allows my body to release it and I start to feel like my standard running self again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This title is not the name of a new Metallica\/Phish mashup collaboration. It\u2019s a post-race phenomenon I\u2019ve experienced and it\u2019s the best phonetic resemblance I\u2019ve come up with. The general rule of thumb of race recovery is that you need one day per mile. Thus, you need three days for a 5K, six for a … <\/p>\n