Post race depression

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I have been faithful to my training program since June.  I logged hundreds of miles and devoted many hours.  I crossed the finish line, with a fist pump and a huge smile on my face.  Triumph, success, achievement... I felt on top of the world but yesterday I felt really down.  How can I go from feeling amazing to feeling like I have a dark cloud over my head?

The feeling of "being down" is common for most endurance athletics after their events.  It maybe caused by exhaustion or the foods that I ate after the race.  I truly believe it is my body and mind saying now what do we do? It kind of feels like I have to leave such a huge part of my life behind...like part of me died when I crossed the finish line.  After all I did spend at least 5-10 hours a week on the road running....what do I do with all that time now?

I am forced to recover and focus my energy on other areas of my life.  Which means that my normal daily dose of endorphins will no longer jump start my day.  I know I am a type A personality. People with type A personalities tend to be goal oriented, driven, competitive, time concious, and feel a need to be an over-achiever.  Many people complete this major life goal, and after basking in its glory for a couple days, they feel the need to find another challenging goal to test themselves again — to find more validation.

I think maybe this is why I am feeling so blue and down.  I have no real challenge coming up in the next few months.  I do have a half marathon but I am pacing a friend which means that the challenge is just not there for me.  It is super hard to go back to normal life and leave behind my race life.  But I know my body needs time off to recover and get ready for my next adventure (whatever that might be). 

Post race depression is real...I feel it every single time after I accomplish something amazing.  This race is no different and I can honestly say that I feel more blue this time round.  I hope that in the next couple of days I can find something to hold onto that will bring my spirits back up.  With three solid weeks of working out that is going to be hard to do.  So what out friends I am sure it will be a while before I get my spark back.... Blah.