Optimizing Recovery After an Ultramarathon

Written by:

Jason Koop

CTS Premier Ultrarunning Coach

Updated On

April 22, 2025

Running an ultramarathon is a huge accomplishment, but most athletes feel sore and exhausted the day after a 50k, 50-mile, or 100-mile trail race. How long does it take to recover after an ultramarathon? What should you do to recover more quickly after a running race? When can you expect to return to normal training, or even just normal activities of daily life?

How long does it take to recover after an ultramarathon?

The biggest misconception about recovery after running an ultramarathon is that it happens quickly. The biggest mistake athletes make is getting back into structured training too soon. To be a healthy ultrarunner in the long term, it’s essential to give your body and mind a significant break between events. The timing and progression of recovery after an ultramarathon is very individual, so there’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation.

Factors that affect recovery time after an ultramarathon:

• Fitness going into the event: The greater your fitness, the more you can stay within a sustainable effort range throughout the race. That means the race, while difficult, doesn’t take as much out of you. If you’re less fit and underprepared, you’ll have to tap into mental and physical reserves, creating greater fatigue that you’ll need to account for with post-race recovery.
• How hard you pushed yourself on race day: All ultramarathons are hard, but your pacing decisions can change how you feel when you reach the finish line and beyond. If you pushed yourself for a fast time or podium finish, you likely drained your emotional and physical tanks, so to speak.
• How long you were on course: Going slower isn’t always easier. A fast Leadville 100 pace (19 hours, let’s say) is physically strenuous, but finishing in 29:30 (30 minutes under the 30-hour time limit) is also very difficult because you’re on course, on your feet, awake, and in the elements for an additional 10 HOURS!
• How much muscle damage you incurred: Muscle damage is one of the leading causes of soreness and stiffness following an ultramarathon. More and faster downhill running can dramatically increase damage to muscles in the legs and hips. It can even get so bad that athletes develop rhabdomyolysis (elevation of protein in the bloodstream from damaged muscle cells), which can lead to kidney injury. Training history, pacing decisions, and course features factor into the amount of muscle damage athletes incur during ultramarathons.
• How well you hydrated and fueled during your race: Depleting your body’s energy and hydration reserves is like digging a hole. After the race you have to reverse that process and fill in the hole to get back to normal.

Timeline for Recovery After an Ultramarathon

Every athlete is going to experience post-race recovery on individual basis, but there are some guideposts you can use to get a sense of what to expect:

• First 12 hours: Showering, eating, and sleeping will take the edge off the initial exhaustion following your finish line celebration. There is a grace period in this timeframe, in that you have an opportunity to take care of yourself (food, fluids, sleep, taking care of your skin) while you’re still “coming down” from the excitement of race day.
• 12-24 hours: Expect a lot of muscle soreness and joint stiffness. As you’ve rested and slept, muscles and joints have likely swelled. Your body is trying to move waste products from damaged muscle cells to the kidneys for excretion, rebalance fluid inside and outside of muscles, replenish glycogen (which stores water with it), and more. Many athletes travel during this period. Consider compression socks if you have a long drive or plane ride. Despite soreness, try to get up and walk for at least a few minutes a few times per hour to facilitate circulation and alleviate some joint stiffness.
• 1-3 days: The exhaustion might hit for real, especially if you had to travel home a long way after your race. There is nothing to be gained by rushing through these early days. Sleep, eat, sink into the couch. You may have some stomach/bowel issues as your body resets to normal feeding patterns after race day and travel foods.
• 4-7 days: As you reach the second half of the post-race week you’ll probably start feeling pretty good. You might even be antsy to run again. This is the point at which the aforementioned factors affecting recovery time really come into play. If you were really well prepared, the event was well within the scope of your fitness, you paced conservatively, and stayed well fed and fueled, maybe you can get back to training after a few weeks. If you were unprepared, crushed yourself, made a ton of nutrition and hydration mistakes, and ended up in the medical tent, post-race recovery could be a process that takes several weeks or months.

For many athletes, running is an integral part of your lifestyle, which means the recovery period following a 100-miler requires patience and an unfamiliar change to your routine. It’s worth it, and here are some tips for optimizing recovery so you can continue to run strong.

No Runs Over 20 Minutes for the First Week

For the first few days after a 100-miler you probably won’t have much desire to run more than 20 minutes, but that itch is likely to come back sooner than you think. It’s not that you can’t physically run longer than 20 minutes; it’s that your recovery is more important than that 1-hour run right now. Give your body a significant rest and it will reward you with a stronger return to training when it’s time to begin again. For Week 2 and Week 3 post 100-miler, continue with recovery paced runs only, and keep these under 1 hour.

Sleep for Ultramarathon Recovery

This is different than active recovery mentioned above. Sleep is essential for recovery because of the physiological processes that only occur while you sleep. Your body releases hormones essential for repairing muscle, maintaining the immune system, and adapting to exercise stress when you are sleeping. Focus on both sleep quality and duration. This is not the time to stay up late to catch up on projects you may have back-burnered in the weeks before your event. I recommend going to bed earlier, if necessary, to get 8-10 hours of sleep on a regular basis for at least two weeks. To optimize sleep quality, cool the environment to 62-70 degrees, avoid backlit screens (phones, tablets) for 1-2 hours prior to getting in bed, and eliminate as much light as possible.

Eat a Lot of Good Food

There are times when backing off on calories makes sense in conjunction with reduced training workload, but the first few weeks after a 100-miler is not one of them. Adequate energy intake is essential for recovery. Restricting calories will mean it will take longer to return to feeling strong and ready to return to your normal running volume and frequency. This isn’t a license to fill up on junk (OK, a little junk is fine, but don’t overdo it.); think of your food choices in terms of building your body back up to full strength.

You want to focus on fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains – just like any other time. Some athletes feel compelled to load up on more protein than normal, but this isn’t really necessary. A balanced approach with 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day is plenty. The bigger disadvantage of overloading with protein is that it often displaces intake of fruits, vegetables, fats, and grains. Your body needs some of everything.

Take Care of Your Skin

While your muscles take a beating during a 100-miler, they’ll recover on their own with adequate rest, sleep, and nutrition. Your skin needs some more proactive attention, especially your feet. Treating blisters after your event is just as important as treating them during the run itself. Pop and drain blisters with the same meticulousness you would out on the trail. Here’s a guide to treating blisters.

Address Nagging Injuries Before Returning to Training

Allow extra recovery time to address injuries sustained or resulting from your 100-miler, if necessary. It may take some time to discern between post-event soreness or swelling and an actual injury. Don’t make the mistake of getting used to the pain instead of seeking to eliminate it. A good physical therapist experienced in working with distance runners can be an invaluable resource. In the long run you will be far better off being conservative in your timeline for ultramarathon recovery and for returning to training. Treat small injuries while they are still small, or months or years later you’ll be able to trace a major injury back to something you should have dealt with long ago.

Incorporate Non-Running Exercise

The month after a 100-miler is a great time to incorporate activities other than running. I am not a proponent of cross-training as a way to enhance running performance, but that doesn’t mean ultrarunners shouldn’t participate in non-running activities for other purposes. In this case, activities like swimming, easy cycling, yoga, kayaking, and paddle boarding can provide an outlet for your desire to be active while giving your feet and legs a break.

Stop Thinking About Running (For a While)

A psychological break is as necessary as a physical one after a 100-miler. In my view there are two parts to psychological recovery: celebration and redirection. First, it’s important to celebrate your achievement. Soak it in, take pride in it, and tell or write your stories. If it wasn’t a great outcome, you should similarly take time to feel and express your frustration or sadness. Good or bad, don’t just push it into the past by immediately focusing on “what’s next”. You invested a huge amount of time and effort into preparing for and running your race. Honor that process by honestly experiencing the feelings that came from it.

The next step is redirecting your attention away from running for a while. That doesn’t mean you can’t run or that you need to disconnect from your friends in the running community. It just means there should be a period where you’re not planning for your next race, where you’re running just for fun, without structure. I know people are in a good place 3-4 weeks after a 100-miler when they answer, “I don’t really know” to questions about “what’s next”. Even if you have another race on the calendar, give your overactive mind some time to unwind before ramping up your focus again.

When to Start Training Again

The next logical question is: How will I know when it’s time to start training again? Emotion is the biggest indicator for me. An athlete is ready to go when he or she is excited to train again and feels physically fresh and energetic. You can use physiological data or a structured timeline, but even if it takes a week or more for the athlete to want to train after the data indicates they were physically ready, that extra time is worth the wait.