Wildflower, nearly a month ago, was an "A" race for me. I had tapered for it, and was pretty fried afterward. It was my fifth race in seven weeks, and I needed a break (mentally and physically) from triathlon. But taking a few weeks off from training can be tough, especially following a big race for which you've tapered--because tapering itself can be a mental challenge. Here's a few tricks I've learned for enjoying down time and then re-energizing to start training again.
Post-Race Blues
A big race can be a very climactic finish to many months of hard training. I find it hard to suddenly not have a focus for training, and can feel a little directionless. It's a mixture of sad because the race is over, and also a sense of accomplishment over having finished something that I'm proud of. Complicating this are mixed feelings over how well I may or may not have performed. All in all, I can be a little edge.
To fill the sudden void, here's what I tend to do.
Be Nice to Your Body. The first week after a big race is a great time to lay low--go for walks and let your muscles recover. If you just can't stay off the bike or out of the water, keep things at a very easy effort. After Wildflower I had a severely sore left glute--I could barely bend over, and walking hurt. And then I caught a cold. In short, I was miserable.
Indulge. Take a week or two enjoy the indulgences you might otherwise limit during training. For me it's donuts, pastries, and french fries. Yes, I always gain a couple of pounds after a big race, and I'm fine with that.
See New People. This is a great time to catch up with friends and family you might not see as much as you'd like while you're training.
Take a Vacation. I've found that getting out of town--for a week or even a weekend--can be a great way to refocus after a big race. A couple of years ago I scheduled an end-of-season vacation to the Caribbean. Warm waters and rum-based drinks were a great transition to the off season. After Wildflower I took a 10-day camping trip up the central California coast.
Stay Mentally Stimulated. Keep the mind busy--start a new book, catch up on emails, or find something new to learn.
Be Careful with Alcohol. With reduced training comes reduced endorphins, serotonin, adrenaline, and all the other exercise-induced chemicals that make your brain feel good. This really is a chemical withdrawal, and you'll want to be careful about substituting other chemicals (like alcohol).
Resuming Training
When you do pick up training again--whether it's after a week or four weeks off--start slowly. Remember that your fitness is probably at the lowest it's been in a few months. Consider that the point of tapering is to sacrifice a some fitness to gain freshness--and then throw in a week or two of post-race recovery--and you'll be sucking wind if you try to pick up at race pace right away.
My standard training is in the 10-12 hours a week range. My pre and post-Wildflower training hours looked like this:
2 weeks before: 9 hours
1 week before: 6:45 hours
Race week (including race) 7:30 hours
Week after the race 1:30 hours
2 weeks after race 7:00 hours
3 weeks after race 7:30 hours
4 weeks after race 9:00 hours
In the 2nd and 3rd weeks after the race, I was mostly doing light efforts, punctuated by a couple of epic hill climbs on the bike (there are some phenomenal ocean-to-mountaintop roads along the California coast that just couldn't be ignored...). Regardless, it was all very unstructured and very fun.
This week, the 4th week after the race, I started doing tempo workouts again. After 5 weeks of greatly reduced hours, I can definitely feel my lost fitness. It was hard work to hold a tempo pace for 4 miles of running, and likewise for 16 miles of cycling. And my "long" run of 7 miles felt like 12. Ouch. But I'll build those durations back up over the next few weeks. Each week I'll a mile to my tempo-paced run, 4 miles to my tempo-paced bike, and 1-2 miles to my long run.
This is a conservative reentry into training--but a good way to avoid injury. It also let me mentally recover. I'm now excited about training again--something I couldn't have said a week ago.