COACH’S CORNER - Mastering Recovery by Nick Muxlow

June 28, 2024

There are five key areas look at when mastering how to recover from race day, and nick muxlow's here to tell you what they are.

It is no secret now that as runners the hidden discipline is recovery. When we are training, we are breaking the body down with the intention that it comes back stronger thus leading to increased performance. But the question is what does elite recovery look like and entail so that we can cherry pick the best parts to implement into our own training practices.

There are five key areas that one must master to allow them to recover faster. This helps to prevent injuries and more importantly allow you to maintain consistency with your training so you can reach your full human potential.

We will have a look at the basics of the five key areas below but they are: Daily Nutrition and Hydration Practices, Sleep, Manual Manipulation, Access to medical professionals and Nutritional Ergogenic Aids.

Daily Nutrition & Hydration

To be at your best you need to ensure your daily nutrition and hydration is world class. We are what we put into our body and this food and hydration forms the basis of the muscles, blood and tissues that you are wanting to come back stronger due to the training that you have undertaken. This means that we need to have an abundance of quality whole ingredients in our diet. We need to cover off on the key macronutrients – protein, carbohydrate and good fats as well as ensure diversity of food to meet our micronutrient requirements – vitamins and minerals.

Protein

Building and Repairing Tissues: Essential for growth, repair, and maintenance of tissues like muscles, skin, and organs.
Enzymes and Hormones: Helps regulate cellular, organs and organ system reactions.
Immune Function: Form antibodies to protect against illness.
Transport and Storage: Transport molecules like oxygen and store nutrients.

Carbohydrates

Energy Source: Primary energy source.
Sparing Protein: Prevents protein from being used for energy, allowing it to perform the functions listed above.
Digestive Health: Fiber aids digestion and maintains bowel health.

Fats

Energy Storage: Concentrated energy source.
Cell Structure: Essential for cell membranes, contributing to their structure and function.
Absorption of Vitamins: Aids in absorbing fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).
Hormone Production: Involved in producing hormones.

With an understanding of how vital protein, carbohydrate and fat are to our functioning as a high-performance runner we want to be putting the best fuel in our bodies.

Sleep

Sleep is essential for improved performance and recovery. We have all tried to hit a key threshold session when tired, and no matter how hard we try, we simply can’t get there. Sleep is when the body undergoes crucial repair processes, making us more robust and resilient to injury. Quality sleep enables us to reach our full potential as runners.

While the importance of sleep quantity is well recognised, the quality of sleep is often overlooked. Modern lifestyle factors such as blue light exposure, stimulation, stress, caffeine, and sugar intake can significantly impact sleep quality. These elements can prevent us from getting the restorative sleep we need.

Blue Light: Exposure to blue light particularly through screens before bed can disrupt the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep. Reducing blue light exposure in the evening can improve sleep quality.

Stimulation and Stress: High levels of stress and mental stimulation before bed can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. Implementing relaxation techniques such as meditation or reading can help.

Caffeine and Sugar: While many are aware that caffeine close to bedtime can impact sleep many runners are unaware that sugary foods close to bedtime can interfere with the ability to fall asleep. Limiting intake in the evening can lead to better sleep quality.

Core Temperature: Lowering your core temperature before bed helps your body fall asleep more quickly. The body's natural circadian rhythm involves a drop in core temperature as a signal for sleep onset. Engaging in activities that cool your body, such as taking a warm bath (which leads to a subsequent cooling effect) or ensuring your sleeping environment is cool, can facilitate this process and improve sleep quality.

Understanding and addressing these factors can significantly improve sleep quality, ensuring that we get the restorative rest needed for effective recovery and peak performance in running.

Manual Manipulation

Manual manipulation techniques, such as massage, stretching, foam rolling, rolling on a ball, using a trigger gun, dry needling, and hot and cold therapy, are crucial for a runner's recovery routine. Each method has its specific time and place in aiding muscle recovery and overall performance.

Massage: Helps in relieving muscle tension, reducing soreness, and improving blood flow. Regular massages can enhance flexibility and prevent injuries.

Stretching: Essential for maintaining and improving flexibility, reducing stiffness, and preventing muscle imbalances. Incorporate dynamic stretching before runs and static stretching afterward.

Foam Rolling: Targets muscle knots and tightness. It increases blood flow to muscles, helps facial release and therefore helps improve tissue elasticity thus speeding up recovery.

Rolling on a Ball: Focuses on specific trigger points and deep tissue areas. It’s particularly useful for small or hard-to-reach muscle groups.

Trigger Gun: Relieves muscle soreness and improves range of motion. It can be used for short, targeted sessions on particularly tight or sore areas.

Dry Needling: Involves inserting thin needles into trigger points in muscles to relieve pain and improve function. This technique can help release tight muscles, improve blood flow, and promote healing.

Hot and Cold Therapy: Alternating between hot and cold treatments can promote circulation and healing.

Understanding when and how to use these techniques based on your body's needs is crucial. Regularly assessing your muscle condition will help you determine which methods to use and when, ensuring you maximize recovery and maintain peak performance.

Access to Medical Professionals

Regular access to health care professionals is vital for runners to maintain their health and performance. As a runner we need regular access to a health care professional as its’ not a case of if you will develop a sore spot or tightness, it’s a matter of when. In this case we are after prevention - immediate attention to any discomfort can prevent injuries, ensuring that runners stay on track with their training. By having a regular appointment, with your chosen health care professional - physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath (ideally one with a vested interest in running) you are able to stay on top of your selfcare, and if anything, ever feels untoward you can take immediate preventative action. This information is then fed back to your coach who can adjust your training program to suit. This collaborative approach ensures long-term consistency in training and performance.

Nutritional Ergogenic Aids

While the aim is to get your full nutritional requirement from whole foods, as endurance athletes we place an increased demand on some key micronutrients in the body. Thus, we can turn to Nutritional ergogenic aids or supplements to meet this shortfall. Nutritional ergogenic aids such as magnesium, protein powders, iron, omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) and Vitamin D to name a few play a critical role in meeting the nutritional needs of endurance athletes, including runners. For instance, magnesium supports muscle function and recovery, reducing cramping and fatigue, while protein powders as mentioned above aid in muscle repair and growth, essential for recovery after intense training sessions. It's important to ensure that any supplements taken are HASTA certified, guaranteeing they are free from banned substances and safe for use in competitive sports. By incorporating these aids into their regimen, runners can enhance recovery, maintain peak performance, and support overall health and endurance.

Mastering recovery is crucial for runners to achieve their personal best performance and prevent injuries. Focusing on five key areas—nutrition and hydration, sleep, manual manipulation, access to medical professionals, and nutritional ergogenic aids—ensures optimal recovery. By implementing these strategies, runners can maintain training consistency, reach their full potential and finish with a smile.

Nick Muxlow is known for allowing runners to finish with a smile. He has a Bachelor of Human Movement (Exercise & Sports Science) and Education as well as being an IAAF Level 4 Run Coach and ASCA Level 1 Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has coached runners to over 40+ podium finishes while his specialty is coaching runners to finish their first 50k & 100k Ultra. He is the author of “Journey to 100 – How to run your best 100km ultramarathon and love it”. Nick is available for 1:1 online coaching and through his ‘The Ultra Club’ program.

iF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON BEING TRAINED BY NIck, CLICK THROUGH HERE TO OUR AURA ENDORSED COACHES PAGE.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.