Taking Care of Yourself Before, During, and After an Ultra-Trail Race

"He who wants to go far takes care of his mount." This popular saying is especially true for those involved in ultra-endurance sports. And when running ultra-trails, our mount is our body. How can we take care of it and protect our body in general, and our skin in particular, before, during, and after the race? Let’s take stock.

Ultra-Trail: The Better We Prepare, The Better We Recover!

If you are a fan of ultra-races, you probably know this: optimizing recovery is part of the training and contributes to performance. But did you know that the opposite is also true?

The Athlete's Metabolism: The Ally of Recovery

Our body needs to burn calories to breathe, digest, or even maintain its temperature. Basal metabolism (or resting metabolic rate) refers to the amount of energy your body consumes at rest and while fasting to perform vital functions. While basal metabolism depends on multiple factors such as gender, age, size, weight, health status, and genetics, the more physical activity you do, the higher your basal metabolism becomes.

This is excellent news if you’re preparing for the demanding challenge of an ultra-trail. A faster metabolism means better blood circulation, better sleep, more efficient digestion, and therefore… optimized recovery!

Before an Ultra-Trail, Prepare Your Skin for Better Recovery

Take advantage of your training program to progressively prepare your skin for the challenges it will face.

Incorporate an after-sport ritual into your daily skincare routine. This helps your skin recover from each of your training sessions while strengthening it day by day.

Healthy and intensely hydrated skin is more resilient. With this preventive routine that combines the RGTA complex and hyaluronic acid, on race day, your skin will recover better and regenerate in the best possible conditions.

Focus on the Feet of Runners

Preparing the skin on your feet is a step that shouldn’t be overlooked: the better they are prepared, the less they will hurt during the race, and the easier recovery will be.

Start a few weeks before the race by gently removing dead skin and any calluses with a fine pumice stone.

Every morning, apply lemon juice, citric acid, or products designed for tanning to the soles of your feet. This will help "harden" your skin.

In the evening, before bed, generously hydrate your feet with a small amount of after-sport ritual.

A few days before the race, stop using citric acid and simply hydrate your feet morning and evening.

During the Ultra-Endurance Race: Protect and Repair

The most prestigious ultra-trail races recommend carrying an anti-chafing cream or petroleum jelly with you.

During the event, the skin suffers, which can significantly affect your performance. Anti-chafing creams help limit the risk of burns or blisters. However, under the extreme conditions of an ultra-race, this is not enough. By including a tube of Bye Bye Burn in your gear, you can also soothe and repair your skin wounds so that they no longer hinder your progress.

Pamper Your Feet:

Don’t leave without one or more pairs of socks or even a spare pair of shoes. Of course, don’t take brand-new ones: they need to be broken in to fit your feet.

Ideally, double your equipment, so your feet won’t have to adapt to different gear.

As a general rule, never go on an ultra-endurance race with brand-new gear (even if you bought the same models that you train in, in duplicate!).

Take advantage of aid stations to change.

If the race is wet, don’t wait for aid stations to put on dry socks. In any case, before applying an insulating cream, generously massage your possibly sore feet with Bye Bye Burn.

Blisters and Subungual Hematomas: Don’t Underestimate Them!

When you're in the zone, you might not always feel like stopping.

A slight burning sensation on the heel? A big toe that’s starting to heat up?

It may not seem like much at the moment, but in a few hours, this could cost you your race.

Protect your blisters with silicone dressings. As for subungual hematomas (a blood accumulation forming a pocket under the nail), take advantage of your pit stops to ask the on-site medical staff to drain them. Generally, this is enough to relieve the pain, and you can continue with (almost) brand-new feet.

The Importance of Recovery After an Ultra-Trail

More than 170 km long with 9900 meters of positive elevation: some sports competitions are a real test for the human body.

An ultra-trail creates physical stress that can have intense and unexpected consequences on the body. These effects make recovery even more necessary.

• A generalized inflammatory state. During an ultra-endurance event, the body, pushed to its limits, can perceive the effort as an assault. It enters defense mode and overactivates the immune system.

• Tendinous and muscular pain. You've absorbed so many shocks that micro-lesions have multiplied in your muscles, tendons, and joints (particularly in the knees and ankles).

• Dehydration, even if you’ve been careful about hydration during the race. Sweat and thermoregulation are not fully compensated by the water you consumed.

• Skin damage. Burns, irritations, blisters. The skin of ultra-runners suffers significantly during ultra-endurance races.

• And, of course, a particularly intense perceived and objective fatigue.

Immediately After the Ultra-Trail: Rebalance and Soothe

You did it! You’ve crossed the finish line. After such an achievement, it’s time to activate your recovery.

It starts with hydration. You need to regulate your body temperature, help your body eliminate the toxins accumulated during the effort, and prevent cramps and soreness. Drink plenty of water, and choose water rich in minerals, which you can alternate with a sugary drink to help boost your energy.

Eat! Replenish your carbohydrates, fats, and proteins with a meal based on starchy foods (pasta, rice, potatoes…), nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, or other dried fruits), meat, eggs, legumes, or soy if you follow a vegetarian diet.

Cool off! A cold bath (between 10 and 15 degrees) will not only help with thermoregulation but also prevent soreness. Don’t have a bathtub handy? A cold shower works just as well.

Relieve muscle pain with stretching. Gently mobilize your body with a few yoga moves. Focus on stretching the muscles in your legs, but don’t forget your upper body!

Physiotherapists and doctors are available at ultra-trail finish lines. Take advantage of this to ask for advice, especially if you feel intense pain!

Now, onto self-massage! Massaging relaxes and stimulates blood circulation. It’s an ally for good recovery—go ahead without moderation.

Soothe your strained joints with Shock and Roll roll-on. For the rest of your body, a massage with After Sport Ritual will not only help relax your muscles but will also activate your skin’s regeneration, while intensely hydrating it. After so many hours in extreme conditions, it really needs it!

The Days After: Listen to Your Body

Note that after an ultra-trail, it can take up to two weeks to fully recover. Don’t neglect your needs during this period: you could injure yourself (and delay your recovery even further).

There are different approaches to recovery, whether passive or active. However, no matter which choice you make, it is crucial, during the days following the effort, to sleep well, eat well, and stay well-hydrated. If you plan to resume physical activity, do so gradually, staying attentive to each sensation in your body. As soon as you feel pain, stop and rest.

After about ten days, you will have recovered enough to consider a new adventure.