The month after the finish.

Race week is not the end of the job

The distance plans on this site finish when the race does. They do not tell you what the next Monday is for. Ordinary tiredness, heavy legs and a strange appetite are common after a long day. They are a reason to make the next days easy, not a reason to test whether you can still run.

Eat and drink something you can face, sleep, and walk if walking feels all right. Tell the person who is collecting you if you feel unwell on the way home. A finish line photo is not a medical check.

• The 50K plan, which ends on race week

Give the first weeks a smaller job

Ian Torrence’s newbie guide on iRunFar, dated 7 March 2023, tells first-timers to take at least four weeks before they train again in earnest. In that article he suggests swapping most running for swimming, hiking, cycling or yoga, and keeping any run to an hour or less. That is one coach’s published view, from his own coaching practice. It is not a programme written for you, and this site has not had it medically reviewed.

Use it as a shape, not a target. If four weeks feels impossible because you already have another race, the problem is the calendar. Stacking two ultras without an easy gap is a choice to take to a coach, with your recent training in front of you.

The NHS activity guidelines are about regular activity for health, including muscle-strengthening on at least two days a week. They are not an ultra schedule, and they are not a reason to start a new strength programme in the week you can barely walk downstairs.

• Ian Torrence, iRunFar: a newbie guide, including recovery
• NHS: physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64

Some feelings are a reason to get help the same day

Get urgent help for chest pain or fainting. The NHS chest-pain page says to call 999 if chest pain or discomfort comes on suddenly and does not go away, if it spreads to an arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or if you also feel sweaty, sick, light-headed or short of breath. It says to see a GP if chest pain comes and goes, or goes away quickly and you are still worried.

Two other problems are linked to long events, and both can start after you have stopped. Muscle breakdown, called rhabdomyolysis, can appear hours or days later as muscle pain, swelling or weakness that is worse than ordinary soreness, often with dark red or brown urine. Healthdirect, the Australian government health service, says to get medical attention urgently for those symptoms. Low blood sodium, called exercise-associated hyponatraemia, can develop during a race or up to 24 hours afterwards. A clinical review on the NCBI Bookshelf lists headache, nausea and light-headedness among the milder signs, and vomiting, confusion and collapse among the severe ones. Confusion, collapse or vomiting after an ultra needs emergency help: call 999.

A blister, a stiff calf or a flat mood the next day can usually wait for rest, food and a quieter week. Pain that gets worse as the days go on, a joint that will not take your weight, or breathlessness that is new needs a GP or NHS 111 the same week, and sooner if it is severe. Do not turn any of these into another long run to “see if it loosens.”

• NHS: chest pain, including when to call 999
• Healthdirect: rhabdomyolysis, reviewed June 2025
• NCBI Bookshelf: exercise-associated hyponatremia, updated June 2023

The next race starts when the easy weeks have done their job

When ordinary walking is comfortable and a short easy run leaves you feeling like yourself, you can look at the next plan. Start from the week that matches what you can do now, not from the peak week you remember. If you are unsure whether a niggle is finished, ask a GP or a clinician who can examine you. This page cannot do that.

• Choose the next race with the practical details in view

A short list for the week after

This list is for the days after the finish. It does not clear you to race again.