How Not to Come Down After Race Day

Such a strange phenomenon, running a race and hearing the cheers and pushing yourself, and all of the excitement, all of the energy, all of the preparation is on display for one day.

And then, it’s done.

You go back to your life, back to work, back to reality. What to do? How do you keep that feeling, hold it, and use it to propel you toward the next thing, be it a race or something else, perhaps something more substantial.

I had the opportunity on Sunday to do something amazing. I ran Ed Whitlock’s pace when he was 85, his last marathon, and did it in Toronto right around 3:56:24, .20 seconds away from my race goal. The time, running with my buddy, passing around the sign, hearing runners stories on the course—when they met Ed, what he said to them—everyone relayed their tale with a smile.

Even during a marathon.

So I had the double runner’s high, mine, and Ed’s. Though of course he didn’t put much stock in such things. But what a day for running. A day when running takes over the city. And with the great press we received in the Star, indeed, a runner could be tricked into believing on a day like that running had taken over the world. How great is that?

Now it’s time to continue the race. Continue the legacy. Continue to find new finish lines and make running—the sport we all love (sometimes love/hate, but still…love), prominent, exhilarating, and long lasting.

Whether you’re in Niagara Falls, Montreal, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, White Rock, Lethbridge or Gatineau, don’t let the feeling end with the fall race season. Act on that runner’s high, real or imagined, and keep pushing forward. There are races in December. Races in February. And, being lucky enough to be in Toronto, I can do the Road2Hope marathon next month.

The best way to thwart the post-race blues is to race more. A cheeseburger works, for a minute. Then it’s back to the grindstone. Why? Because we love it. It makes us richer.

Makes us more.

See you at the races. I’ll be the one with a smile.