Recovery Is Not Just Resting

I ran my first ultra this week!

It was an interesting experience and one I’ll most likely do again.

With a small group, we decided to run throughout the entire shortest day of the year. We started at sunrise and finished at sunset.

In the end, we finished with three people and covered 55 km in total.

By Sunday evening, my whole body was absolutely beat up. I could barely move.

Monday morning was even worse. I had to drag myself through the house. Everything was sore. Not just my legs, but also my upper body. I’m not used to running with a trail vest, so my shoulders, upper back, and chest were all feeling it too.

But somewhat miraculously, I started to move better as the day went on. And by Tuesday, I already felt a lot better.

Cross-training

What helped me most this week was cross-training: using different, low-impact activities to support recovery.

On Tuesday, I walked quite a lot (about 12,000 steps) and climbed a tower with 207 steps to enjoy a nice viewpoint.

Walking is underrated. It gets your body moving without pushing your heart rate too high, puts some load through the legs, and helps you to “walk it off”.

On Wednesday, I went to the swimming pool. I’m rarely there, but for situations like this, swimming is perfect. You can challenge your body without any impact. I did a short workout and swam 1.25 km. Not much objectively, but probably the furthest I’ve ever swum in my life.

On Thursday, I felt fine again, but still skipped running and opted for an easy 45-minute indoor bike session.

Low intensity, just enough to get the heart rate up and make some room for Christmas dinner.

Saturday was my first run/walk session again. Short and relaxed, just to get the legs moving. I’ll add a bit more running next week and ease back into structured training the week after.

The takeaway

You can—and should—use cross-training to recover faster from tough running days. Whether it’s races or long training sessions, moving your body through low-impact sports can seriously boost recovery and help you stay mentally fresh.

What’s your favourite way to cross-train? I’m always open to trying a new sport.

Thanks for reading,
Tim 👟

PS: If you want to train smarter and more consistently in 2026, I still have a few spots open for athletes. Just reply with ‘coaching’ to this email if you’re curious.