Free Tool — Event Recovery Planner

Seven Groups, One Checklist

Each day lists items under up to seven headings: fluids and food, walking and gentle movement, sleep, sore-spot checks, what to avoid, when to call a doctor and return to training. Tick an item when it is done. The progress bar counts ticks, and your browser keeps them until you clear them.

The effort setting changes how many items show. An easy effort shows fewer reminders than a hard or all-out one. The sources cover hard efforts, so an easy effort gets a note saying so.

Sleep targets follow the CDC and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine: 7 or more hours for adults 18 to 60, 9 to 12 hours for ages 6 to 12 and 8 to 10 hours for ages 13 to 18.

The tag Depends on Distance marks items whose advice changes with event length. Check those against your own event.

What the Sources Say by Event Length

• Marathon. Many experts advise 5 to 7 days off from running (Yale Medicine). Mayo Clinic Orthopedics and Sports Medicine describes a one- to two-week break as beneficial, with low-impact activity in between and an easier restart.
• Half marathon. One sports medicine physician suggests 3 to 5 days of complete rest, then 20 to 30 minutes of light cardio 2 or 3 times in the first week, and 6 to 8 weeks before another long race. The same page says no rest guideline is scientifically verified.
• 5K, 10K, tournaments, single games, cheer, hikes and group fitness. No source gives a day count. The longer the effort, the longer the rest. A Cleveland Clinic athletic trainer calls active rest after intense exercise critical. A Yale Medicine physician says to back off if a workout takes extra days to recover from.

When pain settles in one spot, is severe or is getting worse, one physician suggests seeing a sports medicine physician sooner. Pain that has not gone away after 7 to 10 days is also a reason to be seen. Mayo Clinic adds joint pain or swelling that is not improving, a limp, or a feeling of instability.