The time courses of runners’ recovery‐stress responses after a mountain ultra‐marathon: Do appraisals matter?

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to: (a) examine the time courses of runners' recovery-stress states within the month following a demanding Mountain Ultra-Marathon (MUM) race; and (b) explore the role of primary and secondary appraisals in these trajectories. Design: A seven-wave one-month longitudinal design was used with one measurement point within two days before the race to measure appraisals and six time points within the month following the race to assess recovery-stress states experienced by athletes. Method: A multilevel growth curve analysis approach was used among a sample of 29 MUM runners. Results: Recovery-stress states were characterized by distinct trajectories during the month following MUM race. Results of multilevel growth curve analyses showed significant linear increases of general and total recovery, significant linear decreases of general, sport-specific and total stress and a positive quadratic effect of squared time (U shape over time) on specific recovery. Primary appraisal significantly positively predicted levels of sport-specific recovery, total, general and sport-specific stress and significantly negatively predicted total and general recovery. Secondary appraisal significantly negatively predicted total and general stress. Conclusions: This study provided insights into the role played by appraisals on the recovery-stress states experienced by MUM runners the month following a demanding MUM race. Operational strategies were suggested in order to optimize the recovery-stress balance and in turn psychological adaptation processes in response to an ultra-endurance race.

Emotional Intelligence in Ultra-Marathon Runners: Implications for Recovery Strategy and Stress Responses during an Ultra-Endurance Race

“…MUM is by definition a playing field for in situ ecological research investigating psychological impairments that are mirrored in multidimensional psychological processes, such as emotional disturbances [ 13 ] and increases/decreases in recovery stress states [ 14 ]. These impairments were also observed during the month following the competition, highlighting that ultra-endurance sports are challenging situations with long-term repercussions [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Consequently, the participant’s adaptation to sports training and competition is compromised [ 1 , 19 ]. Results of previous studies on ultra-endurance races showed that participants have simultaneously reported an increase in stress states and a decrease in recovery states mirrored, notably, in the emotional exhaustion dimension [ 14 , 15 ]. The repercussions could be observed up to four weeks after the race, highlighting the long-term impact of a stressful event on the recovery stress states [ 15 ].…”

“…Results of previous studies on ultra-endurance races showed that participants have simultaneously reported an increase in stress states and a decrease in recovery states mirrored, notably, in the emotional exhaustion dimension [ 14 , 15 ]. The repercussions could be observed up to four weeks after the race, highlighting the long-term impact of a stressful event on the recovery stress states [ 15 ]. In particular, evolutions in the recovery stress states experienced by MUM runners in the month following a demanding MUM race have been characterized by a significant linear increase in recovery and a linear decrease in stress states [ 15 ].…”

“…The repercussions could be observed up to four weeks after the race, highlighting the long-term impact of a stressful event on the recovery stress states [ 15 ]. In particular, evolutions in the recovery stress states experienced by MUM runners in the month following a demanding MUM race have been characterized by a significant linear increase in recovery and a linear decrease in stress states [ 15 ]. Results show that the harder the situation is, the longer the need to evaluate and manage recovery stress states.…”

“…This study could provide insights on how stress states could be tolerated and/or buffered in MUM in regard to recovery strategies [ 7 ]. Considering previous results on recovery stress states in ultra-marathons [ 14 , 15 ], it was hypothesized that (1) stress states would increase during and after the race compared to pre-race, whereas (2) recovery would decrease in the same time evolution. Furthermore, based on previous research on EI [ 2 ], we hypothesized that: (3) athletes with low trait EI would report lesser recovery and higher stress states during the MUM race than athletes with a high trait EI.…”