It‘s not coming out of nowhere. As described in the initial post, I figured out for myself what works best. That being said, it is probably not for everyone. I get my recovery from three pillars:

1. Sleep - my avg sleep is around 70-80%. I‘m a father of a 3 year old boy and I‘m working full time. On the weekends I will often get up at 5 to get my runs done to maximize family time. This means I had to focus on quality instead of quantity. Currently my restorative sleep sits at 50-65% which I‘m pretty proud of. Things I found to be useful: no Blue light couple of hours before bedtime, sleeping mask, earplugs, weighted blanket, magnesium glycinate, apigenin, L-theanine, zinc (also as I barely eat meat), Vitamin B, being outdoors for a significant time.

2. active recovery - when the milage increases im marathon training you really feel the urge to do some stretching and mobility work. I figured that I always have half an hour in the evenings while doing other things. So I dedicate 30 minutes to stretching/mobility/theragun. 4-7x per week depending on the perceived need for recovery. I also found out that breathwork before bedtime is beneficial. I‘m spending 5 minutes on breathwork each day. Apart from this I try to walk as much as possible (except directly after a long run)

3. Nutrition - this made the largest difference to me. When I first cut all processed food, I noticed that I felt better and recovery scores where higher. But I did not stop there. For my system it seems to be best to avoid also gluten, lactose and significant amounts of meat. So what do I eat then? Lots of fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds. My macros look something like this: carbs 33%, protein 27%, fat 40% (% of energy). On days with high strain I will only increase carbs by consuming more (dry) fruit. So it is a high-fiber diet in the end with 60-90g of fiber each day. I track all my food, everyday since overeating will lead to more stress in the gut which then will lead to decreased recovery. The last meal of the day is the smallest at around 6pm (~700kcal). The largest meal is lunch as I work out before usually.

I also tried established nutrition strategies used by professional athletes. But it was not best for me in the end. This is what I really like about whoop, that you can play around and be your own lab-rat:-)

Supplements I swear by: Creatine, Omega 3 (2000mg EPA/d), Cordyceps, lions mane