second wind

second wind (plural second winds)

1. A renewed feeling of energy after having reached the point of exhaustion.
   • 1951, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia, London: Geoffrey Bles, →OCLC:

     There is no need to describe how they toiled back up the gorge. It was pretty hard work, but oddly enough everyone felt more cheerful. They were getting their second wind; and the word supper had had a wonderful effect.

   • 1985, Billy Joel, “You're Only Human (Second Wind)”:

     Don't forget your second wind / sooner or later you'll feel that momentum kick in

   • 2024 May 29, Simon Hattenstone, “The radical, ravishing rebirth of Tracey Emin: ‘I didn’t want to die as some mediocre YBA’”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 June 2024:

     As I get up to leave, she [Tracey Emin] gets a second wind and starts to rant about the state of education, the NHS, the Post Office, the contaminated blood scandal …

   • 2025 July 9, Mike Isaac, Kate Conger, “X CEO Linda Yaccarino Says She Is Leaving Elon Musk’s Platform”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 9 July 2025:

     X gained a second wind last year when Mr. Trump won the election. Some advertisers, courted by Ms. Yaccarino, returned to the platform partly because of Mr. Musk’s adjacency to the president.

• find another gear
• runner's high
• wind sprint