Recovery Week Begins
under Spring's rains
Fall's leaves blend
into the soil
I meant to post earlier this week, but have been quite busy at work. So it's a good thing that this is a recovery week in my marathon plan.
After last weeks "not so slow" runs, and a rest day last Friday, on Saturday I had a recovery run. I ran over to Fresh Pond and went twice around. It was a total of about 5 miles. There is a weekly time trial there and I got a chance to watch the racers as we passed going opposite directions. Quite a range in age. Of course there were a number of young people really cranking it out, but there were also a number of much older guys (it was mostly guys). I would say some in their 60's and 70's, and one guy looked like he could be 80 or so. And although he wasn't very fast, he was certainly giving it quite a go. Hopefully, 30 or so years from now, I'll still be giving it my all.
Then there was Sunday's long run. 17 miles. For some reason, I was just tired. I started out OK, but after about 12 miles I just felt tired. My pace started around 9:10, by midway was around 9:20, and probably dropped to 9:30 by the end. Maybe I was still recovering from Thursday's fast run. Or maybe I just didn't eat enough Sunday morning before running (it was a little skimpy -- just a Clif bar, and I carried diluted Gatorade with me). Just plain tired.
So, after a rest day on Monday (I did an ab workout, a little cycling and some rowing), yesterday (Tuesday) I did 8 miles. The workout included 10 X 100m strideouts. And again, I felt great. Except for the strideout section of the run, I was running about 8:55 miles (for 7 miles). Makes me think maybe Sunday's struggles had mostly to do with insufficient nutrition.
Now it's off to work (and an easy recovery run on the trails at lunchtime).
C-Ya
Fall's leaves blend
into the soil
I meant to post earlier this week, but have been quite busy at work. So it's a good thing that this is a recovery week in my marathon plan.
After last weeks "not so slow" runs, and a rest day last Friday, on Saturday I had a recovery run. I ran over to Fresh Pond and went twice around. It was a total of about 5 miles. There is a weekly time trial there and I got a chance to watch the racers as we passed going opposite directions. Quite a range in age. Of course there were a number of young people really cranking it out, but there were also a number of much older guys (it was mostly guys). I would say some in their 60's and 70's, and one guy looked like he could be 80 or so. And although he wasn't very fast, he was certainly giving it quite a go. Hopefully, 30 or so years from now, I'll still be giving it my all.
Then there was Sunday's long run. 17 miles. For some reason, I was just tired. I started out OK, but after about 12 miles I just felt tired. My pace started around 9:10, by midway was around 9:20, and probably dropped to 9:30 by the end. Maybe I was still recovering from Thursday's fast run. Or maybe I just didn't eat enough Sunday morning before running (it was a little skimpy -- just a Clif bar, and I carried diluted Gatorade with me). Just plain tired.
So, after a rest day on Monday (I did an ab workout, a little cycling and some rowing), yesterday (Tuesday) I did 8 miles. The workout included 10 X 100m strideouts. And again, I felt great. Except for the strideout section of the run, I was running about 8:55 miles (for 7 miles). Makes me think maybe Sunday's struggles had mostly to do with insufficient nutrition.
Now it's off to work (and an easy recovery run on the trails at lunchtime).
C-Ya
posted by Kurt in Boston at 7:17 AM
2 Comments:
Recovery week in a 1/2 marathon program? Probably depends upon how long the program is and how quickly you are building. My program is 18 weeks long and has 2 recovery weeks (where the intensity of all runs is reduced for the week), plus the taper. Most programs have you building your long runs for a couple weeks and then back off for a week. It's a similar concept. You just can't continue to increase the intensity of your training week after week -- you need to occasionally step back or you WILL get injured.
Of course, a St. Patricks weekend may also be a good excuse to back off for a couple days and relax.
Hi Kurt! I just scanned into the middle of your post and got a chuckle. "17 miles. For some reason I was tired.".... being new at this active lifestyle, I can still see the humor in that.
Hope all is well w/you and your lovely missus. :)
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