1. I have been eating like a crazy person since getting back. Seriously. Burgers, pie, chips, burritos, cookies (the COOKIES!) you name it - I'm ingesting it. Must. Stop. Now. If I don't, I'll gain back every pound I've worked so hard to take off this year! I do admit, though, that it's been fun to indulge in things I've avoided during training :)
2. Saturday I am running Adam's "Sweat Your Thorns Off" virtual 5k. Depending on how my legs feel, I'm aiming for a sub-30 5k. I looked at the numbers in my PR 10k (the one where my average pace was UNDER a 10 minute mile) and the last 5k WAS under 30 minutes. So I need a decent warmup to get it done. But I'm going to RACE it, which is tough for me...
3. I decided to follow Hal Higdon's recovery plan, so for the next 3 weeks, I'm sticking with it as best I can. I may or may not up the mileage a TEENY bit though - I don't know if I'm capable of going out and running just 2 miles. I've hardly warmed up then!
Question for those of you who've run more than one marathon in a season: How did you incorporate a decent recovery to a new training plan? I made up my plan a while back, but now I'm not sure if I need SO much recovery...
Hal Higdon has a recovery plan now? Wow, that's awesome. When I ran marathons, there were lots of training plans out there, but no such thing as recovery plans. I usually took a break from running for a week. And then would spend a week running 3-6 mile runs. And then, depending on when my next race was, begin adding miles again after that.
ReplyDeleteI think a recovery plan is more individualistic than a training plan. There will be some trial and error to understand what works best for you.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do multiple marathons, three weeks is the ideal time between races. For me. You would think that four or five would better, but I have found that's not the case. I feel much better simply doing a taper between races, rahter than ramping up again. But again. that's me. If you haven't done multiple marathons, I would suggest starting out at six - eight weeks between races and see how that goes. Remember, you can usually take two weeks off without losing much.
I have just gone by feel for my recovery. What works for one person doens't always work for another. For me, running often, but slow and short miles helps my legs feel less still and sore and gets me back to feeling good more quickly than just sitting around doing nothing. Also, lots of rolling and stretching. I try to just listen to my body and go with how I feel.
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I am terrible with recovery. I get ants in my pants if I have to wait a whole week to do anything. So depending on how sore my legs are I just go out about every other day for an easy short jog.
ReplyDeleteSarah
this is a good question with no one single answer, i'm afraid to say. but if i had to narrow it down, i'd say three weeks - four. and in between those races i do a lot of walking but never the first week after the race. don't be too hard on yourself. i think it's amazing you set your goals and you achieved them.
ReplyDeleteit's a great feeling, isn't it?? :D
I try really hard to take one full week totally off, but it's so hard not to run at all. I gotta say, though, I'm pretty sure cookies are super important for an adequate recovery! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm having some of the same struggles with recovery so I'm going by feel. I ran 3.5 miles the other day and after getting the kinks out, I felt great.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the sweat your thorns off too! I've never done a virtual race before. Should be fun!
I'm so horrible with recovery. i ran my 3rd marathon on Sunday and have worked out everyday since. However, I have only logged 7 miles but i've still been doing the elliptical, spin, circuit, weights, etc.
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ReplyDelete