One Week Later

Things have been good this week post marathon. I rested on Sunday after the race. I felt pretty good actually, my knees were a bit cranky for a day or two, much less than I expected. My quads were shouting at me for a few days, that was a bit unexpected. Perhaps it was the hills... I had decided that this week would be all easy runs and no long runs. It was a busy week at work so my attention was elsewhere and this was welcome.


I ran a slow and easy three mile recovery run on Monday, I could feel the cranky areas a bit. Then six easy miles on Wednesday. By then all soreness was gone and sooner than expected. This is good. On Friday I did about 6.5 miles at a bit of a faster pace, marginally faster that is. Rested on Saturday and did some weight work, I had lots of errands to run and that was probably good. Today, Sunday, I did eight miles and picked it up at the end, with a very nice pace for the overall run. I feel terrific.


Next week will be much of the same but with a longer trail run on Sunday if the weather stays decent.


I am happy my recovery has gone well. It has been something I have been working on for a while. I used to ignore my body after run/racing, maybe doing some stretching, and found I was recovering very slowly. Part of recovering faster also comes with better general conditioning, but for me that is not enough. Hydrating and fueling right away after a run is so important. I also use compression recovery socks and lay on the couch with my legs elevated for at least 2 - 3 hours watching TV or reading a book. Ice baths happen only sometimes and work best for really hard speed workouts for me. Of course I stretch, multiple times a day, as well. Getting the muscle fibers moving and allowing the blood to move about is really critical. I have also found that as I fuel better on the run it translates to feeling better after the run.


Everyone I talk to has special tips and tricks for their own recovery, care to share any? Have anything that works really well for you?