A Week of Recovery without an Off Day...

Since this is my first post having not raced since the last one, I'll recap my week, lead into my training tip of the week, detail the races that I have coming up next more closely, and then add anything else that I think of. I'll keep this format for all of my posts during weeks that I do not race and each week I'll try to post something on Sunday evening - this week being an exception due to the Superbowl.



Weekly Recap

8 days have passed since my marathon. In those 8 days I have done a total of 10 workouts, and I've had zero days off and yet my recovery has been extremely good, and if I had another marathon next weekend I could probably go under 3 hours again (but thankfully I don't have to!).

So how is it that I feel so well recovered, having done 10 workouts in the past 8 days? Simply put, it's the low intensity of those workouts. Heading into my base period of triathlon training my coach had me swim almost 6000 yds this week, my highest weekly total ever (swimmers, if you're laughing I expect to see you at Age Group Nationals in August). Even though my swim volume was higher than ever, two of the three times that I swam were just to work on swimming form and get my legs kicking to loosen them up after my race. The low impact associated with swimming makes it the perfect recovery for any athlete, and making the transition back to triathlon allows it to also serve a double purpose. Cycling is another excellent "recovery" exercise for runners, so my 3 rides in the last week have served two purposes as well. My biggest weakness on the bike is that I tend to pedal in too high of a gear. This ends up using some of the key running muscles in my legs more than necessary, making it even more difficult to run after the bike. My easy rides this week focused on maintaining and working on addressing that weakness to begin developing a higher cadence (the frequency of pedal strokes, measured in revolutions per minute). Then there were my recovery runs this week. After having run for 7 hours and 57.3 miles the week of my race I dropped to just 3 runs this week, the longest being just 44 minutes and 5.56 miles long. My total running mileage was 11.26 with the first two of my 3 runs about 30 seconds per mile slower than my pre-marathon easy runs. Finally, I did a strength training workout yesterday which I am not used to at all. It's hard to say that I'm more sore from that than from my marathon, but certainly as sore as I was after my half-marathon! The strength training will definitely help me going forward into the triathlon season though.



Training Tip of the Week


My first training tip is relevant to any sport, but is especially pertinent to endurance activities such as running and triathlon. As my training this week illustrates, proper recovery is especially important in order to maintain some of the benefits of your pre-race training. Sitting on the couch doesn't necessarily help muscles to recover as much as one might think, especially from a race longer than about an hour. In the few days following my marathon I would feel my legs stiffen up considerably after each time I had been sitting or lying down for any period of time. The workouts my coach gave me for this week did an excellent job of just getting my legs moving again and accelerating the recovery process.

A mistake that I made after the Vermont City Marathon last May was to run too hard too soon after the race. In fact, my very first run following that race was another race - a small, local cross country race but a race nonetheless. The following weekend I suffered on what should have been a very easy run for me. The consequences of running hard just 3 days after my first marathon, though, taught a valuable lesson.

A third key to recovery begins well before you finish the race. In my mind, it begins at the same time that you begin training for the race. It is absolutely no coincidence that I managed to run incredible races in Charleston and Miami and feel as though I recovered extremely quickly afterwards. If you are well prepared for the race you are running, you will recover far more easily than if you are not well prepared. This may have also compounded my recovery troubles after the Vermont City Marathon. My longest day of running heading into Vermont City was 15 miles more than a month before my race, for Miami I completed 18 mile and 20 mile runs and just made it to the end of the race without slowing down too much. For races at the half-marathon distance and longer, I suggest working up to at least 75% of the race distance in training as your longest run, and doing that run between 3 and 4 weeks before the race. This is, perhaps, the single most important part of training for an endurance event.

So my three keys to recovery:

1. Don't stiffen up by sitting around on the couch after a big race! Get out and do some light exercise to shake out your legs. Swimming and cycling are especially good low-impact activities for runners to do during recovery. If you do run, take it very easy and don't expect to run at the same pace as during your training.
2. Don't run (bike, swim, etc.) too hard too quickly! This should be common sense - but I learned it the hard way. Take it easy for a couple of weeks, you'll be itching to go hard again by the time you have to.
3. Prepare for your race adequately. You'll recover faster if you prepare correctly for the distance that you are racing. You can also loosely plan your recovery exercise at the same time as your training, this will make you stick to an easy relaxing week, even if you feel like going hard again.

If you have any questions about training for your next race - or just running in general - feel free to ask.

Upcoming Races

I don't have any races planned for February as I fully recover from Miami and begin training towards my next two big races at the Collegiate National Triathlon in April and Ironman 70.3 Mooseman in June. My next race, though, looks to be the Reedy River 10k in Greenville, SC on March 5th. This is the race at which I set my personal best for the distance a year ago so I am hoping to come close to challenging that time again despite the short period of preparation. I will provide a more in depth preview of these races the weekend before each.

Random Stuff!

So this is my section of random stuff in case I feel like writing something completely unrelated to the other sections. Today's (and probably the next few week's) random topic - having a personal coach for running (or triathlon, etc.). This will probably be my topic for an economics paper this semester so all input is appreciated.

In your mind, is it worth having a personal coach for running (or another sport)? If you do not have a coach, would you consider having one? Is there a specific reason that you don't have one? If the cost of a coach was a non-issue, would you consider getting coached?  Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. If you are a runner (recreational or competitive) I may have a short survey in the coming weeks so please check back next week for more info!