Recovery! Why Didn't I think of that??

Hal Higdon, Jeff Galloway, Greg McMillan, Bart Yasso and basically any famous runner or author in Runner's World all talk about this thing called RECOVERY. Yeah, yeah, yeah I do that, right??? I mean I don't run for a few days and I just run 5 or 6 miles the first weekend back from a marathon. Then my long runs are just 10-12 miles for a while : )

Okay! SO that is not exactly what they are talking about. There is this funny little rule about taking a day off for every mile that you race. HUH? So if I run 26.2 miles I should take 26 days off. Well not really but I should not do anything extreme or push myself. Well I did just that for the past month against my own will. I have been hitting the pavement, treadmill, bike, yoga mat etc... but I have been STRUGGLING! Runs have been awkward and not fluid. Cross training has been taking a beating on my body which is actually because I don't use any muscles besides the ones you need to run. I was out there trying to retrain for spring marathons on broke down fall marathon legs. My body basically forced me to recover no matter how much I was out there trying to work out and train.

However, tonight which happens to be a month after my marathon in West Virginia I RAN. Like I stepped on the treadmill and ran 5 miles without stopping to grab by side, drink water, take a break, walk for a minute. It was a fluid 9:00 pace with some dare I say it... speed work at the end. Don't get me wrong I have had plenty of decent runs the past month but they did not have that "Runner" feeling to them.

I truly underestimated how much I had put out there in West Virginia. That 4:03 (7 minute PR) must have kicked my butt because my legs just now feel like they used to. Hoping this is the start of a new trend! I am ready to sign up for some spring marathons and kick some 4 hour butt!