That's the most succint way to describe tonight's easy 3 miles that were anything but easy. I have some thoughts on this but first, I want to describe how I've been feeling since Sunday's Half marathon.
Intuitively (not speaking from experience), there are two ways to run a long distance race. For one, you can treat it like a training run, taking the opportunity to practice your pre-race routine, experience the race environment, but not running as hard as you would were it your target race. Or, your can run it like a "real race", going for it, leaving nothing on the course. Sunday, for me, was more like the latter. Even though I am training for the full marathon in Janurary, I still ran the half on Sunday like it was a target race. I gave it all I had.
Now, before atta-boy's are handed out, let me just say that Sunday's race took a lot out of me. It was the furthest distance I have ever run before and at an average pace at least 1 minute faster than ANY 8+ mile training run I have done to date. I'm very proud of my effort but it has left me feeling very flat and sore for 3 days now. AND HUNGRY!!! Catherine would not be happy with how I've eaten since Sunday at 10:05 am, about the time I made it over to the post race food table.
I was supposed to start back runnning on Tuesday but did not feel like it at all. By tonight (Wednesday) night, I thought I'd better get back out there and resume training so I started out for 3 easy miles. Man, did I feel like you-know-what!!! It was not a fun run. My thigh hurt, I was tired, sluggish, could not get it going at all. Here are the stats:
Total distance - 3.12 miles
Total time - 45:10
Mile 1 - 14:21
Mile 2 - 14:50
Mile 3 - 14:11
da change (.12) - 1:46
Avg pace - 14:28
Temperature - 63.2
Humidity - 66.6
Well, looking at those splits, not too bad, all things considered. However, I really struggled on this run. I wonder if the way I ran my half is going to put me out of commission for an entire week or two, even. I don't know. I just know I'm tired. I'm getting a massage tomorrow. My next scheduled run on Hal's training program is 6 miles. I don't think I'll do that tomorrow. I think I'll rest tomorrow, let Mary Lee get some of the cobwebs out, and do 6 on Friday morning.
Faithfull readers, is this how I'm supposed to feel? Should I repeat this effort, treating each race like a "real race", for the 25K and the 30K or is that going to DESTROY me before I even toe the line in January? Running easier for these races at a training run pace would put me in well beyond the time limit. Also, should I just continue my training and run feeling the way I do or listen to my body and just wait until I can run comfortably?
5 comments:
First the bad news. I ran 19 on Sunday and I have never felt better. Those Doubletree Cookies must have crack in them because I have never felt so good after such a long distance. Crazy.
Now for the good news. Don't get worked up on how you feel after such a long run when you put in so much effort.
My first year of training, it was not unheard for me to take an entire week off to recover after a long run. Especially as I got up in distance. In fact, I felt so horrible after my first 30K that I did not think I would make the marathon. Sometimes a break will do you good.
Remember, everything is relative. Several months ago you were probably thinking "I cannot believe I am going to do eight miles." Now when you look at the schedule and it says eight miles, you are likely thinking "eight miles - no big deal..."
You are doing fine. This is the longest and hardest you have run. Your body needs some time.
You just did 13.1 hard miles! The general rule of thumb is it will take you a day per mile to recover....so you'll be a little flat for two weeks. Keep the training easy and don't worry about pace. You'll start feeling really good just in time to go for a hard 15.5 miles, repeat for the 18.6 and then the marathon.
You're doing great!
Vic,
You have to listen to your body. "Blech" is your body's way of telling you that you're getting repaired and made stronger for the next difficulty.
But it doesn't mean you sit around like a car getting repaired. You've got to move around to get the waste out of your muscles, as your muscles repair themselves.
Each subsequent run should be better than the "blech" run. Hang in there.
doug
Yep, it's mucho important to listen to your body and do what it tells you. You're still recovering from the half. It may take a few days longer than you anticipated. You'll be back in form in no time!
Hey Vic, I was exhausted all week so I know how you feel. Someone thanked me yesterday for staying "behind" to run with them; I kept assuring them that most definitely was not the case!
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