It's Thursday, and I'm still sore. Actually, my recovery has been awful, with Tuesday being especially bad. My quads hurt so much on Tuesday that I had to bump down stairs on my rear. I'm not exaggerating.
Why so bad this time? Well, I think there are a few reasons:
1. I was undertrained (I mean, I hit the wall. I wasn't ready for the distance). I had 229 miles in December, but just 119 and 146 in October and November, respectively. I wasn't physically ready.
2. I didn't eat enough post-race. Usually I'm starving the day after a marathon, and eat plenty of carbs and protein to aid in muscle recover. But this time the worst thing that could happen, did: I caught a stomach bug. As soon as we got home from Baton Rouge, David started complaining that his head hurt. Then he was nauseated and throwing up. By bedtime, I had it, too - and you know it's hard to eat after a race, so I hadn't had that much yet. Normally it's the next day that I get my appetite back, but instead, I spent Monday taking Zofran and trying not to throw up. I had half a bagel all day. I think that made a huge difference in my recovery.
I do have to start thinking about my next race, though. It's February 5th - right around the corner! That means that I kind of have to run long this weekend - IF I'm feeling up to it. I think I will: the muscle pain is almost gone. But I am going to play it by ear. So here is my race-the-next-marathon plan:
If I feel good Saturday: 16 long this weekend.
Next week: back to speed, tempo, and 10-mile long run.
Race week: taper.
If I feel ok Saturday: 10 mile long run this weekend.
Next week: No speed on Tuesday, but do Thursday tempo, and 8-mile long run.
Race week: taper.
If I feel tired Saturday: 8 mile long run this weekend.
Next week: No speed on Tuesday, but Thursday tempo, and 8 mile long run.
Race week: taper.
The plan is to hopefully do one solid week to get back on track, then rest again for the next race. I'm sure this will be very interesting!
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Like you, I am having a hard time recovering from my race this past weekend. I only ran a half, and not nearly as fast as you, but I too was undertrained and think that made a big difference. This half was my longest run since my last half in October and I only had a few weeks of build up to it. Most of my miles this week have been easy but I slogged through a tempo yesterday. Mostly I just want to sleep and eat a lot, and the tempo made me tired for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteLove how you have 3 different options/plans depending on how you feel. That's a really smart way to do things!