First week after the marathon
Since my exploits at the weekend I had rest days on Monday and Tuesday. My joints were a little sore on Monday and there was a bit of stiffness in the muscles. Most of this went by Tuesday except some continued tightness in my quads.
On Wednesday I went for my first run and to be honest I felt pretty good although it was clear that my legs felt tired. I did my usual 10k route at an average of 6.55 min miles which was fairly quick all things considered.
The following day I did a 3.5 mile run at pace averaging 6.18 min miles. Although my legs still feel tired I just cant seem to help myself and ran fairly hard. I know that I'm meant to be recovering but I find it easier said than done! No pain, no gain as they say! On Friday this was followed up with a 9 mile run at an average of 6.38 min miles - again pretty quick. My legs still felt like they were running on empty.
As a result I had to have a rest day yesterday as my legs need the time. If I'm honest my legs could probably do with several days of rest but like that's ever gonna happen! Today I ran the 11.75 miles from work to home, which although is a fair distance I did at a gentle pace, so perhaps I am learning after all! That said it was my fastest run from work by some margin at 1.22, but the key difference was that I wasn't wearing a rucksack. Its a strange feeling with the legs, I can still run near enough normally, its just that they don't feel as they should.
I have decided now that the plan for the next few months is continue training as I was before the marathon so there will be no increase in mileage, except that I'm going to crank up the intensity a notch. Unfortunately I tried to crank it up too early after the marathon this week so will attempt to rest for the next week or two first.
Although I have the half marathon next week it really isn't a target race for me. I'll still give it my best shot as I always do, but I wont be too bothered about the end result. For me its more about enjoying this one and I see it as just a fast training run. As a result I wont really taper for this (although will still rest a bit because of the legs needing the recovery) and with the marathon still in my legs its unlikely I'll be at my freshest for it anyway. That said, I reckon that I should still have a good shot at beating my current pb of 1.22.30 set last April where I averaged 6.17 min miles. If I'm honest I'll be a tad disappointed if I don't comfortably beat my pb as I feel that my fitness has really improved over the last few months. That's all for now!
On Wednesday I went for my first run and to be honest I felt pretty good although it was clear that my legs felt tired. I did my usual 10k route at an average of 6.55 min miles which was fairly quick all things considered.
The following day I did a 3.5 mile run at pace averaging 6.18 min miles. Although my legs still feel tired I just cant seem to help myself and ran fairly hard. I know that I'm meant to be recovering but I find it easier said than done! No pain, no gain as they say! On Friday this was followed up with a 9 mile run at an average of 6.38 min miles - again pretty quick. My legs still felt like they were running on empty.
As a result I had to have a rest day yesterday as my legs need the time. If I'm honest my legs could probably do with several days of rest but like that's ever gonna happen! Today I ran the 11.75 miles from work to home, which although is a fair distance I did at a gentle pace, so perhaps I am learning after all! That said it was my fastest run from work by some margin at 1.22, but the key difference was that I wasn't wearing a rucksack. Its a strange feeling with the legs, I can still run near enough normally, its just that they don't feel as they should.
I have decided now that the plan for the next few months is continue training as I was before the marathon so there will be no increase in mileage, except that I'm going to crank up the intensity a notch. Unfortunately I tried to crank it up too early after the marathon this week so will attempt to rest for the next week or two first.
Although I have the half marathon next week it really isn't a target race for me. I'll still give it my best shot as I always do, but I wont be too bothered about the end result. For me its more about enjoying this one and I see it as just a fast training run. As a result I wont really taper for this (although will still rest a bit because of the legs needing the recovery) and with the marathon still in my legs its unlikely I'll be at my freshest for it anyway. That said, I reckon that I should still have a good shot at beating my current pb of 1.22.30 set last April where I averaged 6.17 min miles. If I'm honest I'll be a tad disappointed if I don't comfortably beat my pb as I feel that my fitness has really improved over the last few months. That's all for now!
Mate, rest up a bit! I know it's easier dsaid than done... I've been suffering with flu (proper flue, not man flu), and having 3 days off has made me the worst person in the world to be around!!! Thats said, I was off out running yesterday and will be tonight even though I'm not fully recovered - so I guess we're all as bad as each other arent we!
ReplyDeleteAhhh well!