Fit Friday! Post Race Recovery Week
Rest days were my medicine this week. Yes, I ran a race, but I also took 4 days off from running and I'm ending this week feeling really good and looking forward to my long run tomorrow.
Saturday Rest Day: Aside from going to the Expo to pick up my bib, I spent a majority of the day grazing and drinking water. Serious rest.
Sunday Race Day : You can read my race recap for the Surf City Half here. I wasn't pleased with my overall performance in this race, but knew that it wasn't for nothing. I practiced fueling and it was a beautiful day!
Crossing the finish line on Saturday
Monday Rest Day - Tuesday Weights: I decide to take both Monday and Tuesday off from running. Even though my pace did not imply the race was a tough one, a race is draining mentally and physically - much more than just a long training run. So, I just did some weight lifting on Tuesday morning and worked out my abs.
Wednesday First Post-Race Run!: I wanted to come out strong on my first run back and I tried to go more off of feel than my watch. I was able to hold a 7:52 pace for my 5 mile run. I hadn't broken an 8 minute pace in the last two weeks. I was exhausted afterwards.
First post race run was a success.
Thursday Weights and Hills: My first double workout in a week. I focused on my shoulders at the gym in the morning and wanted to log at least 7 or 8 miles at night. Mark noticed that I was a little down after the race on Sunday, so he offered to look at my training thus far to figure out why I felt like I might be over training. He got back to me on thought the main reason why I might be feeling so exhausted is because I never alter my pace to have an "easy" run, so my legs are always tired. He recommended doing a long run at an 8:40 pace. Well, I tried to see if I could even make myself go slower, and it was tough. I started my hill run with a 2 mile warm up, and finished the first mile at 8:10. The second mile I logged at 8:28. Much better. And then I killed it on the hills. I felt great, not pushing too hard. I was able to do 10 hills and then ran the final 1.5 miles home for a total of just over 7 miles.
I'm glad I practiced pacing myself last night, because I plan on doing my 14 miles this weekend at about an 8:30 pace, and to practice fueling again. I'm hoping alternating my speed is the answer and that this gets me my legs back and ultimately helps me improve my racing pace. Happy Friday everyone!
J
