Trail Monster Running

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Monday, March 23, 2009

The Recovery Run

Last year I decided that (for me) one of the keys to ultra training is the run on the day after the long run. When I was training for my first marathon in 2003 I would usually take a day off from running after my long run, or at best do an easy couple of miles. Last year I started doing runs of about 8 miles on the day after a long run, usually on easier terrain and at a faster pace. This year I'm trying to make my day-after-long-runs closer to 10 miles, and not necessarily on easier terrain. So I guess its more like long run part 2 rather than recover run.

On Sunday, the day after doing almost 20 at Bradbury, I returned to meet Blaine and Floyd for another run. Not exactly the best guys to run with if you're looking for a slow and easy recovery. We all agreed to "take it easy" by skipping the worst (best?) of the hills and headed out for an out-and-back on the Snowmobile Trail to the power lines.

We decided to throw in a little loop at the turnaround that brought our distance up to about 10.5 miles. I was surprised to find that I actually felt better today than I did during my run the day before, not sure why that is. Apart from slipping and falling on my ass at a big stretch of ice the run went well and I finished feeling surprisingly good after a pretty big week for me in terms of total mileage.

time: 1:31:40
distance: 10.49 miles
pace: 8:44

weather: 31-36 degrees, cloudy becoming bright and sunny

conditions: firm packed snow, lots if ice

gear: Inov-8 Mudroc 280, wool socks, short tights, 2x long sleeve tops, gloves, buff

2 comments:

Blaine Moore said...

No bruises? Isn't painful to sit?

(I did wind up taking a nap yesterday, but it was only for about 45 minutes.)

R. Ian Parlin said...

No pain in the ass. I even spent some time on the foam roller last night and didn't notice any pain.