Post Marathon Recovery
Today, I ran for the second time since the Boston Marathon. When I’m training, I typically run everyday. Since I’ve essentially been marathon training since last June, this break was welcomed and overdue.
I like to give myself as much rest as I want after a marathon. My motto has been, “Don’t run until you miss it”. But recently, I’ve run back-to-back marathons which has meant training through to the next event without much of a break. I ran the New York City Marathon 6 days after the Marine Corps Marathon last fall and this past Boston Marathon about a month after RnR DC in March.
This past week has been great. I’ve been getting a good night’s sleep and waking up each day knowing I didn’t have to run that day if I didn’t really want to. That’s such a stark contrast from waking up each day with a specific workout in mind. On every day except one, I was content to sleep in. I think deep down I knew once I started training again I wouldn’t give in to that urge to go back to bed so I should enjoy it now.
On Sunday, I ran with my running club. I thought I would run slow and easy but I felt very strong out of the gates. I ran about 6 miles at 8:20 pace overall. Easy pace should be about 9:00 for me. It was a great day, though, and I felt like running. My body felt okay except some pain in both calfs. I think the Newton hills were having a last laugh on me.
Today, I ran about 5.5 miles around the neighborhood. Again, I felt pretty good so I let myself run a little hard. I ended up running 7:48 pace, which is essentially marathon pace. Oops! That’s more than a little hard. But, the only lingering aches are in my calfs and some tightness in my left hip. Again, it was beautiful weather for a run – 55 degrees and clear blue skies.
Tomorrow… No set plans to run. I’ll see how much I miss it when I wake up.