Running a marathon as a training run
for a marathon is fairly unusual, I admit. But having done a
significant number of them, including several as training runs
(though usually for ultras), I like to think I know what I'd doing by
now (ok, up to a point).
The most important thing is recovery
afterwards. After my first marathon I was so sore I never wanted to
run another step (which is exactly what I did for a couple of
months). Things have improved since then, and after Dublin I did not
even feel sore, just a little bit stiff.
I did not take any days off but reduced
the mileage for several days until I could no longer feel the effects
of the marathon. I know they are still there. I measured my resting
HR this morning and it came out as 49, about 5 beats higher than it
had been before Monday and it will remain elevated for a few more
weeks. But I could not tell that from the way the legs felt over the
last two days. They have forgotten the marathon already.
This week I have steadily increased the mileage,
never coming home feeling like I should have done less, which is
good. Including the marathon it added up to a decent enough week
and now I'm basically back in normal training mode. I will more or less
replicate what I did last year, get a few decent weeks of training
under the belt and then run the 30 mile race in Sixmilebridge. That
went exceedingly well last year, so I don't see a reason to change
anything. Of course I can't promise another win – that depends far
more on who will be on the start line than anything I can influence
myself.
Dublin was fun. I love pacing (which is
why I'm doing it so often) and because it had felt so easy I already suspected that recovery would be very quick. I'm already looking forward to the
next one, but now it's time to move on.
- 2 Nov
- 8 miles, 59:52, 7:29 pace, HR 155
- 3 Nov
- 10 miles, 1:14:12, 7:25 pace, HR 149
- 2 Nov
- 15.1 miles, 1:51:34, 7:23 pace, HR 154
Weekly mileage: 76+
I'm on my own recovery curve, unfortunately from a cold rather than race though. My resting HR has been elevated up in the mid 50's bpm for the last two weeks, and today I measured it back down to 50, which is still elevated 5 more than where it normally be. I ran today my HR was still higher than I'd usual expect for the pace, but then I'm still got the remnants of the cold. Things are going in the right direction at last.
ReplyDeleteI mention this as it your HR is higher for a given pace than it was a week or so ago and this suggest something is going on different than usual. I know you put this down to the marathon, but I do wonder if you might be have a virus that your body is battling at a low level.
Big events like marathons are great ways to mix with lots of other people, and with it a good way to pick up a virus. Throw in a bit of extra physical stress and you have good conditions for increasing the chance of picking up an infection.