Heuristics

The general rule of thumb is that it takes a day for every mile raced to recover. I was thinking back over my last two goal races, the 24 hours championship in Bangor last July and the Tralee marathon back in March and the rule holds surprisingly true. After Bangor I was even joking once that according to that rule I'd be recovered by November, but whether by coincidence or not, that indeed turned out to be the time when the legs finally started feeling good again. I know I ran the Dingle Ultra and paced the Dublin marathon in that time period, which wouldn't be on most people's list of recommendations for recovery, but neither was run at race effort. And wouldn't you believe it, last week was the time when I felt a spring back in the legs, just 4 weeks after Tralee, once again more or less confirming that rule. It may hold true after all, even for completely different distances raced.

The weather this week has been completely manic; even by Kerry standards, April has been mad. On Wednesday it was raining so hard that the animals stated queuing in pairs looking for a guy with a big boat. The road was waterlogged on at least a dozen occasions during my 8 mile run, every incline had turned into a miniature waterfall. Epic stuff. Thursday, by contrast, was a stunningly beautiful day with bright blue sunshine, though the water levels of both the lake and the river were just about as high as I have ever seen them.

Friday saw another beautiful sunrise; in fact, my run that day went very, very well after a strange start. I had to try and fix the oven at 6 o'clock in the morning for Niamh (don't ask), leading to me leaving late and then running faster than planned. I kept telling myself to relax and slow down as coming home 5 minutes later would not be a problem but to no avail, my subconscious kept pushing the pace just that little bit higher than I would have had I felt more relaxed and at ease. Having said that, my main issue was that I should have brought my shades. The sunrise was spectacular but I was left staring straight at the sun for half an hour after that, which isn't ideal and surprisingly painful after a while.

Today, Saturday, I was determined to take it easier again and started out at a more relaxed effort but something must have gotten hold of me and by the time I had finished I had averaged almost the same pace as the day before. But I keep feeling good, the legs are fine and I guess I can just go along with it. A longer run tomorrow will show how much fatigue those last two days have left behind in the legs.

17 Apr

8 miles, 59:14, 7:24 pace, HR 147

18 Apr

10 miles, 1:13:46, 7:22 pace, HR 148

19 Apr

12 miles, 1:25:19, 7:06 pace, HR 151

20 Apr

8 miles, 57:07. 7:08 pace, HR 147