Recovery, Yet Again

In some ways I find it hard to believe that I just run 50 miles. I went shopping on Sunday and deliberately walked down the staircase to the parking lot instead of taking the lift, just to test my legs and they were perfectly fine. I also did some gardening work that afternoon and got through that just fine - in fact, I only stopped because our lawnmower died.

On the other hand, I was asked yesterday if I had run yet another marathon, and when I asked why I was told that I am dragging one leg behind when I'm walking, something I certainly had not been aware of and which caught me completely by surprise. My left hamstring and glutes are a little bit tight, just about the only thing I can notice from Saturday's race, which probably accounts for the leg-dragging.

I have been taking it very easy since and have followed my usual routine of running 5 easy miles at a time. The HR was off only for a day or 2 and has already bounced back to usual levels, which is quite remarkable. Staplestown might have been a training run but it still equalled the third-longest run I've ever done and I set a PB of well over 15 minutes, even if I think I have at least another 15 minutes of improvement in me, probably more.

The weekly mileage has been a bit up and down as I keep running very long runs every second weekend and subsequently need to recover. I have averaged just under 100 miles for the last few weeks. The last time I did that kind of mileage my weight kept dropping even as I ate as much as I could. I pretty much expected the same to happen again, but that's not the case. I have been at about 146 lbs / 10 st 6 / 66kg for the last few weeks and have remained there, probably the most stable weight level I've had in years.

As Saturday's memory fades away I am looking forward to the next runs. I asked to be moved back from my usual 3:15 slot to 3:30 as pacer for the Cork City marathon, which should give me a much more comfortable day, and hopefully one weekend I won't need so much recovery from. I did apologise to Jo for the inconvenience, I imagine the most frustrating thing for an organiser must be people who ask to be switched at such a late stage. Sorry about that, hopefully won't ever happen again.

19 May

am: 5 miles, 43:11, 8:38 pace, HR 122

pm: 5 miles, 40:09, 8:02 pace, HR 130

20 May

am: 5+ miles, 42:13, 8:21 pace, HR 125

pm: 5+ miles, 39:53, 7:54 pace, HR 131

21 May

am: 5+ miles, 40:59, 8:06 pace, HR 125

pm: 5+ miles, 37:51, 7:29 pace, HR 134