Still Recovery

All week most of my body has felt really good and raring to go but the hamstrings were having none of it. The difference between that one muscle group and the rest really surprised me. On the other hand, the calves were perfectly fine despite them being the one part that was cramping during the marathon.

A recent observation I have made during the recovery period is that recovery seems to plateau after a while if I keep the mileage low; once I decide to risk it and crank it up to 7-8 miles a day, things start to improve again.

I know this is only observational data and all made on a sample size of 1, and therefore far from a scientific study, but it looks like total rest is actually a bad recovery option, and doing a little bit of exercise isn't optimal either. There is a certain amount of volume that works better - however, I am in no doubt that doing a little bit less than optimal is a lot better than doing too much, so caution is definitely still on the cards.

The HR data during that week was interesting as well. My resting HR had returned to normal values (low 40s in my case) within a few days but the HR during my runs was still elevated and is only just now starting to come back to pre-marathon levels. However, about 10 days after the marathon things are just about returning to normal. They're not quite there yet, but getting close.

The weekend was full on once more, with yet another trip to Kerry, and this time in a big van, returning laden with furniture for our new house. However, me and offspring #1 will be doing the move in stages and won't be moving in for another week - and the rest of the family will only follow at the end of June. Despite the heavy lifting, literally for once, I still managed to get my weekend runs done. Saturday was a glorious day and I could not help but be inspired by the Caragh Lake scenery - I will really miss this! On Sunday I headed up to Windy Gap, though the hamstrings were less than thrilled by the workload and I ended up running less than originally planned. However, that run seems to have persuaded them to start working again, because all of a sudden they feel a lot better.

19 Apr

am: 5.5 miles, 45:31, 8:16 pace, HR 140

pm: 5.5 miles, 43:56, 7:56 pace, HR 139

20 Apr

8.6 miles, 1:11:28, 8:18 pace, HR 133

21 Apr

10 miles, 1:18:06, 7:48 pace, HR 141

22 Apr

am: 10.7 miles, 1:36:24, 9:00 pace, HR 142, Windy Gap

pm: 3.1 miles, 24:00, 7:44 pace, HR 137

23 Apr

8.55 miles, 1:11:03, 8:18 pace, HR 132