100 Times Recovery

Photo by Valerie O’Sullivan

I've gone through post-marathon recovery often enough by now to know what I can expect. Not that it is always the same - a goal race will take a very different toll on the body than a training run of the same distance. But I know the patterns very well.

I was really pleased by how the legs felt. They just took it as yet another training run. Even teh day after the marathon there was no soreness whatsoever, which was good as I had to return the rental car, which happened to be about 7.5 miles away from home, and running home afterwards was far more enjoyable than public transport would have been.

However, upper respiratory tract infections are very common, and once more I got hit. On Monday morning I has a slightly sore throat, which gradually developed into a very sore throat by Monday evening. On Tuesday morning the throat was fine but replaced with a splitting headache. On Wednesday morning the headache was still there, but much reduced. By Thursday it had moved into my chest, and by Saturday, give or take a day, it will be all gone. I know the pattern exceptionally well, I've gone through it so often.

Photo by Valerie O’Sullivan

My HRV readings were deep red the days immediately after the marathon but have already returned to green by now. My morning HR, on the other hand, is still elevated (around 48-50 rather than 40-42), which is rather interesting. The HR for my run was really low earlier this week, which really surprised me initially, until I realised that all my recovery runs had been on rather flat courses, as opposed to the very hilly commute I had been doing prior. I guess I'm starting to see just how much those hills are adding to the HR; maybe I haven't gone backwards in training after Rathdrum after all, the numbers just reflected the types of courses I have run on.

Due to that head cold, which was made a bit more complicated by the fact that it coincided with the first of my two annual hayfever bouts, I took to easier than usual in my post-recovery week, so no big mileage at the moment, far from it. I'm hoping to get back to that next week, and then it's getting close to taper time already. As long as the training cycle has been, now it feels too short already and I wish I could have a few more weeks. Same story as always.

13 May

7.6 miles, 1:04:58, 8:32 pace, HR 134

14 May

4+ miles, 32:51, 8:06 pace, HR 130

15 May

4.5 miles, 36:26, 8:05 pace, HR 134

16 May

4.8 miles, 37:58, 7:54 pace, HR 139

17 May

6.5+ miles, 52:31, 8:00 pace, HR 140