This is Ultra practicing the art of recovery. Dogs are really smart when it comes to this part of their training. After big runs all Ultra does is eat and then sleep. I think we can learn a lot from dogs :). For me this is the hardest part of training because recovery is really not easy for me to swallow. Logically I understand we need to give our body fuel and rest, I have read a million books about periodization processes and blah, blah, blah. But, somewhere deep in bedded in my brain is the notion that recovery is unnecessary for strong determined people when in reality it's the opposite. We will never get stronger if we refuse to recover.After last weeks schedule I felt so tired and beat up that all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. Actually I only wanted to sleep and had to force myself to eat because my appetite was also tired. On Monday I asked a friend to cruise on my recovery run with me. I knew it would be much better to have a friend along so I wouldn't be consumed with my thoughts of fatigue. This was a smart move because the run went by fast and I got the chance to focus on someone else instead of my inner brain reminding me of how tired I was. When she arrived she took one look at me and said, "wow, you looked thrashed!" That's another reason to have friends with you, they can speak the truth :). The bags under my eyes were so large I felt like my face was going to slam on the floor in front of me, ha, ha, ha. I got a glimpse of myself at 80 years old, yikes! Anyway, about 2 miles into the run I had completely forgot about all my fatigue and began to perk up. I was so thankful for this new found feeling and it just reminded me how important the recovery run is. It flushing out all the junk you accumulated in your muscles and your mind after hard workouts.
After the 7 mile run I took a look in my car mirror and only looked 60.....progress. By Tuesday I felt like I hadn't run a step on the weekend. All the fatigue from last week had been deposited on Firelane 1 in Forest Park and I was excited to do my track workout on Tuesday. I put on my red hot shoes and headed to the track for a 9 mile workout which included 6X1000 each at sub 4 minutes. I wasn't even apprehensive and that is a miracle considering how I felt on Monday morning. The art of recovery!
BTW - I solicited a "pep" talk from a friend on Sunday evening. It was great and very much appreciated, thanks!
4 comments:
Cool Rooster - you have a blog! I'll be following your "Rooster Slam" journey with great anticipation.
Good luck at AR50. Wished I were going. I'll be running the Mt Si 50M the following weekend ... this weekend is another 12 summits run (34 miles/10,000 ft gain - plus extra planned credit). Sounds like your schedule but, you won't see me on the track - for now at least. *tc
Thanks Tony,
Wow, sounds like your plans are crazy, I love it! Some day I want to come to Tiger Mt. and run that 12 summits route, it sounds amazing and hard. BTW - you don't need to go the track your already fast enough. r
Hi Ronda, although we've crossed paths I don't think we've actual MET met. Have fun at AR50 and I look forward to reading your blog now that I've discovered it (like discovering a great new running trail!).
These are awesome repeat times, Ronda! Way to go, Slam has nothing on you! Hope to come cross at one of the BS/RHS...well, at least at the beginning of it, as with how you guys progress, there is no way I would keep up.
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