Monday, February 4, 2013

Recovery, Or My Version of It...

So 8 days ago, I ran this little thing called the Marathon. And as we know it was amazing.

I anticipated feeling SOME sort of "pain" after having run 26.2 miles, but the truth was, that other than a little bit of tightness in my quad I was a-okay. 

I guess that is good right? means I must have been in good shape to undertake the whole thing in the first place.

I attribute this partially to the fact that I took it easy during the race and didn't push my pace at all. 

That being said, I found it hard to sit still and "recover" for too long. I am already focused on my next big goal race and was eager to get back at it. Yes I know after a strict training program most people are all too excited for some type of "off" season. 

Me? 

I love structure. 

I love training. 

I love goals. 

They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  

I haven't elaborated on my 2013 goals because I thought I would be jinxing myself to discuss what I had planned post first marathon. I will get into that in a different post later this week; but for now - my next immediate goal is to PR the Allstate 13.1 New York. I am aiming for sub 1:50 (current PR is 1:53:14).

This means time to get more speed back. Time to hit the weights, speed work, intervals and hills oh my! I do not think I could run that time right now so have some work to be done before March 23rd. 

So lets get back to what my post race recovery looked like:

Monday - active rest - a lot of walking and strolling around Miami

Tuesday - total rest - the most walking I did was in the airport

Wednesday - morning - 45 minutes of cardio night - 60 minutes of cardio + core work

Thursday - morning - 30 minutes of cardio + upper body strength night - 20 minutes cardio + easy 3 miles run

Friday - spin class

Saturday - spin class + body pump + football game

Sunday - 65 minutes cardio + 45 minutes spinning + yoga

My "cardio" there is ellipticalling until blue in the face. 

So I was pretty active, but also look at that break from running! Kind of proud of myself. 

And feeling oh so nice and sore from the weight training. Ahhhh burns so good. Buns and thighs are feeling it from all that squating and lunging in body pump + utilizing different muscles with all that spinning.

As of today - back at it as far as the running goes. Probably aim for a 30 mile week or so to still keep it easy and not sure if I will do much speed work this week but I am going to follow what my body feels. 

Transitioning from the marathon mentality back to half. 

One thing I do know is that never letting go of strength workouts again. I did it because I would not want to have an 18 miler on the agenda when I'm feeling sore walking up a flight of stairs. Good burn but not fun for 3 hours of running. But also if I keep it consistent that shouldn't really be an issue. 

I have about 6 weeks or so to try and get to where I was in November. I am hopeful that if I am diligent that I can get some speed back. I also might be selling myself short. I was trying at any point in the past couple months to sustain speed. I was focused on hitting my training paces which did not include sub 9 minute miles for distance. 

I also need to tone up/slim down. I probably put on a couple pounds during training (I've stopped weighing myself but I just FEEL fluffy/less toned) so I've stopped eating everything in sight because I was "training for a marathon" and back to normal person eating. So NOT as fun I might add. 

So yay for training plans! They make me so giddy!

8 comments:

  1. I love training plans. I was enjoying reading some for half marathons even though I already have mine set haha. And I also want to drop a couple pounds, nothing significant, but just to help the speed!

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    1. I pretty much formulated my own after I ran my first, I feel once you have done one, you pretty much know what works for you, albeit with some guidelines.

      Pounds for speed is my focus as well. I am not where I was in the fall before marathon training so know if I want to beat THAT time...I've got to get to it. But speedwork/hills and weights fell off - all the things which burn the calories vs steady state running so I think it should be fairly painless.

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  2. I'm with you - I love training plans to follow. Care to share your 6 week plan (running + lifting)? I have a half the week before yours and want to break sub 2.

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    1. Absolutely! If you want to send me an email to gianna.alvino@gmail.com more than happy to break down my weekly workout schedule!

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  3. You are a beaaaaaaaaaaaast..snapping back so quickly too!

    I definitely ALWAYS gain weight when I'm running a lot! hmph!

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    1. You would think running tons of miles would keep you slim - wrong! All that endurance running = low heart rate. Did a progression run yesterday and felt oh so good. Minus I could feel that in no way could I sustain my 8:30 pace for a half marathon right now. Argh.

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  4. Nice job getting back at it so quickly! You sound like me- I can't wait for training to pick back up again, and also love structure and routine. So glad you're body is feeling good! And I'm excited for you to go after the 1:50 half!

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