Recovery Talk + Week #7 of Boston Training Recap

Today’s post is sponsored by fairlife, makers of Core Power®!  I hope you have a beautiful day, and let’s get talking about a huge puzzle piece of our training puzzle.

Just 63 days until Boston, and the mileage and the workouts are growing.  I seriously cannot wait to be back here again.

Here’s what week #7 of training looked like…

Monday:  10.4 miles @ 8:22 average

Tuesday: 8.13 miles @ 8:11 average

Wednesday:  17 miles @ 7:08 average.  2.5-mile w/u, 3-mile tempo (downhill, uphill, flat, downhill) @ 6:07 average, .5 mile recovery, 1.2 miles straight uphill in 11 minutes, 1-mile recovery, 3-mile tempo (downhill, flat, downhill, flat) @ 6:01 average.  Overall, felt pretty awful for this workout but it’s just part of the drill of marathon training.

Thursday: 10 miles @ 8:37 average

Friday:  9 miles @ 8:29 average

Saturday:  16 miles @ 6:45 average.  We climbed 650 ft, which was about half of what we had been doing the previous Saturday long runs, so I felt really strong on this run.  2 x 5-mile tempos that averaged (6:15 & 6:28).  Just a 3-minute recovery jog between the 5-mile intervals because I wanted to get started with the faster group on the second one… was planning on an 8-minute jog.   The effort was the same for both of the 5-mile intervals but the second one was on a harder loop.  My goal marathon pace for Boston is 6:24, so I was pretty happy about this workout.

Sunday:  Off!

70.5 miles for the week

I remember when I first started training for races, all of my focus was on what the training was each day.  My energy went into doing each workout perfectly and seeing how far I could push myself on the run.  The recovery side of training didn’t interest me because I had no idea how important it was.

Fast forward many years, many injuries, many plateaus, and so much growth—> I have realized that I need to focus just as much on the recovery portion of training as I do on the workouts if I want to reach my goals.

I now celebrate days when my watch tells me this:

Let’s get chatting about my favorite ways to recover:

*I take an entire day off each week.  I know everyone is different on this, but for me, my body needs a complete reset day to stay injury-free.

*You know I’m allllll about heat or cold therapy for recovery.  Either the hot tub or a cold plunj after a hard workout helps jumpstart recovery.

*For my easy days, I truly take them at a recovery pace.  I prefer to wear very cushioned shoes (Clifton 8s for me) on easy days to help with my recovery.

*I also find that wearing carbon-plated shoes on my speed days helps me with this topic!  “Carbon-plated running shoes can help you recover quicker after a long run due to the cushioning of the carbon plate.”  (Source)

*Running on dirt or softer surfaces helps my body recover.

*I have so many recovery tools I love with all of my heart HERE.

*I prioritize sleep (and thankfully, my kids allow me to do so;).  This is because so much recovery happens while we sleep; without it, our performance levels drop, and our odds of injury go up.

Also, I thought this part was interesting—> “Even the ability of the body to cool itself during physical exertion through sweating-a critical part of peak performance-is impaired by sleep loss.”  (Source)

All runners are athletes, and our sleep can do so much for us.

*I cannot think of a more delicious (no added powders) and convenient way to get in exactly what I need after a run to start my recovery than Core Power.  It contains 26 grams of high-quality protein and 42 grams in the Elite version.  I usually have difficulty getting in my protein, but Core Power saves me with this because I can easily get it in when I’m on the go, and it has all I need in each bottle.  I ALWAYS have one within 30 minutes of finishing my run.

When we don’t refuel after a workout, our muscles continue to break down after we finish our workout, and that is the last thing we want to happen.  I am much less sore when I refuel right after I finish a run, and I can feel my body thank me for giving it what it needs.

I turn 37 today (yes, I am making sure I remind you it’s my birthday;), and running stronger than ever.  I attribute a lot of that to focusing on my recovery and ensuring I give my body just what it needs to continue doing this thing that I love so much.

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Give me your biggest tips for recovery!  What have you found to work best for you?

Sleep—> what is your body’s happy number?

Ever had a significant injury in the past?  What was it, and what do you think contributed to it?