Week 16 May 1-7

So... you may have just completed a race. Hopefully it was a sanctioned event and measured correctly so you can use the information to plan your next event strategy. However, the first thing you should be thinking about is time off. Yes, it's rest time. If you just ran a half or full marathon, you probably trained somewhere between 4 1/2 to 6 months for and as much as 2 times a day, 7 days a week. Give yourself not only a pat on the back, but allow yourself some time off to recover on all levels; and a cookie. Too many runners come back way too quickly and only get disappointed when they get an overuse injury because they thought they felt okay.
                  
                  The rule of thumb is one day off for every mile or even kilometre raced. For a marathon that would mean a minimum of 6-weeks of recovery. But what does it really mean? Nobody ever explained it to me since I first heard it some 40 something years ago. It's been taken for granted that it meant time away from running, but more specifically time away from racing.

                  Does this mean you can safely race a marathon every 6-weeks? I hardly think so. If you take 6-weeks of training off and figure you lose 2 - 3 weeks for every week away, than you've just lost as much as 4 1/2 months of training and should consider starting again, but at your "new" level. Every person will take a different amount of time to recover, but how much time and what you do during that recovery time remains a mystery to a lot of people? There are no set rules here. Everybody concerns themselves with the event and never concerns themselves with the recovery period, so it's pretty much up in the air as to what to do or how long it takes.

                  The sensible thing to do would be not returning to a full running program for at least 4 - 6 weeks. This doesn't mean not running at all. It means drastically reducing your mileage and avoiding rigorous speed and hill workouts for that duration of time and slowly rebuilding yourself back to where you left off before the event. Why? A little sports massage should be enough to point out the tender spots and possibly damaged areas. If you could ignore the desire to quickly return to regular training and actually listen to your muscles telling you with every step that they are still swollen and in grave need of deep nutrition. I can appreciate that people want to get back to training as quickly as possible but if you are honest with yourself you can feel that something you really need after a hard effort is a little time off. It may look and even feel like a bit of body weight loss, but deep down you subconsciously know it's more than that. You know all the pistons aren't quite firing properly. This is why it's so important to get on a sensible program that will get you back to health again.

                  You may also want to check out http://www.runtheplanet.com/trainingracing/marathon/recovery.asp. It talks about your recovery period as similar to a reverse of the tapering period. They also use a 10 miles of training for every mile raced before considering racing again. This number will increase depending upon your experience and conditioning. They suggest 260 miles of training before considering racing again which for most people will be about 6 - 10 weeks. There are also a couple of suggested recovery programs.   

                  So... while you are recovering, what can you do with your race results? Most people will put their shirt in a pile, their certificate in a drawer and forget about it. Then they'll start training for a new goal the same way they did their last. When the race comes around again, they can't figure out why they didn't improve as much as they wanted to. And the cycle goes on. The best thing you can do is take your race results and actually look at them as closely as mile for mile and go over in your head the entire event. If you wore a watch that even recorded the mile splits, this would be a great help. The more you can break down the event, the better. Some questions you may wish to consider are:

1) How did I feel at the start of the event? Was I feeling stronger than ever? Was I feeling anxious, stiff, sore, lethargic, or like I just wanted to go back to bed?

2) How long did it take for me to settle into my pace? Was there certain people I was able to "key" on in order to pace myself better? Did I start out at the right pace or was it too slow or too quick?

3) Were the aid stations at the right place at the right time? Did I "gel" enough? Did I get an appropriate balance of carbs, electrolytes, and water along the way? Should I have eaten that hot-dog at 21 miles? Was there anything that nutritionally I could have improved upon?

4) How were my 5KM or 10KM splits? Were they all the same or was there a huge spread? How did the course effect my pacing? Where could have or what could I have done differently to make up more time along the way?

5) Was there ever an issue with hills? Do I need to work on them more? How did they affect my pacing or could have I pushed a little more?

6) How were my legs at the end of the race? Was there anything left? Did I tip the wheel chair attendant after being rushed to the first aid tent?

7) Where did I (if at all) feel really comfortable during the race and conversely where was it if at all really tough? Do I need more mileage? Do I need more speed work? Should I do more drills? Do I need more tempo runs?

                  Speaking of tempo runs. These will always going be a thorn in my side because too many people truly believe that this is the main area where they received the most benefit in their training and that's just plain wrong in my books. One coach when asked as to why people like them so much answered, "Because they're easy." There's no doubt that tempo running is a useful tool in order to help running efficiency, but most people admittedly run them far too fast. They are of very little or no benefit if they are run too fast because you are simply racing and not training. Worse yet, most people will experience at one time or another a injury during one of their way-too-fast tempos. But, despite what people go on about the benefits of tempo runs, I believe the greatest factor in everyone's running improvement at least in our group was when they slowed down on their long runs and stopped running them like a tempo run. We used to get people coming back from a long run profusely sweating and gloating about how much faster they were on a particular long run than the last time they did it. Come race day they would have little or no improvement and wonder why? It's probably because they left their best race on the road during training. There's no medal in a training run folks. Anyway...

8) Did I experience any medical issues such as blisters, upset stomach, dizziness, hip pain, back pain, shoes on fire or other shoe related issues, etc.? If I had any medical concerns, what was the reason and how can I prevent it from happening in the future? Did I dress adequately for the event or do I need to change something? Was my personal pacer able to keep up with me or did I leave him/her in the dust?

9) Was I mentally prepared to run hard? Did I get enough rest the week of the event? Was I at "one" with the Universe and was I happy prior to the race itself? Was there a need to improve my mental game?

10) Despite any program (including the one from Peninsula Runners) what would I like to do to take my running to the next level? If you had medical issues, what do you need to do to get past them? If you had nutritional needs, what do you need to change or add to your diet to improve your eating habits? If you had hip or back pain, what do you need to add into your program to improve your fitness and does it mean taking something else out?

                  If you recently raced give yourself a pat on the back, but take an inventory of your accomplishment and remember that it it can also be used as a very valuable piece of information for planning your next run as well as for getting back to full recovery and better health.

Have a great running week!

Russ and Lorne