Sunday, October 18, 2020

Weekly Sweats: The AfterHalf

This week was the aftermath of my fall half marathon spree.  13.5 miles of recovery ensued.

I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out. 

First off, I want to give a shoutout to an IRL running friend who ran her first full yesterday...virtually.   Full marathoners have all of my respect but full VIRTUAL marathoners are a special kind of beast above that.  Congrats to L!

Second off, on the topic of when to start running again after a half, my personal experience is "when I feel like it".  When I was getting ready for my first half, I dutifully tore into Hanson's Half Marathon and while I don't see Hanson's as ever being part of my training plan, the one part that made a lot of sense to me was the recommendation of taking a full week off running after the race.  Actually when I first started running I took a week off every month, so it seemed like a good "full circle" approach.

The reality that I've found though is that 3 full days without running is my max.  Once I start running after a half, I can tell that things aren't quite right yet, so I just do shorter runs until my body tells me that it wants more.

Monday: For context, I could barely walk after Sunday's race but 24 hours later I felt great with no trace of soreness anywhere.  So did I want to get up and out there?  Coming from someone who is always up and out there?  NO.  There was no way, no how mentally or physically that I would have entertained the idea of running.

Tuesday: dude, you could not have paid me to run

Wednesday: hmmm...I might consider running again someday

Thursday: dipped my toe in the water with 3.25

Friday: I fired off a Fartlek (week 3 of 4 of this series). 15 minutes warm up and cool down, then 5 x 2 minutes @ 5k with a minute recover.  I got it a bit wrong though, I thought the workout was supposed to be at "faster than 5k" pace, so my first interval was right on the money and then I managed to negative split all of the repeats after that.  And I want to say that it just feels so good to run in the 5k zone, even when it's for 10 minutes total.

I've been very strict about doing the Fartlek workouts based on time and not distance, and I held true to that...and laughed after I pressed stop and saw a big ol' 3.99 as the total workout distance.

Saturday: I mean is it even Saturday if you don't run?  But I could not for the life of me get myself to go out there so I didn't.

Sunday: group run!  3 miles on trails and then 3.25 more on my own.

Next up: some serious 5k work ==> goal sub 30 for Thanksgiving!

32 comments:

  1. I agree 100% about returning to running after a half should be when you feel like it! The week after my half a couple weeks ago, I cut back on my miles and paces but I still ran. I mean, it's a half. When I've done full marathons, I always took a full 1-2 weeks off and then still cut back on my miles.

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    1. Oof if I ever run a full there will be some serious days off afterwards...I can't even comprehend that right now.

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  2. I think it's great that you took proper rest and recovery after your half. I definitely take a full week off of running and do some walks and elliptical if I feel ready. Very smart approach! Thanks for linking up

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    1. I feel like my body won't "let" me do anything except take rest when I need it. And I'm good with that.

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  3. Props to your friend on her virtual marathon. I can't even fathom it. I sustained my biggest running injury when I made my biggest running mistake, which was ramping up too quickly after a full marathon. With a half you have a little more leeway but still, you're wise to err on the side of rest. Nice work listening to your body.

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    1. I did too much of a ramp up after my spring half. I ran 10 the weekend after and never ran 10 after that until the fall. I think the same advice for race training applies to recovery...far better to undertrain than overtrain.

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  4. I agree that a VIRTUAL full is really impressive. I don't know if I could do it. I've done plenty of small races without crowd support, but never just me :) Kudos to your friend!

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    1. Exactly. I know several people who were planning to run their first full in 2020 and a few that have gone ahead and done it on their own. I can't for a minute imagine HOW they did it, but how impressive that they did.

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  5. LOL on the 3.99
    Pandemic volume has broken me of the need for round numbers, but that one would have made me bonkers.
    Nice fall colors, and congrats to your friend on her marathon. That's amazing.
    My ITB was a whole mess of reasons, but at least I don't think it was a too quick return to running after the marathon. But you're right in that we meed to listne to our bodies v. a book

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    1. Amen! Recovery look different for everyone. I do miss posting my "watchies" on IG on rest days but my body was just not going to run.

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    2. I had to prove time/distance for a virtual this weekend. All the time & effort for a watchie! So much fun at times even if I lost precious seconds. LOL. Worse would have been getting home to realize it wasn't readable

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  6. Always smart to listen to your body, especially when it comes to recovery. It sounds like you have a good system in place!

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  7. Always a good idea to take some recovery time after a hard effort. I know that sub-30 5K is in your grasp!

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  8. Sounds like you had a smart week getting back into running! Can't wait to hear more about your 5k training!

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  9. Your body definitely knows what's best for YOU, and you're ever-so-wise to listen and respect what it's telling you ;-) Huge kudos to your friend. I've been offered a registration to summer marathon, but the catch is I have to run the distance regardless if the race holds or goes virtual. And I just CANNOT fathom running 26.2 miles without the fanfare of the actual race. whomp whomp

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    1. 100% agree...I am so in awe of virtual marathoners.

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  10. It is hard to take a lot of time off from running! Saturday night I swore I wasn't going to run until Weds. As of Sunday, I'm getting my morning running gear all laid out for Monday. LOL!!

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    1. You know, out of all of things in my life that I regret following through on, I guess breaks from running doesn't make the list;-)

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  11. The best part of training for a race is taking time off after haha. I'm with you, there are days you couldn't pay me to run once a race is over.

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    1. Sometimes I wonder if I'm in it for the running or for the recovery;-)

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  12. I'm glad you listened to your body and gave it the rest it needed.

    Huge props to your friend - it took everything I had to run an in-person marathon so I cannot even begin to running one virtually!

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    1. I know! I'm struggling enough with the half...my brain just cannot compute a full, let alone on my own.

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  13. Congrats to your friend for running a marathon. I cannot imagine running that distance right now.

    I am excited to follow along on your 5k training! I know you can do it.

    The 3.99 mileage is funny. I think I would have run a bit longer to make it to 4.

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  14. Way to go, L! How great for your friend!

    And you will crush your 5k goal! I'm so excited for you!

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    1. The stakes just got higher...it's going to be an in person race!

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  15. Everyone is so different with how quickly they can return to running after a hard race and it's smart to listen to your body. I live your body's conversation with you about running after the race. LOL I had a really tough ride on Sunday and I'm pretty sure that I didn't allow my body to recover thoroughly after my metric century on Tuesday... Oh well, live and learn!

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  16. This whole pandemic thing has me running when I feel like it.

    So exciting that you have an in-person race to train for. You are going to ace it.

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  17. Nice to see you getting back at it so quickly. I too, get antsy if I don't run for 3+ days. Fartlek running by time is definitely the way to go. And I love that you were ok with the 3.99!

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