Run Free

My plan for the next 5 weeks is to follow Hal Higdon’s Novice Marathon Recovery plan.    I absolutely recognize that some downtime is needed after a marathon.  Even though I feel fine now, I know how hard this whole thing was on my body.  However, I’m the type of person who *always* needs a plan (with regards to fitness anyway) so this plan is perfect.

The first week was definitely the hardest.  All of my soreness was gone by Tuesday and that was still listed as a total rest day according to plan.  Hal Higdon even adds a warning to his plan on this day because he knows the feeling.

No running! And don’t substitute cross-training in a mistaken belief that it will help you maintain fitness. You may be able to swim or cycle more easily than run because you’ll be using somewhat different muscles, but you still need rest-rest-rest to allow all your muscles to recover. Starting to train too soon can delay that recovery. You earned this period of rest. Take it!

Hal called it.  I wanted to do something, anything – but I didn’t.  I came back to CrossFit on Wednesday and I felt like a million bucks having rested for 3 days straight.

The plan calls for very little running the first week and I was definitely cool with that.  I actually spent two days just walking.  What a concept LOL!  It was so wierd to get on the treadmill with no plans to run at all and no little sheet with my paces written down.

My first walk was surprisingly challenging and I was not expecting that at all.  I had to do 3 miles so I set the speed at 4.0 about 15 minutes/mile.  I kept the speed at 4.0 and adjusted the incline from 1%, 2.5%, 4.0% and 5.5% every quarter mile.  I usually run on an incline but walking on the incline helped me really feel the pull because of the slower speed.  I will not turn my nose up at walking again.  I got a surprisingly decent calorie burn and I felt pretty good about my workout.

A lot of people think they have to do something with crazy high intensity to get a good workout and that is simply not true.  Walking burns calories just like anything else.  I think it is a great way to start exercising and it is something that can be easily pumped up (by adjusting speed/incline) as you get fitter.

Sunday was my long run day and my directions were to just run for 30 to 60 minutes.  Again, I was a bit weirded out.  I never just run.  I do speedwork and tempo runs – I don’t just run LOL.  I managed to just run though and I really got a chance to reconnect with running.  The marathon experience was so frustrating for a while – there was so much baggage there that I couldn’t just run.  Yesterday, I ran according to how I felt.  When “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray came on my Ipod, I cranked up the speed because I felt like it.  When I was a bit tired, I slowed down to more of a jog.  There was no guilt, no worrying about staying on pace, no concern.  It was just what I needed.  I think this recovery month will be a great thing for me.