Post Marathon Recovery

Today, I ran for the second time since the Boston Marathon.  When I’m training, I typically run everyday.  Since I’ve essentially been marathon training since last June, this break was welcomed and overdue.

I like to give myself as much rest as I want after a marathon.  My motto has been, “Don’t run until you miss it”.  But recently, I’ve run back-to-back marathons which has meant training through to the next event without much of a break.  I ran the New York City Marathon 6 days after the Marine Corps Marathon last fall and this past Boston Marathon about a month after RnR DC in March.

This past week has been great.  I’ve been getting a good night’s sleep and waking up each day knowing I didn’t have to run that day if I didn’t really want to.  That’s such a stark contrast from waking up each day with a specific workout in mind.  On every day except one, I was content to sleep in.  I think deep down I knew once I started training again I wouldn’t give in to that urge to go back to bed so I should enjoy it now.

On Sunday, I ran with my running club.  I thought I would run slow and easy but I felt very strong out of the gates.  I ran about 6 miles at 8:20 pace overall.  Easy pace should be about 9:00 for me.  It was a great day, though, and I felt like running.  My body felt okay except some pain in both calfs.  I think the Newton hills were having a last laugh on me.

Today, I ran about 5.5 miles around the neighborhood.  Again, I felt pretty good so I let myself run a little hard.  I ended up running 7:48 pace, which is essentially marathon pace.  Oops!  That’s more than a little hard.  But, the only lingering aches are in my calfs and some tightness in my left hip.  Again, it was beautiful weather for a run – 55 degrees and clear blue skies.

Tomorrow…  No set plans to run.  I’ll see how much I miss it when I wake up.