Long Recovery Run

Today, I headed out the door for a recovery run, following yesterday's speedwork. Usually, these type of runs are 6 miles or less. This one was 10 miles though. That made it quite difficult.

I only had a little over 12 hours between runs, so that made things worse too. As I started out on the Schuykill Banks loop, I didn't feel too bad. I was a little slow, but my legs weren't sore. It was pretty warm out though and I didn't hydrate enough during the run.

I didn't feel great or terrible early on, it was somewhere in between. I churned through the miles, but they did seem to take awhile. Although it was hot, there was also quite a breeze and I struggled running against it.

As I hit the halfway point or so, my body started deteriorating. My times didn't slow, but I started to feel more sluggish and sore. I continued to just battle mile after mile. It was a big relief to make it to Falls Bridge.

The run back was quite tough. It was only 3.5 miles, but it just seemed like forever. My body needed more recovery time or a shorter run. Throughout the whole run, I had to try to tell myself to slow down. I wasn't working hard, but my times seemed too fast. I hit a couple miles right around a 7:41 pace. I wanted to be closer to 8 minutes.

Eventually, things got the better of me and I got a side sticker and had to slow down. That happened between the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and Columbia Bridge. That finally slowed me to under 8 minutes. After recovering though, I was back under 8 minutes for each of the final two miles. Another side sticker forced me to slow towards the finish, after I had tried to pick up the pace.

Thankfully, I don't get side stickers very often more. I think that probably occurred because of the lack of fluids. I probably should've stopped at the grandstand water fountain. My legs really took a beating towards the end too. They were quite sore. Using the foam roller afterward helped, but they were very sore again after work.

My body has just taken a beating lately. It hasn't fully recovered from the fast 5K on Saturday and tough sidewalk pounding 18 miler on Sunday. This Saturday's rest will be much needed. Ideally, I should've run a shorter distance today. Six miles would've made for a better recovery run. It is hard to believe that it is only Wednesday and I'm already up to 42 miles this week. My maximum miles during training for the first marathon, was only 40 miles.

Tomorrow won't exactly be a rest day either. I planned for a tough 11 mile trail run. Hopefully my legs won't take as much of a pounding and I'll get through it better. If not, perhaps I'll cut back on mileage. I got my new North Face trail running shoes and I think I'll try them out. Not sure which trail I'll actually run on.

1:18:44 (7:53 pace)