Monday, September 17, 2012

Pounded by the Pavement

I fully acknowledge that I have no idea how long an appropriate rest period is after running a half marathon at the best of times, but considering my ongoing (but receding) achilles tendinitis and the tightness in my calf for at least a week after the race, I decided to take 'er easy for a while.

And by "a while", I mean two "whole weeks"

I spent a few days 'almost' going out for a run - to the point where one night we were dressed, Garmins on, and heading out the door, when the smoke alarm sounded in our unit...  I had the bright idea of roasting a chicken while we were out so dinner would be ready for our return, but the oven was too hot and the rendered fat got a bit out of control.

I'm a great cook.

The plan was to do two 30 - 45 minute conditioning runs, and then a 4 or 5 mile run this weekend.

Well, the weekend came, and almost went, but we got out there.

(Does anyone else get a serious case of runner's funk after a race... a brief period of 'but I already ran a whole lot!)

That was my brain.

I wouldn't advise skipping those conditioning runs before you head out for your long run... because what should have been a breeze was not breezy.

To be fair, we had some Garmin problems.  Greg bought a new 310XT after the half marathon, since he'll need something to help him train for the Goofy this January.

Source:  Amazon.com

We had the typical, getting used to new equipment woes - and set off at a much faster pace that intended.  When we got to 5K and I was beat, I knew it wasn't going to be a fun route back home.  My hips hurt (they don't usually), my breathing wasn't great (allergy season is upon us after all) my calf started tightening up again and I just felt generally... blah.  Like I was operating at about 60%.  It SUCKED.  I mean, I did 10K in an hour-fifteen just last month - and it took us an hour-ten to get 5 miles.  That's backwards.

It should have been a great run - beautiful, cool day.  Gorgeous park to run in...  But, booooo.

The whole thing has me a little spooked.  I mean, I'm assuming my body is still just bouncing back from the half marathon, and I'm still struggling to get more than 6 hours of sleep per night...  but I've got a 10K this weekend and I want to be able to feel good about it.  I'm not going for a PR - I'll be pacing my sister who is a new runner and is training for the Disney World Half Marathon in January (we both are, actually).  This is her first race.  We just want to get through it and have some fun.

And on paper, the race looks like a blast - although it has been described to me as "hard" due to some hills on the course.  Eep!


http://www.canadarunningseries.com/zoorun/index.htm
Well, worst case scenario, we shuffle our way through the Toronto Zoo and see a bunch of cute animals.  Best case scenario, we have a great time and surprise ourselves.

Has your body ever let you down out after a race?

2 comments:

  1. I tend to take things a bit easier too after a race. I think of it like going to the gym and lifting really heavy. Your body puts out a tremendous amount of effort and needs time to recover before it can go all out again.

    I did the Zoo Run 10K back in 2010. I wouldn't say it's hard but there are some inclines and one very steep hill. Two years ago, it was just after the start of the 5K.

    I'm thinking of getting the 310xt to replace my Garmin now (405) :)

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  2. Thanks Vicky, that is reassuring - both about the rest, and the race. The course is different from last year (not sure about 2 years ago), so I maybe they've decided to take it easy on us.

    I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of Greg's 310XT. It's nice, and I really like the big display compared to my 405, and it vibrates when you lap - so it's the only Garmin outside of the 610 that has the vibrate feature.
    I heard they're discontinuing them (and the 305) so grab one while you can. Greg got his from Best Buy in the states, and paid $250 (plus tax) for the unit that came with the soft heart rate monitor. Pretty good deal.

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