Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Hard Long Run (Windy)

Last Sunday I did a 17 miler with the men of OK State and it was a pretty solid run. Weather was amazing with temps in the 60's and lots of sunshine, but unfortunately for us that also means a lot of wind. Mile 12 was with the wind to our side and was 6:03, Mile 13 was directly into the wind and was 6:23 with an increase in perceived effort. Some places have altitude, other places the best technology, we have the wind. I finished feeling pretty beat and immediately pounded some Gatorade. The wind has a drying effect which after an hour and forty-five minutes of running can leave one quite parched. The interesting thing for a runner like me is that a solid effort like Sunday's can take several days to recover from fully when running with the quality of the team that I am around. Some of the top guys easy days can get pretty fast.

So here it is Tuesday, and I'm still feeling tired and sore. It's not that Sunday's pace was crazy or that the wind made it outrageous, it's simply that we all respond differently and it is pivotal to realize that. Over training is way more prevalent than we realize and sometimes a more cautious approach to recovery can benefit a runner in the long term. Yesterday I ran easy with a small group from the team, today I went on my own and forced it to be easier than comfortable. For tomorrow's midweek long run, I will be ready to roll again.......

Learn what you need to do to recover and you'll be surprised how much more you can get from your running.

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