Monday, October 6, 2008
Zero Week
I forget that not everyone knows how long a marathon is. I had a bunch of people ask me today at work if I did a 5 or 10 mile marathon, I just smiled and said, " no no more like 26.2". They stood in aww.
The secret to my PR was a great running plan by coach AL. I would never in a million years thought that I could have taken an hour off my prior race time of 4:20.
Those track work outs were the key to getting faster. I know at the beginning it was hard, but the more and more I knew that they were going to get me to that finish line under 4hours.
Today I feel kind of blah. I am not sure how long you are supposed to recover before you start exercising again after a marathon, but my mind is ready. Rachel says it takes 26 days for your muscles to truly recover, wow that's crazy! Here is some useful information from Hal Higdon:
"Generally, it takes a minimum of two to three weeks for the body to recover from the strain of running 26 miles 385 yards. Return too quickly and you increase your risk of injury. Some experts suggest resting one day for every mile you run in the marathon, thus 26 days of no hard running or racing! Others suggest one day for every kilometer, thus 42 days rest.
Often the determining factor is not how quickly your body recovers, but how quickly your mind recovers, since you temporarily will have lost your main training goal. Olympic champion Frank Shorter says: "You’re not ready to run another marathon until you’ve forgotten the last one."
The training you do in the three weeks following a marathon should be a near mirror of what you did the last three weeks before: in other words, a reverse taper. Your eating after also should mirror your eating before, since a diet high in carbohydrates can help refuel your muscles as well as fuel them."
For more information about ZERO week visit Hal Higdon'sPOST-MARATHONTRAINING GUIDE
So I guess I am supposed to rest until Wednesday, and even then it's just light jogging almost like tapering backwards.
I ate a lot better today, had oats for bfast, salad and butternut squash for lunch, two healthy and yummy snacks, and a vegan burrito with a skinny cow for dinner. I hope tomorrow goes the same. My body is healing very well, so do I do yoga first and then aerobics, or do I start with weights?...hmmm...I need a plan again!!!!
The secret to my PR was a great running plan by coach AL. I would never in a million years thought that I could have taken an hour off my prior race time of 4:20.
Those track work outs were the key to getting faster. I know at the beginning it was hard, but the more and more I knew that they were going to get me to that finish line under 4hours.
Today I feel kind of blah. I am not sure how long you are supposed to recover before you start exercising again after a marathon, but my mind is ready. Rachel says it takes 26 days for your muscles to truly recover, wow that's crazy! Here is some useful information from Hal Higdon:
"Generally, it takes a minimum of two to three weeks for the body to recover from the strain of running 26 miles 385 yards. Return too quickly and you increase your risk of injury. Some experts suggest resting one day for every mile you run in the marathon, thus 26 days of no hard running or racing! Others suggest one day for every kilometer, thus 42 days rest.
Often the determining factor is not how quickly your body recovers, but how quickly your mind recovers, since you temporarily will have lost your main training goal. Olympic champion Frank Shorter says: "You’re not ready to run another marathon until you’ve forgotten the last one."
The training you do in the three weeks following a marathon should be a near mirror of what you did the last three weeks before: in other words, a reverse taper. Your eating after also should mirror your eating before, since a diet high in carbohydrates can help refuel your muscles as well as fuel them."
For more information about ZERO week visit Hal Higdon'sPOST-MARATHONTRAINING GUIDE
So I guess I am supposed to rest until Wednesday, and even then it's just light jogging almost like tapering backwards.
I ate a lot better today, had oats for bfast, salad and butternut squash for lunch, two healthy and yummy snacks, and a vegan burrito with a skinny cow for dinner. I hope tomorrow goes the same. My body is healing very well, so do I do yoga first and then aerobics, or do I start with weights?...hmmm...I need a plan again!!!!
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2 comments:
Great job again on the race. That is awesome that you cut an hour off your time and BQ! Take it easy.
I have heard recovering after a marathon should take atleast a month to get your body back to where it should be. It sucks to take it easy that long, but its better then injuring your self.
I know what you mean about people not knowing what distance races are. When I was training for my 15k my lil bro was like 'that's no big deal its only 3miles' then I stared and told him that's how long a 5k is and I would actually be running over 9 miles. then he just shrugged. And no whenever I tell anyone I'm running a half they always follow up with "how long is that exactly?" I should just start off by telling everyone I'm running 13.1 miles instead of a half. :)
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