Recovery - "Love the way you lie"

Recovery Run

"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts"
My alarm ringtone the lovely Rihanna has interrupted my sleep again @ 6:30 A.M. This morning is one of those many recovery runs, the ones that you do after doing 20 miles the day before. Why in gods name would you want to even attempt to run when you are going down the stairs like someone twice your age. Simple it may hurt but I like the way it hurts and afterwards you will have a spring in your step again.
For the last year I have reduced the length of these runs from 5 to 3 miles but added in 20 lengths (25m) of the pool with the emphasis been on my kick rather the time and pull. This has had a very positive effect on recovery of my legs while at the same time reducing the impact from the extra miles.
Now I have never been a morning person but due to herself been out of action recently I have reverted my runs to early morning as its the only time I realistically can get them in. So it was with dread I took to the pool for the first time earlier this month after a 3 mile run in bright frosty conditions. Well I needn't have worried, it was like getting into a Jacuzzi it was that warm. I really enjoyed the swim and the legs felt really invigorated after it. I now really look forward to my early morning recovery runs.

Marathon Paced Run with spice added

Came across this recently on the interweb and decided to give it a blast to see its effect. Basically Run the first 1 minute of the mile at 10K pace and the drop back to Marathon Pace. Rinse and repeat for each mile. I pencilled in 8 miles of this last week but six was more than enough as it felt quite hard even to maintain Marathon Pace for miles five and six. Repeated this again today and while not as hard as last week, the last 2 miles (after the 10K segment) felt like the effort in the 3rd quarter of a marathon without having to run 13 miles before hand. The aim of this is to trick the body into conserving energy at a higher HR when we drop back the pace after the initial burst at the start of each mile. Its hard to gauge if this is having an effect at this early stage but as they say if i doesn't kill you it makes you stronger.

Boston Madness

Like many runners I was shocked and horrified at  the scenes at the finish of this years marathon. This has only heightened our resolve to be at the start next year's race. For this I need a GFA sub 3:25 but I suspect that may not even be enough as last weeks events will ensure that next years race will be over subscribed. With this in mind I will most likely need sub 3:20. Currently my pace would be 3:22 based on my Adare 10K. This was run in ideal conditions so I am sitting on 2 options here. Get the 3:25 first and have a shot @ 3:20 in August/September or just go for it in Portumna.

Club Run

Next week is the clubs annual 10K run. Details can be found here. I will not be running or even pacing this as I am in on a recovery week next week so Hi-vis vest for me and give a hand at the start and finish.

April 1st
          15 Miles  Long Run 13 Miles 1:46:12 @ 8:11 pace,  HR 154 with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 4th
          10 Miles Tempo 8 Miles 1:00:15, @ 7:32 pace, HR 157 with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 7th
           6.2 Miles 5*1000M off 400M Recovery @ 4:04 pace (4:01 to 4:05) with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 10th
          18 Miles Long run 2:42:51 @  9:02 pace, HR 139 (last mile @ 7:40 pace)

April 13th
          12 Miles,Tempo 10 miles 1:19:18 @ 7:56 pace, HR Malfunction with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 17th
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 45:10 @ 7:33 (10K pace + PMP) with 1 Mile WUWD

April 20th
          20 Mile Long run 2:53:05 @  8:36 pace, HR Malfunction (2 * 3 Mile PMP included)

April 23rd
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 44:58 @ 7:30 (10K pace + PMP) with 1 Mile WUWD