Friday, June 11, 2010

Since the marathon....

On Sunday it will be two weeks since I completed the marathon and I have to say that I’m looking forward to running again. For my first long run back I’m planning on running 15 miles with my buddy Marc. The following weekend I hope to run about 20 miles on the Sunday.

The first week after a big race is almost always (for me anyway) a week with very little or no training, its more about letting the body recover than thinking about getting in the miles. What I’ve noticed about myself is that after the last couple of race’s I’ve run is that I wasn’t particularly banged up. After these races I’ve walked for about an hour right after which I find really helps the legs from getting stiff.  Then the next day (if possible) go out for about an hour on my bike using very low gears and just rolling along. This helps the legs feel like they are moving again, most of the time I can’t stand up on the pedals as there is still a lot of muscle damage and tightness in the hips from the race, but that’s ok as I’m not looking to gain fitness, I’m looking to help the legs recover.

Two days after the race I take it pretty easy with just some light walking, in some ways having a mall attached to our office tower is good as I’d just walk around the mall while on my lunch break. Three days after the race I get a massage and this really helps the legs, they might still have a bit of stiffness in them but by now  they are starting to feel ok. In the past I have gone for a massage earlier, like the day after the race but I found that I almost hopped off the table as the pressure being applied was too much. Four days after the race I go to see my Chiropractor and get adjusted. This time he was pretty amazed that I was moving so good.

Five days after Calgary marathon I started training again. This is what I’ve been doing since the marathon.

Friday (day 1 back training) – swim for 30 minutes
Saturday (day 2 back training) – Ride for 90 minutes
Sunday (day 3 back training) – Ride for 90 minutes
Monday (day 4 back training) – Run for 45 minutes
Tuesday (day 5 back training) – Swim 30 minutes / ride for 60 minutes
Wednesday (day 6 back training) – Run for 50 minutes
Thursday – Rest day
Friday (day 8 back training) – Swim 45 minutes
Saturday (day 9 back training) – Will be 90 minute ride
Sunday (day 10 back training) -  Will be 15 mile run

Next week (starting the 14th) I plan to run every day and then add some intervals towards the end of the week. My next race will be the Canada day 15K then on June 21 I’ll start a twenty week block of training designed to get me to New York in the best possible shape.

No comments:

Post a Comment