Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Post-race recovery

I am feeling pretty good physically after the race on Saturday. I walked on Sunday and then ran 5 miles with my dogs last night. I took it very easy on the run, enjoying the warm day. For the first time in more than a decade, I ran outside without a shirt yesterday. As a lifelong fat boy, running outside without a shirt is a big deal for me. But, for the first time in many years, I'm not afraid to be seen outside without a shirt. Between lifting and losing some weight, I don't jiggle nearly as much as I did in years past.

This morning, I did my normal lifting and I was surprised by how that went. I intended to drop the weights on all of the leg work, but it wasn't necessary on some of the lifts. I did drop the weight on walking lunges, but not on deadlifts. I actually increased the weight on deadlifts off a box.

Tonight, I'll do another easy run, going out with my wife and our dogs. Tomorrow, I'll probably run twice, and if my legs feel OK, I'll do tempo at night. This is a recovery week of sorts, where I'll simply run by feel all week. If my mileage adds up to 30 miles or 50 miles, I'll be happy with the total.

My Western States pacer seems to finally be past the worst of injury problems that have plagued her for the past year. She's done two 50Ks and a marathon in the past two months, and her foot problems continue to get better rather than worse. She's still afraid that I'll drop her on the course, but how many of us ever drop our pacers after 60 or more miles?

Less than 10 weeks and so much progress remains to be made...

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