This week started with the Chicago Marathon. After that, the goal was to focus on recovery.
My general approach to marathon recovery is to go out every day – starting with either an easy jog or a run/walk and then progressing towards a solid 40-45 minutes of easy running. The daily activity helps me loosen up, and going out every day also helps me monitor how I’m feeling – and when I’m ready to get back to more serious training.
I’ve written about my approach to post-marathon recovery here. Some people advise that you take a few days (or a couple weeks) off post-race. I don’t really think it’s necessary – and I feel better when I’m out there running every day. The key is to keep it super easy and not to push the effort.
Things have been going well, and by the end of the week I’m already feeling a lot better.
The Plan for the Week
My plan for the week is to start with 30 minutes of easy running or run-walking post-marathon. From there, I’ll see how things go and progress up to 40-45 minutes towards the end.
Monday, I’ll still be in Chicago, so I’ll be out on the roads. But the rest of the week, I’ll be sticking with the trails. It helps me keep things slow, and it’s a nice mental break.
Here’s how the week ended up breaking down.
- Sunday: Chicago Marathon! ~27 miles, with a brief warm-up
- Monday: 3 miles / 30 minutes super easy
- Tuesday: 3 miles easy, trails
- Wednesday: 4 miles easy, trails
- Thursday: 4 miles easy, trails
- Friday: 5 miles easy, trails
- Saturday: 4 miles easy, trails
Including race day, that’s a total of 50 miles. Here’s how things went.
Sunday: Race Day!
I’m writing this at the end of the week, and I had to think back to how the race started. What did I do on Sunday?
Oh yeah, the race! It’s only been a week, but it already feels like a long time ago.
Sunday morning, I woke up and ran the Chicago Marathon. It was an amazing race, and the atmosphere was electric. From the moment I left the hotel and I joined the other runners walking towards the park, the energy was awesome. The crowds were thick throughout the race, and there was hardly a dull moment.
The first half of the race went exactly to plan. You’ll have to read my race report here to see how things ended.
Immediately after the race, my legs were thrashed. It didn’t help that I was on my feet for the next 30 minutes, slowly ambling through the finishers chute and the park. But after I got back to the hotel, took a shower, and had a nice nap, I felt a lot better.
We went out to grab dinner at Devil Dawgs, and we walked a little around the Magnificent Mile. I was moving slow – but I was pretty mobile.
As we settled in for bed, my wife turned to me and said, “Are you going for a run tomorrow?”
When I responded, “Of course,” she replied … “Can’t you have one day off?”
I don’t want a day off.
Monday – The Morning After
Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so I had time to sleep in a little Monday. I didn’t set the alarm, and I just got moving when I naturally woke up.
When I got up to get my coffee, I felt pretty good. Much better than the previous day. Stiff, yes, but no real soreness, aches, or pains.
I eventually got dressed and left out for my run. The weather had turned. Suddenly, it was in the 40’s, and there was a light mist in the air. Other than the wind – and the cold rain earlier in the morning – this would have been a much better day for the race.
I left the hotel and headed for Navy Pier. I started off with a slow trot, and I felt surprisingly good. My stride was definitely a little clipped and short, but I had no issue continuing on at my very easy pace.
On the way to the pier, I passed a few other runners. In my mind, they all ran the day before – but I’m sure some of them just happened to be in the city and weren’t also recovering from a marathon. Some of them were moving extra slow like me, and a few were zipping by like it was any other day.
I finished the first mile and looped around the pier. I didn’t need to stop and walk, so I just kept on going. To pad out the mileage, I took a brief detour through Milton Lee Olive Park by Ohio Street Beach.
Pretty soon, my three miles was up. I slowed down and walked the last few hundred meters to the hotel.
It was indeed extra slow – 32:13, or 10:43/mi – but what’s important is that I felt strong and healthy.
Afterwards, we tried to head up to the lounge for breakfast at the Sheraton. But the place was packed. So we went out for breakfast, made our way to O’Hare, and caught the flight home.
It was a wonderful trip – and we’ll be back.
Tuesday – Back To My Local Trails
Tuesday morning, I was back home and on my regular trails.
I woke up and left out. I was moving slow, but everything still felt good. I can tell fall is coming, because it’s starting to get downright chilly in the morning.
Three miles is so short. I was at the turnaround spot – a lot point in the trail where it crosses a creek – in no time. I turned around and headed for home.
I managed the hills fine, and neither the ups nor downs gave me any trouble.
I finished in 31:52 – so pretty slow. But faster than the previous day. And relatively speaking, a lot faster – since Monday was on the roads and this was on the trails.
Wednesday – A Mile Further
Tuesday went well enough, so I dumped up from three miles to four miles on Wednesday.
It was even chillier today than yesterday, and I thought to myself I might need to start wearing gloves soon. About a mile in, I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. Looked up and saw two deer standing about five feet to my left, just off the trail.
It’s that time of year – they’re about to be everywhere.
I went on a little further today, back up the hill before I hit the 2 mile mark. Then I turned around and made my way back towards home.
Overall time was 43:13. My pace was slower than yesterday. I ended up slowing down a little bit in miles 3 and 4. Maybe it was the hill, or maybe it was going a little further.
But I felt good.
Thursday – Another Four Miles
Thursday morning was another four, easy miles on the trails.
The first mile was still slow while I got warmed up. But I eased into the pace a little bit better today.
The run itself was uneventful. Finished in 41:35 – so faster than yesterday. And the final mile was done in 9:56.
So I’m starting to come back to life.
Friday – Pushing It to Five Miles
Thursday went well, and I needed to bump one day up to five miles in order to hit 50 miles for the week. It just seemed wrong to leave the weekly total at 49.
I had an early morning on Friday – starting with an 8:30 appointment. So I had to set the alarm, wake up early, and get on about my day.
When I hit the trails at 7:00, the sun was up. But it was just coming up, so as soon as I got into the woods it was like someone turned down the lights. Not quite dark, but not quite light. That dim in between. Another sign that fall is coming.
On my way into the woods, I looked to my left and saw another deer. He dashed off into the woods.
I ran down the trail and pushed on a little further than yesterday. The next half mile segment ends at the top of a hill. Made it up no problem, turned around, and retraced my steps.
Total time was 51:41. The warm-up mile was a little faster, and the remaining miles were all just over 10:00. Not bad.
Saturday – Wrapping Up the First Recovery Week
So far, so good. One more day to wrap up week one.
I took it down from 5 miles to 4. I’ll go a little further on Sunday, and next week I’ll probably alternate between 6’s and 4’s.
I’m starting to feel a lot better, and I’m warming up and moving more easily. Finished up this run in 41:14 – with a final mile at 9:51.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
The week after a marathon is always a little iffy. It’s hard to plan, because you don’t know exactly how you’ll feel.
I ended up feeling pretty good. No injuries from the race, and my legs weren’t overly stiff. I was able to jog a few recovery miles on Monday, and things progressed as the week went on. By Saturday, I was still slower than usual – but I was a lot better off.
I think after one more week of severely reduced mileage and easy running, I’ll be good. From there, I can start slowly ramping things up a bit.
I’ve got a few races on my calendar for this fall. The first is a 5k on Friday, November 8. It’s not a big race, though, and I’ll approach it more like a 3 mile tempo. But that Sunday (11/10), I have a 10k that I’m more interested in racing.
After that, I’m running an 8k XC race on 11/17 and an annual 8k turkey trot on Thanksgiving. I may jump into a 10k trail race that Sunday – not to race, but just to run with a friend. Then, my final race of the season will be a 5k on Saturday, December 14.
From there, I’ll take it easy for four weeks or so. But the two big races on my calendar so far for the spring are the NYRR Fred Lebow Half Marathon (1/26) and the Jersey City Marathon (4/13).
Once I make it through this season, I’ll work out a training plan for the spring. But for now, I’ll be targeting about 60 miles per week while I get through these races.