Recovery Run (?)

Today was the first time I've run since The Other Half 6 days ago. My legs have felt pretty good, but I wanted to make sure that I gave them adequate rest and recovery time after the race on Sunday. Bill wanted to run 14 miles this morning, and I initial thought it was a good idea. After thinking about it for a couple days, though, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so wise. I'm sure I could have done it, but I suspect I would have paid for it later. So Barry and I talked about doing a shorter distance-- like 6 or 8 miles (which, of course, means 8 miles). Since I only got 3 hours sleep the previous night and figuring that Barry would be tired from seeing Tina Turner the night before, we decided to run a little later. So we met at Granada Park at 6:30AM. The parking at the park was a little tough. There were tons of people out doing training runs for the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon and Half Marathon in January. It's good to see so many people out running. Too bad they only do it when they're training for that race instead of running year-round. When we started out, both of us were definitely feeling the effects of the race on Sunday. I had various aches and pains that moved to different parts of my lower body as we ran-- ankles, then calves, then knees, then quads, then hamstrings, then achilles, then feet. Still, the "slow pace" we set out to do turned into an 8:30 pace. It didn't feel hard at all, and the pain was more of the annoying level than the "oh-my-god-I-have-to-stop-because-I'm-going-to-die" level. At mile 3, I checked in with Barry to see if we should do another mile, and of course he said, "Of course!" So on we went. We reached the 4 mile turnaround and I felt really good. My legs felt strong, my breathing was good and I wasn't overheated at all. Most of the little aches and pains had subsided. We paused for a short time and set out again. The run back was as good as the run out. We had to stop or walk at a couple of the cross streets because of traffic, but otherwise we maintained a pretty consistent 8:30-ish pace. At mile 7 Barry started to pull away. He really opened up a good distance when he crossed 24th St. and I got stuck for a good 45 seconds waiting for traffic. Dangit! I was hoping to beat him today! :) Once I got started again, I reeled in a couple groups that had been ahead of us for a while, passing one woman that tried to keep ahead of me right before we got to the finish line. Ha! I ended up with a very satisfying time of 1:09:19, a very respectable 8:38 pace. So much for a slow recovery run! I'm surprised I had a run like that in me so soon after the race. How I feel later today and tomorrow will indicate how recovered I am from the race, but the early returns look promising. The next long run I do will be in Paris, France!! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/25/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:44 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 67 F temp; 21% humidity 67 F heat index; winds SE 6 Performance Distance: 8.03 miles Time: 1:09:20 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 38 /mi Calories: 1303 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 34 -0' 04 7.0 +0.1 -- ft 2 8' 38 +0' 00 6.9 -0.0 -- ft 3 8' 35 -0' 03 7.0 +0.0 -- ft 4 8' 47 +0' 09 6.8 -0.1 -- ft 5 16' 37 +7' 59 3.6 -3.3 -- ft 6 8' 46 +0' 08 6.8 -0.1 -- ft 7 8' 32 -0' 06 7.0 +0.1 -- ft 8 8' 40 +0' 02 6.9 -0.0 -- ft end 7' 40 -0' 58 7.8 +0.9 -- ft Versus average of 8' 38 min/mile

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