Recovery post 100k is always anyone's guess. Last year, I ran Chicago at week four after Worlds and my time was nothing to write home about. Oddly enough, the week before, I felt my legs had just about recoveredas speed was back up to speed so to say. I later concluded that the 100k was likely not so much the issue as was the jet lag I was still fighting and the heat in Chicago because 2 days after that race I was totally fine like nothing happened. .Well, this year, I took the same post 100k approach as last year in that I took a good week really super easy with 2 full rest days followed by really easy shakeout runs of 8-10k a day . This is just to shake out the leftover crap in my legs and nothing more. Rest is key especially to avoid injury. Rest and the Almighty Ice Bath became my close friends. Last year, I ran a 7k a week off the 100k still raw of course but not too bad about 4 min/km pace. This year, I used the summer 2 mile xc series as that benchmark at day 9. The result was a course PR for me...oh and a win. My legs were still not chipper yet but they were moving again. I had planned to run 4.20-30 km pace and ended up running 4 even. I'm always much slower on dirt than the road or track so this was a good sign.
2mile
Ok the next test I had planned at 2 weeks to see where I was speedwise at a longer distance. I wanted to try and run the Luzhniki Marathon 4 weeks off the 100k, but I'd have to seriously listen to my legs first. The Moscow Half was simply a mistake from a recovery standpoint and a commercial one. Yes -in the 10k I would have finished 5-7th worst case scenario top10 got really nice prizes. Recovery wise 10k would have been ok. The half was clearly NOT. I had concluded that if I could hit about 1:30-31 ish I would be good to go for a marathon in 2 weeks since I would still continue to recover. Well at 5AM I had tummy issues. Went back to bed and when I got up, I still needed the loo for number two. Ok 2 immodium to solve that ...hopefully. From the very start my legs didn't feel right...more like bricks still. I just locked into just over 4.20km (just over 7 min miles) and parked it.My splits were even but slow as mole-asses! My time was embarrassingly slow and I concluded that this race was a big mistake-PERIOD. It was so craptastic I didn't even make the top10.
Oddly enough 2 days later, I hit the track for some 200s not full out but about 75-80% and clipping off 38-40sec was really easy and my pulse was basement low hardly hitting 140. Good sign! I didn't bust my ass in this workout because I was going to do a time trial in the 1000m in 2 days followed by a 5k tempo run to see where things were. The 1000m went not so bad-still some heaviness in the final 200 but I figured another week or so and things would be just about ok. The 5000 I just ran as a workout at even 4 min/km pace and I felt totally fine-not too easy slacking but not hard. Over the weekend I skipped off to Vilnius to finish this long epic PITA work visa process. I did my favorite hill workout there on Hill of Three Crosses. Here are some awesome pix of my favorite hills in Vilnius:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150970467492433.481174.542177432&type=1
That was Sunday the 13th. The next day was a 20 k recovery run on the same hills so I could get pictures and enjoy the view. Legs were not squaking and were fine. Tuesday I took a rest day-the first one I had had since right after the 100. Lots of hills+walking in Vilnius=rest. I still hadn't decided 10k or marathon on Sunday.....I was still discussing the issue with my legs. Wednesday- I did a workout that could have been ok for the marathon or 10k just a dozen 400s on the hill on the Father Frost road in the park....low 80sWOW it was hot too and I was still kind of tired from the trip. Damn my speed is good. Saturday....damn my speed is good I could run a good 10k time....or run the marathon and down my speed a week.....just recovered and got legs back from the 100k and hmmm now what to do. 10PM I called my friend Tamara who is in charge of registration and ummm errrr ......"ok marathon"....The forecast was hell-up to at least 28C. Now if they just did this race at 7AM all would be fine it was 13C when I got up at 6:30. Noooo start is at 10 so you get to B A K E!
Ok the next test I had planned at 2 weeks to see where I was speedwise at a longer distance. I wanted to try and run the Luzhniki Marathon 4 weeks off the 100k, but I'd have to seriously listen to my legs first. The Moscow Half was simply a mistake from a recovery standpoint and a commercial one. Yes -in the 10k I would have finished 5-7th worst case scenario top10 got really nice prizes. Recovery wise 10k would have been ok. The half was clearly NOT. I had concluded that if I could hit about 1:30-31 ish I would be good to go for a marathon in 2 weeks since I would still continue to recover. Well at 5AM I had tummy issues. Went back to bed and when I got up, I still needed the loo for number two. Ok 2 immodium to solve that ...hopefully. From the very start my legs didn't feel right...more like bricks still. I just locked into just over 4.20km (just over 7 min miles) and parked it.My splits were even but slow as mole-asses! My time was embarrassingly slow and I concluded that this race was a big mistake-PERIOD. It was so craptastic I didn't even make the top10.
Oddly enough 2 days later, I hit the track for some 200s not full out but about 75-80% and clipping off 38-40sec was really easy and my pulse was basement low hardly hitting 140. Good sign! I didn't bust my ass in this workout because I was going to do a time trial in the 1000m in 2 days followed by a 5k tempo run to see where things were. The 1000m went not so bad-still some heaviness in the final 200 but I figured another week or so and things would be just about ok. The 5000 I just ran as a workout at even 4 min/km pace and I felt totally fine-not too easy slacking but not hard. Over the weekend I skipped off to Vilnius to finish this long epic PITA work visa process. I did my favorite hill workout there on Hill of Three Crosses. Here are some awesome pix of my favorite hills in Vilnius:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150970467492433.481174.542177432&type=1
That was Sunday the 13th. The next day was a 20 k recovery run on the same hills so I could get pictures and enjoy the view. Legs were not squaking and were fine. Tuesday I took a rest day-the first one I had had since right after the 100. Lots of hills+walking in Vilnius=rest. I still hadn't decided 10k or marathon on Sunday.....I was still discussing the issue with my legs. Wednesday- I did a workout that could have been ok for the marathon or 10k just a dozen 400s on the hill on the Father Frost road in the park....low 80sWOW it was hot too and I was still kind of tired from the trip. Damn my speed is good. Saturday....damn my speed is good I could run a good 10k time....or run the marathon and down my speed a week.....just recovered and got legs back from the 100k and hmmm now what to do. 10PM I called my friend Tamara who is in charge of registration and ummm errrr ......"ok marathon"....The forecast was hell-up to at least 28C. Now if they just did this race at 7AM all would be fine it was 13C when I got up at 6:30. Noooo start is at 10 so you get to B A K E!
Coach told me the plan was to get in a good 20k tempo run but not kill myself since my legs were just returning to their former selves. He said to run 1 lap(course is 2 laps) and if I so much as felt any residual fatigue in my legs it was just fine to drop out and save my legs. Forcing things after an hard ultra is just plain dumb. I know several guys who are marathon "collectors" and I have never been in favor of this school of thought nor will I ever support this approach. Sooner or later just about all of these collectors(I'm talking guys running 1-2 marathons every flipping weekend) burn out, see decline in overall results resulting in underrecovery, and get bigtime injured. I run marathons either as part of the training process for an ultra(as was the case here I was coming due for a nice long tempo run) ...where, incidentally, I stand a good chance to podium, or for time as my training schedule allows between ultras in the cooler times of the yr. Yes, and I also seek the ones where I can podium. If I'm running times to win or place top 3 why the hell not? But, I would never just go out and trash my legs week after week running scrappy times just because. That's what I have a trail system and a camelbak for and it's called a LONG EASY RUN!
pic Masha Shalneva
Irina Vishnevskaya, who finished 3rd at Worlds last month was also using this race as a long training run. This is what ultrarunners do-marathons as speedwork! I hope she does well at Comrades BTW. So off we were and I stuck to my plan to go out at 4.40km and see how things go. Yes, that's very pedestrian but it was 28-30C in the SHADE and this course has no shade. I even decided to run lidless and sleeveless too. I sometimes use my summer sleeves to keep me cool as I wet them along the way with sponges. Going out slow was very smart.
pic Masha Shalneva
I had company too for the first 17km- Sasha, a new runner. It was her first marathon. She was really risking it going out with me in this heat. Her half marathon time was an indication that she should have gone out slower and the 2nd half would have been more tolerable. When she started to fade at 17 I felt bad for her because going out too fast on a hot day =misery later on. At the 20k turnaround I had to decide drop or run the 2nd loop. I was in a no exit situation at this point because I was 2nd behind Vishnevskaya. Legs were still fine and I was hardly working that first half so had gas in the tank for when the temps would really shoot up later on.So I decided to run the whole thing thinking this is cool now if Irina and I go 1-2 that would be cool -go 100k runners! Show the rest of the folks we can be speedy too even when just out on a training run! 25k I felt fine and picked it up a little...down to 4.35 pace(just over 7min miles) ok this is easy I'm thinking . Coach caught me in the usual spot at the bridge where he crossed back and forth all day to give me Vitargo 8 times on the course. At 25k I started playing my favorite game to pass the time...how many guys can I chick til the finish?:) Salt stick, gu ....feeling ok still and salt sticks really save me on hot days. At 27K coach was waiting with a Vespa it was getting to be time for that little pick me up. This, coupled with the Vitargo really keeps me from hitting walls in long races. The Vespa promotes more effective fat burning thus avoiding the dreaded wall. Shortly thereafter, I caught Vasya Dukin. He is a 24 hr guy but also a stable3-3:15 ish marathoner. He stuck with me until 36k. It was nice having someone to push the pace as we were clicking off near 4:20 km (just under 7 min miles). At 30k I picked up a little and felt ok but still not eyeballs out because it was getting damn frigging hot. 12k to go is nothing after running a 100k. Mentally I was ok with it and just parked things in the mid 4.20skm.(oh yeah that's like 3 hr pace). Crossing the bridge for the last time at 36k is when I lost Vasya:-( I thought we'd finish together. He is a very stable runner and consistent. That's also when I noticed it was really effing HOT! At Just before 35k I went for another salt stick to get me to the finish.
I had company too for the first 17km- Sasha, a new runner. It was her first marathon. She was really risking it going out with me in this heat. Her half marathon time was an indication that she should have gone out slower and the 2nd half would have been more tolerable. When she started to fade at 17 I felt bad for her because going out too fast on a hot day =misery later on. At the 20k turnaround I had to decide drop or run the 2nd loop. I was in a no exit situation at this point because I was 2nd behind Vishnevskaya. Legs were still fine and I was hardly working that first half so had gas in the tank for when the temps would really shoot up later on.So I decided to run the whole thing thinking this is cool now if Irina and I go 1-2 that would be cool -go 100k runners! Show the rest of the folks we can be speedy too even when just out on a training run! 25k I felt fine and picked it up a little...down to 4.35 pace(just over 7min miles) ok this is easy I'm thinking . Coach caught me in the usual spot at the bridge where he crossed back and forth all day to give me Vitargo 8 times on the course. At 25k I started playing my favorite game to pass the time...how many guys can I chick til the finish?:) Salt stick, gu ....feeling ok still and salt sticks really save me on hot days. At 27K coach was waiting with a Vespa it was getting to be time for that little pick me up. This, coupled with the Vitargo really keeps me from hitting walls in long races. The Vespa promotes more effective fat burning thus avoiding the dreaded wall. Shortly thereafter, I caught Vasya Dukin. He is a 24 hr guy but also a stable3-3:15 ish marathoner. He stuck with me until 36k. It was nice having someone to push the pace as we were clicking off near 4:20 km (just under 7 min miles). At 30k I picked up a little and felt ok but still not eyeballs out because it was getting damn frigging hot. 12k to go is nothing after running a 100k. Mentally I was ok with it and just parked things in the mid 4.20skm.(oh yeah that's like 3 hr pace). Crossing the bridge for the last time at 36k is when I lost Vasya:-( I thought we'd finish together. He is a very stable runner and consistent. That's also when I noticed it was really effing HOT! At Just before 35k I went for another salt stick to get me to the finish.
pic-Masha Shalneva
please pass the salt!
last km
One of the volunteers on the course saw me pull out my salt sticks (no I don't have tits it's a salt stick in my shirt) and though it was an mp3 player or something LMAO!
Pics - from Yevgeny Kazakov
Coach ran me in from this point with the last of my Vitargo and cold sponges. I ended up finishing 2nd and Sasha was 3rd. I was glad she held onto 3rd and ran a solid race for her first marathon and in the heat to boot. Irina finished 3:06 I was just over 3:17 but today my chip time in the results came in at 3:16 and change. For a hot day running on a whim that's not too shabby and my hot weather handicap is about 10-20 min at the very least usually more like 15-20. I took off my shoes after I finished and the pavement was just burning hot! Temps were reported close to 36C in the sun...damn every time I run a marathon during the main season I get slammed with hotass hell weather. Yeah, last year it was hot too and I was slower. I wanted to practice a run in the heat just to come up with a plan for Daugavpils because I could get slammed with a similar day at 50K World Cup in August. My 2nd half was 3+min faster than my first. My slowest KMs were in the beginning not the end. I chicked several guys in the 2nd loop too. No redlining today though because I had better things to do than visit the hospital.
Vasya in the red Coach on the right.
ICE head pic Andrei Kulagin
So, it was a day for the ultrarunners especially on the women's side. Irina Koval ran too and she was just a week off her win at 24hr NCs running a very solid 201km. The men's 24 hr winner finished just behind me as well. That's damn impressive only a week off the 24 hr. MAJOR RESPECT!
I SAID IT WAS FLIPPING HOT!!!!!!
pic- Andrei Kulagin
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