Race Recovery Week
I've never run a race before that really required a substantial recovery period. Though, in the past, I often would neglect my training for weeks and months after running The Bear. The point is, dealing with a recovery period is somewhat uncharted territory for me, but I figured it necessary for a week or so after my half marathon.
After the race, I felt pretty good. Nothing was in pain or hurting, but I was definitely fatigued in a way that seemed appropriate for the longest distance I've ever run. It helped that right at the finish line, there were people giving out chocolate milk, bananas, Gatorade, Powerbars and all kinds of good refueling stuff. The soreness didn't set in until the next day which prompted me to think more about my recovery strategy.
The day following the half marathon, I opted for an easy paced 3 miler to shake out some of the soreness and followed it up with a thorough round of foam rolling. That didn't alleviate all of the stiffness in my legs, but it certainly helped. The next couple days, the weather was pretty nasty and drizzly, which normally I would try to just deal with and run anyways, but I figured that the week after my PR run, I could afford to be a little less ambitious with running in bad weather.
Yesterday, I got out for a 6 miler just to get a little more distance in and that helped to get my body feeling normal again, it also got my wheels turning about how I need to train to get my strength and speed up for The Bear this summer. I'm still working on the particulars for my training program for that one, but I'm giving myself another couple weeks until I start getting into that hardcore.