Recovering from the marathon

After the marathon on Sunday, I didn't run on Monday. I was sore, but not incredibly so, but also tired from going to the pub with a friend who also did the race.

On Tuesday I did 2 easy miles on the track. It was sunny out, and felt good to stretch the legs.

The light run on Tuesday seemed to be beneficial, and on Wednesday I had no soreness.

Thursday: 3.5 miles on the track.

Friday: no running.

Saturday: 5.5 miles on my training loop through the town in which I live. I wanted to get it done, and ran quick. I was a little tired at the end.

Today, Sunday, I ran with two friends from the informal running club in town. We started easy, and as we hit the country roads outside the town, picked up the pace slightly. It was a cool, clear morning. It was probably 10 degrees cooler than the same time last weekend at the marathon.

One of the guys, G., started picking up the pace again. I didn't want to kill myself, but was feeling ok at the time, and was able to keep him witin a few meters.

About 45 mins into the run there were a few hills, and the latent fatigue in my muscles was starting to emerge. I also felt a bit of soreness in my right calf - I was slightly worried that I was straining my achilles, but the soreness was a little higher than that.

I hung on. We began heading back towards town on a canal tow path, and this was easier. The pace picked up again, but now my pain had dissipated somewhat. I was feeling good, and matched the pace.

At about 1:25 we stopped. It was a tougher, longer run than anticipated. Although I'd initially felt like I was fully recovered from the marathon, the run had revealed that there was still some deep tiredness in the legs. G. and I jogged back into town (where my car was parked), so it was about 1:45 for the whole run. I'm calling it 11 miles.

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I think the tiredness hasn't all been physical. Things have seemed a bit blah this week, for no apparent reason.