Recovery

It's funny and I don't want to jinx myself but I really haven't had much recovering to do. I felt great the day after the marathon and I have had some great runs since then.
I think this is the first time I have felt this good after a marathon except maybe after San Francisco, although I do remember a lot of moaning and groaning about sore hips, butt, quads and feet the two days we were exploring SF.

Sunday I took a rest day, well a rest from running anyway. It felt good to sleep in and then I spent the rest of the day hanging out first with Brenda and then later having a family get together at Magness and then a party in Greystone.

Monday night Arland and I met Jane and Brenda at the community center for a run. I was nervous because although I was feeling really good I wasn't sure how running was going to feel.
Right away Jane and Brenda were setting a pretty good pace and my goal was just to try to hang on for dear life. The first mile of our route has a series of hills not monsters but challenging enough especially that early in the run. Jane and I had discovered a new route last week and we introduced it to Brenda and Arland. It is great because it does have the hills and then a few more inclines but it also has a couple of gradual downhills that feel nice.
It took a couple of miles for me to warm up, nothing was hurting but I was struggling to keep up, my chest was tight etc.... but then about 2.5 to 3 miles into the run I started feeling really good and running with Brenda we were pushing the pace a little bit. Arland was steadily going on and on about how I just ran a marathon and this was supposed to be a recovery run and I should slow down.. LOL It was kind of funny but I just was feeling so good and just went with that feeling. We talked the whole time and they made me do most of the talking because they wanted to hear about the marathon.
Around 4 mile Brenda made the comment that I hadn't had any trouble with my stomach.. I wisely said "not yet"!! and of course wouldn't you know it right at 4.75 boom it hit, I had to slow down to a jog and then stop completely and cross my legs. Luckily it didn't last too long and I was able to pick the pace back up for a strong finish.
We ended up with according to my Garmin a 9:51 avg. pace... now that isn't blazing fast but it was pretty darn fast for my first run 2 days after a marathon! It was great to have Brenda with us and now that it is getting dark so early we are hoping to have her as a regular running partner more often.

1-10:19
2- 9:52
3- 9:55 had to stop for a second to cross hwy 89
4- 9:30
5-9:34

Tuesday was Run club at Kylie's school. I know I say this every week but I truly get such a kick out of being involved! I think I might have mentioned the little boy who ran with us a couple of weeks ago when the kids did their timed mile... well he is so cute and sweet and he has attached himself to me and Kylie. He is taller than Brett was at that age but there is just something about him that makes me think of Brett when he was a little boy... I think it's a combination of his brown eyes and his sweet little face along with his personality. So when he said he wanted to "stay with us" again on Tuesday I was happy :) Kylie wasn't really in the mood for running so M. and I had to do a lot of circling back for her and I had to do a lot of prodding and bribing to get her to run.
Arland you need to order another box of Honey Stingers ASAP!! Kylie is going through them like crazy.
I hung around at Kylie's house until time to go for my run with Karen and Michele. We had limited time so we only got in 3 miles but they were good miles!
The first mile was slow we were warming up but the next 2 were much faster. This was Michele's first run after the Marathon and after being sick over the weekend she had some steam to blow off. The kids were with us on their bikes, Alex stuck with "miss Karen" and Abby came along for the ride with her mom and I. We had picked up the pace some and then Michele say's "come on" and waves her hand indicating that I needed to pick up the pace... so I did. Karen asked later if we were trying to set some kind of new record. We weren't that fast but it was fun.
We ended up with a 10:16 avg pace and that was with a slow beginning and then a slow ending. Our fastest mile was between 2.5 and 3.5 so I don't really know how fast it was. Michele turned back for the kids and then I slowed down as well because I needed to wait for Karen so I would know where to turn. I've been running in that neighborhood for almost a year now and I still get turned around sometimes.... just don't tell Michele! she thinks it is hysterical that Brenda, Jane and I are so geographically challenged.

This morning Jane and I met at the community center for a true recovery run. We once again started with the hills but this morning I knew right before we got to a crossroads that we should turn right and head to the Phillip's 66, good thing too! I did have to walk for a little bit about a quarter of a mile before we got to it but it wasn't too bad and after a fairly quick stop the rest of the run was fine.
We ran a very comfortable pace and talked the whole run... there was one bit of time when we were on South Jackson that we got kind of quiet and my breathing got harder and I realized we had picked up the pace a bit.. I said wow we must really be ready for this run to be over with! But I think it is just that section it is kind of long and dark and it is towards the end so I think it's just natural to pick it up in that spot.
When we got back to the community center we had 4.77 and of course that is just too close to five to stop so we ran loops in the parking lot.
5 miles
10:21 avg. pace
1-10:15
2-10:46
3-10:22
4-9:53
510:33

I was going to run again tonight but decided not to push my luck!!!! I don't want any injuries this close to the Memphis Marathon!

They are forecasting rain and possible thundershowers over night and into the morning so Jane and I have decided to move our run to tomorrow night. It will be nice to sleep in and that just give my body that much more recovery time.

The plan for the weekend is 13 on Saturday at Lila Loop and then 10 Sunday morning.
Next week is our last 20 miler and then it will be taper time :)