The Remarkable Effect of Recovery Runs
Today's run: Long Run of 17 miles at 8:29 pace
Okay, so yesterday's run kinda sucked. But today, a K-Star run came to the rescue.
Interesting Side Note: I was at a "Shopping Party" at Sports Basement yesterday evening, and I ran into Dave P., the genial founder of the K-Stars, whom I had met only once or twice since he's largely devoted himself to cycling. However, he still reads the email alias, since the first question he asked me was if I had found people to run my 17-miler with -- indicative of the kind of person who would impress such a fine set of values on a club.
I had indeed found people to run 17 miles with me. (Not those people pictured, as that picture was taken long ago, though Chris is somewhere in that picture, as is Dave P., the founder I mentioned.) I had arranged with Galen, Chris, Kevin and Laura to meet a little early. I had left a message for Ari, and Kevin brought along Matt. So while waiting a few minutes extra for a tardy Chris (busted, Chris!), we took off on a modified route. (Modifications over Galen's favorite 17 mile route: longer alternates in the park, but no Fort Funston sand-stairs).
The weather was just about perfect for running: overcast, a little foggy, not much wind, and neither too cold nor too hot. When you have seven people running together, it is pretty easy to have or listen to conversations that distract you right away, so I barely noticed our descent to Sunset Blvd. By the time we were midway down, I recognized that my left leg, source of yesterday's misery, wasn't bothering me much at all. And it remained that way for pretty much the entire 17 miles!
By the time we reached the South end of Lake Merced, we'd splintered. Laura had planned to take a 14 mile route, so she had taken a right where we took a left upon reaching the Lake. Ari is just absurdly fast, and Matt kept with him. So Galen, Chris, Kevin and I stuck together at a moderate pace.
We reached the Great Highway while telling some stories that shan't be repeated here, and crested that hill to a quiet view of the ocean. Wind was minimal, still. We found an easy time coming up the Great Highway past the Beach Chalet, and even when we turned uphill into the park, my legs didn't complain all that much. After a moment's hesitation to recognize Transverse Road (unmarked, approaching it from a new angle), we reached the 15 mile mark still grouped together and having a pretty easy run.
Then, the pace felt tougher. Galen observed that we had quickened the pace back on the Great Highway. I felt like we were doing around 8:00/mile or faster, coming up the last little inclines on JFK. At some point, Galen went on ahead, having what I (perhaps wrongly) recognized as the "go faster 'till the end or stop dead" phenomenon.
As Chris, Kevin and I reached the final, one block hill, Chris mentioned how he didn't have the legs to sprint up the hill the way he's seen Kevin do so, which prompted Kevin to accelerate, and me to follow him. Kevin really had something left, and I realized I had nothing to gain by trying to match his strides. However, I did manage to set my heart rate monitor into palpitations (and probably hit my run's max of 182 bpm). A minute more, and we arrived back at Crepes on Cole, finding Galen who had just arrived, and Laura, Ari and Matt who had arrived earlier.
Remarkable. Yesterday felt horrible, and today, less than 18 hours later, I had a pretty great run (at a pace no slower than usual for these runs). This is the design of the Recovery run, but I didn't think I'd have such a profound difference.
Okay, so yesterday's run kinda sucked. But today, a K-Star run came to the rescue.
Interesting Side Note: I was at a "Shopping Party" at Sports Basement yesterday evening, and I ran into Dave P., the genial founder of the K-Stars, whom I had met only once or twice since he's largely devoted himself to cycling. However, he still reads the email alias, since the first question he asked me was if I had found people to run my 17-miler with -- indicative of the kind of person who would impress such a fine set of values on a club.
I had indeed found people to run 17 miles with me. (Not those people pictured, as that picture was taken long ago, though Chris is somewhere in that picture, as is Dave P., the founder I mentioned.) I had arranged with Galen, Chris, Kevin and Laura to meet a little early. I had left a message for Ari, and Kevin brought along Matt. So while waiting a few minutes extra for a tardy Chris (busted, Chris!), we took off on a modified route. (Modifications over Galen's favorite 17 mile route: longer alternates in the park, but no Fort Funston sand-stairs).
The weather was just about perfect for running: overcast, a little foggy, not much wind, and neither too cold nor too hot. When you have seven people running together, it is pretty easy to have or listen to conversations that distract you right away, so I barely noticed our descent to Sunset Blvd. By the time we were midway down, I recognized that my left leg, source of yesterday's misery, wasn't bothering me much at all. And it remained that way for pretty much the entire 17 miles!By the time we reached the South end of Lake Merced, we'd splintered. Laura had planned to take a 14 mile route, so she had taken a right where we took a left upon reaching the Lake. Ari is just absurdly fast, and Matt kept with him. So Galen, Chris, Kevin and I stuck together at a moderate pace.
We reached the Great Highway while telling some stories that shan't be repeated here, and crested that hill to a quiet view of the ocean. Wind was minimal, still. We found an easy time coming up the Great Highway past the Beach Chalet, and even when we turned uphill into the park, my legs didn't complain all that much. After a moment's hesitation to recognize Transverse Road (unmarked, approaching it from a new angle), we reached the 15 mile mark still grouped together and having a pretty easy run.
Then, the pace felt tougher. Galen observed that we had quickened the pace back on the Great Highway. I felt like we were doing around 8:00/mile or faster, coming up the last little inclines on JFK. At some point, Galen went on ahead, having what I (perhaps wrongly) recognized as the "go faster 'till the end or stop dead" phenomenon.
As Chris, Kevin and I reached the final, one block hill, Chris mentioned how he didn't have the legs to sprint up the hill the way he's seen Kevin do so, which prompted Kevin to accelerate, and me to follow him. Kevin really had something left, and I realized I had nothing to gain by trying to match his strides. However, I did manage to set my heart rate monitor into palpitations (and probably hit my run's max of 182 bpm). A minute more, and we arrived back at Crepes on Cole, finding Galen who had just arrived, and Laura, Ari and Matt who had arrived earlier.
Remarkable. Yesterday felt horrible, and today, less than 18 hours later, I had a pretty great run (at a pace no slower than usual for these runs). This is the design of the Recovery run, but I didn't think I'd have such a profound difference.
posted by Brent at
4:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home