Recovery

Reflecting back from the Akron marathon, I have good memories and I am happy I was able to beat 3:30 in such a difficult course. I read that there were some problems in the first water stops. Maybe the race has grown too big. There were a lot of relay runners and some times they interfered with the marathon runners, when they are running “out of pace” (if, for example, a slow runner follows a fast runner in a relay team, or the other way around). I did not mind it, but I think the race has reached its maximum capacity by now.

After the marathon I took an ice bath and this helped recovery quite a bit. I became a believer of ice baths when I tried one last year and saw the results. I don’t do it often. Only when it is absolutely necessary, for example after a hard marathon. Some people fill the bath tab with water and ice and then get in. Ouch! I get in first, then run cold water until it covers my legs, and then dump in the ice. It more gentle this way.


On Sunday we went to visit our daughter in Toledo. We had signed up for the "Susan G. Komen Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure" 5K. Since wife Liz is still recovering from injury, daughter Lea is not running, and I was hurting from the marathon, we decided to take it easy and run at the slower runner's pace, which is Lea.

The first mile was at 10 minutes. Liz and I could continue at this pace (or even speed up to 9 min/mile), but Lea could not, so the next miles were at 10:30 and the last mile at 11 minutes. We crossed the line by holding our hands up. The crowds apparently liked it and were cheering us up.

So, at 32:30, this might be the slowest 5K in record for me (for a while :)) but it was fun though doing it as a family and finishing together. There were about 20,000 runners and walkers. The crowd support and entertainment was amazing. There were bands and songs in every corner. This is definitely an “ipod is not necessary” race. We will do this again.

The next day I woke up with very little pain, so recovery was surprisingly quick this time. I ran every day (short distances, slow pace) and went to my fitness classes on Tuesday and Thursday. By Thursday there was no sign of pain/discomfort in my legs. Our training group is planning a long run tomorrow, and I will join them.

My next race is in next week and it is the Towpath marathon. I have a special connection to this race. I will talk about it in the next blog.