What Now?

It's been a week now since the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio Marathon and Half Marathon. How have you used the time? For many, post-race is an opportunity to reconnect with family, get caught up at work, kick back and take some time off your feet. But how much of this do we need? There is still a rough formula which one sees from time to time, a formula which advises to take one day off for every mile you raced. Well, this was my 6th marathon (plus a couple of 50Ks) and I've NEVER taken a month off from running after a race.

"Well," you might say when you've looked at my race time, "you don't really race. The rule wasn't written for runners like you."

To which I reply, "No offense taken, but I used up as much of my body in my 5 hours on the course as the runner who managed the distance in 4 hours."

This discussion can go on ad infinitum, but I see no point to it. We run because we love to run, fast or slow matters not. So let's get back to the point, that being that anyone who loves running is not likely to take a month off from that which they love in order to recover. Even more to the point, the competitive runners and especially the elite runners don't take off a month. The truth is, none of us should.

Every runner has to find what works for them. But I would encourage all to get out and test the legs the week after the marathon, or half marathon. I noticed some tweets from runners who got back to light mileage the day after marathon weekend. If you can do that, I guess it's OK, though I'm not sure it's prudent. I intended to lace up my shoes on Wednesday, but there was still way too much catching up that I needed to take care of. I could stand it no longer on Saturday as I finally dropped the stacked up tasks at hand and jogged a light 2 1/2 miles. Although the soreness in my legs is now gone, I could still feel that the muscles weren't very well fueled. That is the more obvious purpose of recovery, and we manage the refueling by refueling. Is anyone else still feeling famished? My calorie consumption has been on the high side since the race, and I guess that's another good reason to get back to a moderate mileage routine.

I find it helpful to put my sights on another race. There's no better motivator than a 10K or half marathon on the horizon. A few years ago I jumped right into a half marathon only 2 weeks after a marathon, and I did OK. On the other hand, if your are still feeling sore, tight, low on energy, go ahead and take a few more days off. But I beg of you, don't let these recovery days become weeks or even months. Keep in your mind how great it feels to be conditioned after months of training. We lose it if we don't keep ourselves motivated. I hope to see everyone out there again, soon.

I leave you with a motivating point which I read in the publication Inside Texas Running. Ironman competitor Lisa Tilton McCarthy observed: "....at the end of the day, it is not about the results but about the experience of the event."

Amen.