A recovery week, a small victory

This week was an easy one to get the legs feeling good after ATB. I was pretty good in following a plan to run easy, take some time to do dynamic exercises and stretching to get back on track timely. The first run was what I might have expected for the first 10 min or so, a little stiff and stubborn feeling from the legs, but to my pleasan surprise things fell into place quickly. Every run this week was enjoyable and motivating for the coming weeks of increasingly hard work.

Now that the race is behind me and I have been able to process the good and bad point s of the race I will consider it a small victory. A few months ago I had predicted certain milestones to have been reached by this point and when first the foot, then the knee, then the ankle all came into the fold progress seemed slow, if not stopped. A broken month and then a full month of disruptions and limited speed work definitely interfered with building up. So that said, I was pleased that I was able to get to the start line of Hamilton feeling good albeit under prepared. Pacing, conservatism, and confidence to stay on target were the keys to the race going well. Fluid management, cramping at the end, and jointly endurance at race pace were what got in the way of a perfect race. This will be the focus for 7 weeks to come.

Week summary Mar 26 - Apr 1

Mon- off
Tues- 6.5k Legs weren't too bad. First couple of k were very slow but things picked up and recovered and settled into ~4:30 throughout most of the back end. Nice to feel things are too slammed from a race with very lackluster preparation.
Wed- off
Thurs- 7.5k Started the Garmin and then ignored it and went by feel. Turned out to be a fartlek run and legs, thankfully, feel very good. Look forward to a 'free' weekend to run offroad before I buckle down until the marathon and shoot for a 2:50 or less. Bring it.
Fri- 5k This was to get out and enjoy the weather. Just cool enough to be March but sunny and very spring like. I have missed doing the Vibram runs so am going to resume the 3 x 20 min/week.
It felt awesome and the legs were snappy and loving it. Could feel the missed adaptation afterwards with some mild soleus tenderness. Maybe I'll sue them, haha.
Sat- off, took it easy as the family schedule was hectic and getting the run in was gonna be rushed.
Sun- 14k Snappy, fun trail run on an early Sunday morning. Was able to just go with a pace that felt good and not worry. The wildlife was out and ultra light snow flakes fell. It was definitely a run that help charge the motivation battery for training to come after the marathon. So much better than the road.