Hi all!
After last weekends race, I decided to break my normal routine and postpone the injury check run a day. Whereas I normally do this the day after a marathon, I felt that the post-race hypothermia had cramped my arms, back and legs so much that a little more rest time would have been wiser.
This morning still some heavy legs but not to the extent that I felt it would do more damage than good. I decided to do a short fun run that consisted out of some paved but also some unpaved routes!
My goal was twofold, most importantly I wanted to help speed up the recovery by increasing blood circulation (without putting any extra stress on the muscles). Secondly, I wanted to check on injuries that might need some attention.
My approach was simple - slow and steady! First 5 km I just stayed in very low heartrate in a slow pace. This felt smooth - the stiffness was greatly reduced by the time I entered the unpaved route. In the last part of the run I did speed up carefully twice to test how the legs and feet felt.
In the end I felt no issues, other than the open blister. But I feel I can focus on one - maybe two easy recovery weeks and then focus on my next marathon in early February The Coast Marathon “De Hollandse Duinen” which will be a trail marathon over the beach and in the dunes! Already looking forward to that!
Happy running!