Running Plan for the Foreseeable Future

My knees are a little sore, and my achilles pretty stiff. I rolled out of bed with my quads feeling like a bruise this morning as I walked over to grab Daelen from the crib. Nine miles is not that far, but every time a new distance is reached I'm hurting when that alarm goes off. This is where a little bit of strategy comes in regarding rest and recovery.

After the long runs, I'm putting a focus on getting that elusive seven hours of sleep. Human growth hormones come out at night and do the best part of the bodies healing. There is no need to have a long run more then once per week. This gives me a chance to heal when I've pushed my body to a new limit for the season. I'll only follow a long run with a zero impact activity such as biking, or swimming and not running. I've seen too many shin splints and hyper tension in the soles of feet. I'm not sure I would have had to get orthotics had I taken this advice. On the road I'll only come within two miles of my longest run of the season so that I'm only pushing it on familiar courses with support around I can call if something doesn't go as planned. Those rest days will be spent with multiple long stretching sessions to keep those muscles from getting overly tight.

I was told by my podiatrist to work up to the marathon distance and then go back to build up speed. That is exactly what I hope to do. Each week if possible I'll add a mile to my workout until reaching 20 miles and then I'll start over at 10 miles attempting to do it with more speed and focus. In the mean time, I'll use the road to get in those four to eight mile runs that keep you in check and help build up that cardiovascular threshold. This will be the first time I've enlisted a plan that put restrictions on my schedule, or my progress in order to preserve my body. I love that feeling half way through a long run knowing I've got that same distance to get back to my house. I'm just trying to give myself as many of those mornings as I can without having to fall victim to the dreaded injury bug.