Recovery Mode

A plethora of articles to share - first, an article from renowned coach Pete Pfizinger talking about marathon race strategy. Obviously, there are a million different ways to run a marathon but he strongly recommends running the second half a few minutes slower than the first half. Next, a blog update from Ritz talking about his 2009 and most recent 3rd place finish at the World Half Marathon Championships. Third, pretty cool little tidbit about Asics creating a customized shoe for Ryan Hall for NYC in a few weeks. Finally, a Runners World interview with 2008 Olympian and Illinois prep legend Jorge Torres talking about his upcoming marathon debut in NYC.

Still in la-la land about last weekend, but enjoying every minute of it! Took a couple days off to let the legs rest, then went on my first recovery jog on Wednesday evening. Was cold and spitting rain, and my quads were still feeling like cement bricks. Went at a slow pace, could feel every single step so wasn't the most enjoyable run. But let me tell you, as slow as I went, still FLEW by :) Hit 3 miles, did heavy stretching afterwards. Yesterday, did the same workout in relatively the same conditions minus the spitting rain. This time, legs felt much better after a mile but didn't really help myself on the way back speeding up when seeing some stragglers on the trail. Did 3 miles, stretched afterwards, didn't feel the best.

Tonight, day off - gotta let the legs get back to 100%. Legs are still sore, but I am walking ok again. Quads need a little work though, so will be utilizing the stick and the foam roller a ton this weekend. Probably will get in anywhere from 6-10 miles on Saturday, then something small on Sunday. Assuming all goes well, will wean back into a light schedule next week and transition into speed stuff moving forward. Not sure what my race schedule the rest of the year is, but maybe a 5K in 3 weeks when Tim is back in town. Contemplating running the Alton 10 miler in late November, and maybe a few 5K's here and there, but will mainly be enjoying just an AMAZING 2009 racing year :)