1. Even though I said I was feeling good, the run was NOT easy. My injury did not return but my legs felt heavy and tired and tight. After I had reached 13.1 miles, I stopped twice to bend over and kind of stretch out. It even took too much effort for me to bend over.
2. I did NOT bring enough water with me on the run. This usually isn't an issue because I usually have Scott riding his bike next to me with a large water bottle. I don't know what I was thinking only carrying my little hand held one that probably only holds 8-10 ounces. When I take this on long runs I usually run out of water by mile 9. When I saw I was getting low I REALLY tried to conserve. I thought there was a water fountain at the rest station where the restrooms were but suprisingly there was not. I'm pretty sure my water supply was depleted by mile 14. At one point I saw a man power washing a building. Had I known he didn't have cleaning solution in his sprayer I would have asked him to fill up my bottle. #RunnersWillDoAnything.
3. I did not stretch when I was done with the 18 miles. I ran right to the port o potty at the end of the trail. Second order of business was getting a bottle of water out of my trunk. I am SO glad that I remembered I had a case of water in there.
4. This training cycle I have been very conscientious of fueling properly after a run. I make sure that I get enough liquids and protein. Well, it just didn't happen after the 18 miles. I had one clif block right when I got back to my car and that was it for a few hours. I was done with my run by 2:30pm but had to run errands (I could barely get through the grocery store. I only needed 2 items but got a cart so I could have something to lean on). I did have about half a bag of chex mix but didn't have anything substantial till 5:30pm. Not quite how I should have refueled after such a long run.
5. When I got home I jumped right in the shower and then started preparing dinner for my guests that would be coming. I should have spent this time relaxing, icing, foam rolling, or putting my legs and feet in my calf massager. Nope, none of this happened!
18 miles was my longest training run this cycle and the recovery for it was a #Fail. I know this is partially why my injury keeps coming back. I KNOW I need to do better. It's just sometimes life gets in the way but I know that can't be an excuse when you are taking marathon training as seriously as I have been.
So tell me, what is your best recovery tip? -M
We are linking up with the gals from the Friday 5!