It may sound a little crazy, but my recovery runs are the day after my long runs. I am currently on this type of schedule.
Saturday - Long Run (12 to 30 miles depending on schedule);
Sunday: 6 t0 10 miles slow pace; Monday: 3 to 4 miles with the Hash House Harriers and of course beer;
Tuesday: 3 to 5 miles speedwork at lunch, followed up by hill repeats 4 to 5 miles (we have small hills here in Winnipeg);
Wednesday: 3 to 5 miles slow run at lunch;
Thursday: 6 miles tempo;
Friday: 3 to 5 miles running the dog.
and then we do it all over again.
I have been doing this for most of the year and my times, power and endurance has gotten stronger and stronger.
So Dutchie, even this year fully barefoot you still run every day? Do you vary the rhythm of the runs, so that some might count as recovery runs, or is it more like you just run how you feel each time you go out?I might have 1 day off every couple of weeks, but like Bob, my dog needs exercise. I don't match Bob for weekly milage, but a couple of years ago my milage was also between 20-40 miles depending what I was running for. This year is my first full barefoot year so in keeping with slow buildup I am in 15-25 miles per week. It all depends how I feel, I run more for the fun of it then PR's, so I don't do the speedwork to often. Have done 10k's and 5k's barefoot, and shooting for a barefoot half and full again next year thanks to Lee and Dama with their marathon posts, oh yeah, go to throw Zetti in there as well in the blame department.
Don't know if it's possible for me, but that's very inspiring!I have a Husky who needs to be ran, if she does not get at least 2 miles in she goes loopy or destructive, lets just say extra modivation to get my rear end out the door. I have taken about 5 days off this year so far, mostly because I got busy and forgot to go out due to work or something like that, or I was travelling and did not have an opportunity. Basically i have never not found a reason to run.
My legs do not seem to like taking a day off, I get all shaky if I do not run like an addiction I guess. Plus my wife does not like me taking days off, because I get in a foul mood if I do not run. Not sure why, I just do.
Its weird, I went 150 straight days including a ultra, a half marathon, a full marathon within 3 weeks and my times never suffered, I PB'ed on all three. Also note all my running is barefoot.
My rowing kind of counts as recovery on this account, but unlike the stairmaster, the muscles it works are different, so it's really more cross-training. Still, I think it's good to do something aerobic everyday.I was doing the Hidgon half marathon schedule, but got bored after I slogged out 14 miles on a training run. There were some recovery runs built into the schedule.
I'm doing the Bare Lee method of waiting 48 hrs between muscle groups. This leaves me with an extra day. I tried running 2 days in a row, but wasn't happy with my second day's run performance. Now I do the stairmaster at a moderate pace on the second day, which hopefully compensates a bit for the lack of hills in FL. So, no more recovery runs, but doing recovery stairmaster.
Nick, you've had feet issues too. Do you find recovery runs help or hinder the healing?I typically do a recovery run Tuesday or Thursday, or sometimes both with my longer runs being Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Works great for me typically. The hardest part I have is keeping it to a recovery run and not getting all buck wild with my speed.
And the blame really starts with Zetti, who piqued my interest, and then travels through to Dama, who put the question to me, I always get blame for everything! even at work! but, if it weren't for me Board wouldn't be the runner he is now(not true but I like to take credit for it anyway).
and then you picked up on it without me saying anything. So my culpability is indirect. Yes, I can be quite weasel-lee.
Lee, if I am tired I just slow down the next day, so I geuss that would count as a recovery. Some days are just naturaly faster then others, I would guess that my body kind of tells me what to do ( some days I feel tired other days I am raring to go). Some days my cadence and speed is up, some days it is down. I do try to go hard the last 1/2-1 mile. If I am feeling my legs from the day before I go shorter, if they feel good I go longer. I have no set training plan other then a long run on Saturdays where I will go between 4-8 miles. If I am training for a specific race I will usualy set a number of miles per week and try to stick with a somewhat plan. That is one of the reason that I try to run unplugged so I do what I can, once a month I wil bring out the garmin to check my pace and cadence, but that is about it. Again, it all depends on your goals, mine is to be standing up at the finish and is not time based.So Dutchie, even this year fully barefoot you still run every day? Do you vary the rhythm of the runs, so that some might count as recovery runs, or is it more like you just run how you feel each time you go out?
And the blame really starts with Zetti, who piqued my interest, and then travels through to Dama, who put the question to me, and then you picked up on it without me saying anything. So my culpability is indirect. Yes, I can be quite weasel-lee.