Saturday, January 23, 2010

50 K recovery time??- help needed for race planning.

HISTORY
I am still a neophyte to this whole 'race planning' thing.  I built up to  a 50 Km  Frosty run last yr  (following a demanding Hal Higdon  schedule).  It seemed fairly easy only cuz my husband 'bonked' at 27k so I walked/ran with him for the rest( he had the flu prior). Which meant I felt GREAT after so now I have NO idea how to plan recovery.  I currently do a 3-4 hr trail run every Sunday. I love Sundays- Just Run and Relax... and maybe a bit of rum. Tee hee...

GOAL: Diez Vista 50 K:
No 'big race'. But THIS is the race that got me hooked on trail running.  Some 5 yrs ago I saw Suzanne Evans finish (current CR holder) WOW,  as a Physio I was amazed at her physique and conditioning.  IF  I  see her again, I must thank her for the motivation.  But I MUST do this race.

THE PLAN:??
Dirty duo in March - 4 weeks later- Diez Vista 50 K in April. enough time? - I have no idea.  If I survive this, I plan to do the other 50ks in the BCUTS. |Too much??  Maybe I'm too
old for this type of thing (43).

Any other experiences out there for recovery from a 50 K??  Love to hear.

Heather

5 comments:

EricG said...

Hey Heather. Last year was my first year of ultra running and my first year running more than 1 race of Marathon distance or greater (4 in all and 3 in 2 months, marathon, 50k, 60k 50 miler). I found recovery for each became easier and faster. I think the main reason is even though I was sore, extremely sore after 2 of them (you know the post race walk) I made sure I got in several workouts the week following. I rested the day after, hit the bike day 2, logged a few slow miles day 3 or 4 and so on. I just forced myself to keep moving through the soreness. One other thing I try to do is stay on my feet moving around after the race. The worst thing I have done is lay down and sleep immediately following (very stiff when I woke up). Hope this is helpful. Peace and have a great time.

M. Macclesfield Read said...

Heather, it looks like I'm not the only one with "stick-to-itiveness!" Run, girl, run!

HEATHERRUNS said...

Thanks Eric- great advice! It gives me confidence to do two 50K runs 4 weeks apart. Thats it- I'm registering.

Thanks for the support Michelle. A lot easier to run here than the -25 deg in PG !

Nicola Gildersleeve said...

My advice:

Which race is more important? Then based on that, you take the least important one easy, like a LSD run.

However, I raced Knee Knacker 50km and raced White River 50 miles 2 weeks later and recovered fine. Listen to your body. I would suggest a full 2 days off, with maybe yoga, light spinning,swimming, or stretching if you get the itch to do something. Make sure you eat well as well.

Think of DDuo as a training run and then taper for Diez and giver.

HEATHERRUNS said...

Thanks Nicola, great advice. DD-LSD, DV-Giver. If I can recover well I hope to do several 50Ks this yr- which would be great!
And here's you- a 50k, then 50 miler 2 weeks apart. Amazing!