This week was primarily a week of recovery from last week’s marathon. The recovery seems to be slower than my previous marathons. I think it is due to a combination of two factors — jet lag resulting in erratic sleep and catching a mild cold virus earlier in the week. Fortunately, I had a three day weekend and have been able to take it easy and rest. Yesterday, I finally seemed to get a halfway decent night sleep, although I did wake up for a couple hours in the middle of the night. The virus seems to be making its exit. I started to get the inklings of a scratchy throat on Wednesday evening and the virus made its way from the back of the throat, then to the sinuses, then to the lower throat, now residing in my lungs which had me coughing out some nasty stuff this morning. Hopefully, in a couple days it will all be gone. Unfortunately, I have a 7 hour flight to Singapore tomorrow for a business trip, which I hope doesn’t aggravate my recovery.
As far as running, I ran for the first time today. It was a 10-miler at a 7:45/mile pace, but I could tell from the run that my legs are still not 100% recovered – I’d estimate I’m at 75%. There was no joint pains, which is always a good sign, but my right calf and left hamstring were a little tight. So I’ll probably need to do some yoga daily to stretch the muscles out this upcoming week. Earlier this week I also bicycled to work one day this week, which was about 30 miles round trip. I’m finding cycling to be very complementary to running. It seems to use a different muscle group and is not nearly as abusive to the body, but you can still get a decent aerobic workout in.
Going into the Kobe Marathon next Sunday, I’m not feeling overly confident. I was hoping to feel a little better than I am by now and there are some question marks on how my body is going to feel late in the marathon next Sunday. Although I don’t plan to run a fast time, I also don’t want to be walking the last 10 miles of the course. I really need to be disciplined this week when it comes to resting, minimizing stress and eating well.
As far as training this week, it will be minimal. I’ll do some short intervals (6 x 400s) on Wednesday, a 3-mile run on Friday, then the Kobe Marathon on Sunday. I’ll also try to get in at least 20 minutes of yoga daily. For my diet, I plan to eat lots of fruits, veggies, rice, bread and pasta and stay clear away from any fast and fried foods – which may be a challenge since I’ll be traveling most of the week.
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