Recovery

As part of my training for running 138 miles I did a lot of research into the effects of running an ultra marathon on the body as I wanted to be prepared for the likely after effects of the run.

I expected various bits of my body to hurt and indeed they did.  Left ankle was sore and a bit swollen on Tuesday, probably a result of altering my gait to avoid putting pressure on the blister on my heel.  My knees also have a tendency to seize up if I stay in one position too long.  Getting out of the car after a 45 minute drive to or from work is challenging!  

I'm expecting to take about two weeks off from running - a day for every 10 miles is the recommendation from the experts.  But to try and help things along I went for a sports massage this evening.  Well, I knew there were one or two sore spots but Chris at CPM Sports found a few more - ouch!  After an hour of treatment my legs definitely feel looser.

As soon as I finished the run I had a craving for hot roast chicken.  That's in line with the advice to get plenty of protein to aid muscle repair.  I wonder if there's also something the craving for chicken to do with preventing getting a cold?  You know how chicken soup tastes good when you're all snuffly?  Well research shows that nearly 70% of ultra runners get a upper respiratory tract infection within two weeks of finishing an event so I'm hoping that a few helpings of roast chicken will put me in the 30% who don't.

I've also moved the biscuit tin at work out of my line of sight.  I'm not clocking the miles up at the moment so I don't need the calories.  I'm making a conscious effort to get plenty of fruit and veg.  That's hard work as there's nothing quite as satisfying as a Bourbon Cream when you've got a boring task to plough through.

Research indicates that for every mile you run each week in training you need to get a minutes extra sleep a night as it's while sleeping that the body is most effective at repairing itself.  There's a lot less on-line about sleep after an ultra.  During the run itself I found sleeping quite difficult.  At the time I put it down to raised stress hormones and a strange bed.  The closest I can come to a similar feeling is how I felt after a serious car accident 12 years ago, it's a kind of jangly, jumpy feeling.  Now I'm back home I'm ready for bed by 9.00pm and sleeping like a log.

That's all for today, I'm off to get a hot chocolate and head to bed.