Recovery Week and Training for Something New

Ahhh...recovery week. Next to OCD race day preparation, this is definitely my favorite part of running. I didn't do much of anything. In fact, the only physical thing I did this week was take my dog for a 1 mile walk. It was nice to have a break.

I've noticed how much more quickly I recover from these things now. I was a bit sore from the race, but nothing too bad. I didn't feel like I needed a massage like after my first. And have I mentioned that for the first time since I started running in April, I finished a race and did not have horrific blisters? Hurray! This was always the worst part of post race recovery for me. My feet looked (and felt) like they'd been in a blender after each race!

Even though I was looking forward to my "last half marathon for awhile" and even though I am so relieved it is over, I do find myself a little anxious that if I stop training for them and running them, I'll lose a lot of my endurance. The last one was so enjoyable, and I felt so good during it. The thought of doing another, and it feeling like that wretched first one is absolutely horrifying! I am however tired of the "long slow run" training, a little bored with it you might say. So I'm going to work on training for the Cowtown 10k. I didn't much enjoy the last (and only) 10k I ran, but to be fair, I didn't enjoy much about running then. I'm hoping I'll enjoy mixing the training up and trying a different distance. Here's what my training program looks like. It's from SmartCoach on Runner's World.

Week 1:
2m easy
5m tempo
2m easy
7m long run

Week 2:
3m easy
5m speedwork
2m easy
7m long run

Week 3:
3m easy
5m tempo
2m easy
8m long run (but I'm going to run in a 5k instead)

Week 4:

3m easy
6m tempo
2m easy
8m long run

Week 5:
3m easy
3m easy
Race Day