I Needed My Recovery Run

Yesterday I had delusions of grandeur. I was a legend in my own mind. Maybe even megalomaniacal. My plan said four mile recovery run. Damn it! I knew I could put in six miles! About a mile and a half in, I realized I really did not want to run more miles today. Why? Because despite what I was trying to convince myself of, I was tired! My legs were slow and heavy. I felt like I was lumbering my way down the trail. So, at two miles, I turned around and headed back to the car. After all, fours miles *is* pretty close to six miles. Right?

When I got back and looked at the data, it wasn't as bad as it felt. Average pace was 10:31 (pretty consistent with other recovery runs) and my average heart rate was below 75% MHR. So, the first week of my new Half Marathon cycle finished up at 21.3 miles. I lost 10 miles due to my back (Monday and Tuesday), so I'm pretty much on schedule.

This week I'm travelling. Normally, I try to get workouts in at my hotel, but I'm travelling every evening starting tomorrow - getting into Cleveland at 9:30 PM tomorrow, Knoxville at midnight Wednesday, and back here to OC at 10:30 PM Thursday. So, I think my week will stack up this way:

• Monday: 4 mile easy run, gym for stretching and core work
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Rest/travel
• Friday: 6 mile easy run
• Saturday: 12 mile long run
• Sunday: 4 mile recovery run, gym for stretching and core work

This will put me at 26 this week - still a few miles less that I want to be at for a base, but considering I have to take 3 days off...