Recovery. . . and More!

It took a full week after Pineland Farms before I really felt like running again – it ends up I wasn’t over my cold like I thought. So on top of my sore muscles (and man, they were sore), I was still stuck with the same congestion and weak, tired feeling I had before the race. So I took a full week off of running for the first time in at least two years.

So it was with some hesitancy that I laced up for my run to work Monday, but once I got out the door, I felt great. Same with the run home this afternoon, it was a good run, and I made sure not to push it until I get back into the swing of things. It’s been a little cooler, too, but the humidity is still up there, and it’s supposed to keep on getting hotter until tomorrow, which will get up close to 100, with a chance of thunderstorms.

So now I’m back to my base of 50 mpw just by running to work and back, but I need to find a good place to put some more training in for the trails. I’m planning on hitting the trails near my house on Saturday and putting in 10 or 15 miles, just to keep my legs used to moving on the terrain.

My next big race, should I chose to run it, will be the Maine Huts & Trails 50k in Carabasset Valley, Maine at the end of August. I love the area, having run the Sugarloaf Marathon twice (including my PR this year of 3:59), so I’m really excited for the opportunity to run a trail 50k up there, but the race director still hasn’t responded to my request for more details. If anyone else knows anything about this race, please let me know! I’m also planning to run the Gloucester 7-miler and the Around Cape Ann 25k, which are each within a week of the 50k. I’m just planning to treat those two as “fun” training runs.

I took my son for a kids’ fun run down the street on Sunday, which he was really excited for, until we actually got there. Then he suddenly decided he didn’t want to run it anymore. Now, the weird thing is that he’s always been a big runner, but this time, after about 10 minutes of cajoling, he agreed to run, but insisted on me running it with him and holding his hand. This was his longest race, a lap around the park, and it was the first time I’ve ever seen him hit the “kids wall,” where they suddenly realize they’re not going to be able to sprint the entire race. He pushed through though, and we didn’t finish last! Afterwards, he confided in me (but I’m still not sure if I believe him or if he’s just giving an answer so I stop asking) that he originally didn’t want to run because he realized he wasn’t going to win when he saw the big kids at the starting line. Now, I have no idea where he could have gotten such an impression, as I’ve never even come close to winning a race in my life! Anyway, it was an interesting experience.