The REAL Point of a Recovery Run

A discussion today had me thinking about the recovery run. It's always a controversial thing - is it beneficial or are they just junk miles?  I definitely have my opinions on the subject, just like anyone else.  I'm not a sports medicine doctor, medical professional of any kind, nutritionist, or scientist...just a runner with some thoughts on the subject.

What's the Term "Recovery Run"?
To start, everyone has their own terminology, so let me be clear that in my head, a "recovery run" or "active recovery run" is a slow easy run, which may even include periods of walking, of 2-4 miles for many half and full marathoners following a training plan.  Often used after a hard run or race where another moderate to hard running day is unadvisable.

What Many Think is the Purpose of the Recovery Run
Many people have followed plans with recovery runs or trained others to do them just because it's what been done. The belief has been that recovery runs increase blood flow to the legs which was additionally flush out lactic acid to decrease soreness and increase recovery.  Runner's World had an article here that indicated using active recovery runs after a big race as a sort of "reverse taper" to keep total mileage base on track. I'm not sure I agree with that without an explanation that using the muscles for X amount of time is beneficial.

What I Believe the Recovery Run is for
Some sources now though emphasis that lactic acid is flushed out by oxidation which is a natural process and happens quickly after a hard run. Here's an interesting article about lactic acid and lactate threshold.  I believe the recovery run is more for learning to run efficiently with legs in a pre-fatigued state.  Active.com had a great article this year called "A Fresh Perspective on Recovery Runs" that explains this well, better than I ever could. I highly recommend reading it!

For me, running comes down to four areas: heart, lungs, brain (mental), and muscles (legs, core, etc.). Running easy on fatigued legs is good for that fourth area - leg muscles.  A good training plan needs to balance the needs of these four things so that you are strong uniformly when you toe the start line. Active recovery runs to me are a way to get those muscles working smarter.

And yes, crosstraining could strengthen up and provide fatigue practice for leg muscles as well, but I think the practice should come with the sport you'll be using them in a fatigued condition at: running. It's like using an ellipical versus running. Yeah, they can both be helpful, but there's no substitute for the action of running. You wouldn't advise someone to do all their training on an elliptical and then run a marathon (generally), just as you wouldn't spend all your fatigued days cross-training just to go run or race in a situation where you need to run well on fatigued legs.

Every run has a purpose, but just because they are slow, doesn't make them junk miles.  And personally, I don't believe any runs are "junk miles" or "wasted". As a tweep, @alamarcavada said, "Im not a coach but was a collegiate athlete.....There is no such thing as "junk miles." a mile is a mile."

Personal Use of the Recovery Run
Last year, I did an outdoor running streak of 63 days. And many of these days included recovery runs of 1-4 miles. During this approximately 60 days, I took 6 minutes off my half marathon time. And didn't even do much speedwork over this time. I believe the recovery run was a big reason for my success at that time. The purpose of the streak for me was very much the same purpose as that active recovery run.  I felt like my cardio & pulmonary function was stronger than my mental toughness a bit and definitely stronger than my leg muscles.  My legs just felt tired at the end of half marathons - it was preventing the "get up and go" to push hard that last handful of miles.

As a mom, doing lots of 13 mile training runs and generally a big increase to training mileage wasn't very possible, especially since I'm a slower athlete than many - that's a lot of hours of training for a lot less miles covered. The recovery run strengthened my legs and helped significantly in late miles of the race.

Another example is a good friend Paula who did a year long running streak and in the middle of it, on no longer than a 13 mile training run, she completed her first 50-miler.  She credits a lot to the streak of just her body knowing how to continue to perform under fatigue.  Plus she's just one mentally tough cookie.

Not Advised for All or at All Times
Since every run has a purpose, and this is for efficient use of muscles during fatigue, this run only works in combo with runs that strengthen all four important body parts (heart/lungs/brain/muscles).  Relying on any one type of run is just a bad thing.  So in your training plan, and in your personal experience of which parts are strongest and weakest, recovery runs may or may not be useful.  Or what is useful at one time is not useful at another time in our running experiences.  Like right now, cardio/lung function is very important as I recover postpartum.

Recovery runs aren't for everyone.  One instance would be if you have bad knees or other medical issue where the impact could hurt more than help.  And then, let's face it: runners are generally an intense Type A bunch - it's a stereotype for a reason.  With that, some runners just can't run "easy" or even include walk breaks as needed to keep it truly easy.  These runners will end up injured or on the verge of injury a lot of the time. Adding a recovery run for these people will just make it worse.  Give them a rest day, hope they are religious to sticking to the exact training schedule, even though the day off may make them itch.

Where to Leave It
What do you think? Do you disagree? That's okay, but please explain why as well. I hope to learn something from other runners. Like I said when I started, it's just one opinion peppered a lot with personal experience!

Happy Running!

Ready to Complete One New Year's Resolution...But This Weather!

So I've been training hard the last few weeks. My big goal is to break 2 1/2 hours in the half marathon (11:30 pace, for a gal who currently runs a half at a 12:30 pace... eek!). Today the training schedule had me doing 3 miles at around a 10:45 pace. Before the run, I'm not convinced I can sustain that. I take it back - I'm definitely thinking I can't do that! My training partner for the night has a minor injury so calls me and has to cancel her participation. Great. Now I really won't have the motivation to push myself to keep the pace on target...

I head out the door at 7:30. It's around 95 degrees outside. Uck!
I nail the first mile and I actually feel really good. 10:38 on the first mile.

Halfway through the first mile, I start having that brain spasm that says "Just walk, you know you want to." This was part of the reason I could never get faster before. Because I would let myself periodically give up and walk.

I push on and hit the main big hill in my neighborhood. Up up up the hill. I finish the mile. 10:38 for the second mile. Awesome. Spot on.

Third mile I'm really wanting to give up and walk. The slight breeze that kept me feeling pretty good has completely disappeared.

I always hear other runners talk about how they feel like they can't breathe in this heat. Instead, I feel this intense heat building inside my head and feel like my whole brain is catching on fire ... but I can breathe just fine. :-)

I never take a walk break on this third and last mile, but I allow myself to slow down and trudge on. I've been trying so hard not to shuffle my feet like I tend to if I'm a little tired, but I'm occasionally hearing that whissh whissh ... whissh whissh of my soles skimming the ground. I pick up my legs and manage to stop the shuffling each time I start. I finish the third mile with an 11:11.

So 10:38, 10:38, 11:11 - total of 32:27 or a 10:49 average. While that wasn't 3 miles right around 10:45, it works out pretty close in the end.

The bigger news is the confidence boost this gives me. Another New Year's Resolution, besides breaking 2:30 on the half marathon, is to break 32 minutes at the 5K distance. I started the year with a PR of 35 1/2. I had an amazing, can't-understand-how-I-did-that 5K in February where I took more than 3 minutes off my PR and brought it down to 32:19. But it was a nice temp out (February) and an evening race (which appears to be a faster time for me than morning). Until the last couple weeks, I've consistently run 12-13 min/mi with occasional 11:30s so I have no clue where that February 5K time came from and really felt like it was a fluke... or a lucky day.

But now I'm feeling like I'm not having a fluke now. I'm actually getting faster and feeling stronger. And if I can run 3.0 in 32:27 in 95 degree heat, what can I run in 50 degree weather?

So here are my options...

1. I have to work another month and a half and get much much faster to manage to break 32 minutes in the Texas summer heat,
2. I can hold on to this speed level and the 32 minute time goal will probably happen on its own in the fall,
3. Where's the coolest place we can get to within a day's drive and has a Sunday 5K coming up soon? Who's up for a roadtrip in the next few weeks? :-)