Meghan's Blog

As they say in Ireland your knackered!

Sounds like it's time for backing off on the mileage for a week or two and some well spent time with a massage therapist. That will work out those kinks!

Cheers!

Yep, gotta agree with the hubby on this one. Back the mileage off for a couple of weeks. I'm going to add: up your carb intake some. Are you vegetarian? (I am) I've been cutting back on sugars and simple carbs and trying to increase complex carbs while keeping the protien up. So far I haven't felt any extra fatigue, however, my weekly mileage is in the 30-40 range. Still, that's normal for me, and the 50-70 range is normal for you. If you were running those miles pre-race without fatigue and niggles, then you ought to be able to get back to it. I'm guessing the race took more out of you than you know - increased miles, increased heat, no rest days, the hidden stress of traveling, dropping weight - it all adds up!

meghan, your own analysis is thorough and thoughtful. have you considered taking a few days or week or two of absolutely "no agenda running" or training? i find this kind of running (lately) really helps me bounce back. basically i have no objective (no mileage goal, pace goal, etc), i just get out the door and i'm happy with whatever i accomplish. sometimes it's a 2 mile run on my all time favorite trail. sometimes it's a run to the post office. other times it may be an 8 mile run w/a group of much slower friends, running their pace, their plan for the day. i hope you feel better soon.

Agree with all sound advice above, and will add...remember how much you appreciated the deep tissue massage you received during the race ? It helped you to get through but I would speculate it only had temporary effects. After an effort like that you need an overhaul! Otherwise it piles up while you think evrything is more or less ok... If budget was not a major issue (and even if it was still it would be money well spent) I would say get one or two more massages, but more importantly I would find a good physiotherapist and/or osteopath. After a feat like the coastal challenge I would have gone to see them even if I felt great. You know, it is like, even if you win the Paris Dakar, you are still going to totally retune-up your car... Don't feel like I am writing as clearly as I am thinking, hope the jist of it emerges... As far as the diet goes, I am not a big protein fan (takes more work to digest and that can be fatiguing too! Think lions after the gazelle lunch..) bests...

If I had to guess I would say you are still recovering - the Coastal Challenge was such a big, hard effort that it will probably take a few months to really feel normal. I know after my marathon (which is a much smaller thing than what you did) I did not feel 'right' for about 6 months.

That said, take it easy and I hope you are rocking the trails again soon!

Some good comments above. I figure the three choices running-wise are 1) take some time off 2) back off a bit 3) wait it out. I've had a couple coaches tell me in the past to wait this type of thing out and just keep pushing through, but I've also found from personal experience that I just get more and more tired. For me, the answer would be to take some time off (just crosstrain), and then ease back into it...but everyone is different.

Good luck either way... (And have you had your iron checked?)

Good advice given.
I don't do nearly as much mileage as you. It's hard to stop running, once you're psychologically hooked. I would guess the best way to recover would be to cross-train (not too hard with that, either) while doing negligible mileage (2-4 easy miles daily) and get massage at least once, but strongly suggest twice. And do that for an entire week or until the doldrums go away. If the cost of massage is too great, do it yourself as best you can.
You're superwoman. I don't know how you run so many miles consistently. But we all lag at times. Good luck.

One week of back-off what I'd see for myself (I mean, lower/slower miles). I think (my personal opinion) you would have recovered from Challenge with low weeks, although the 70 was a jump. Change in diet - slow protein metabolising - does make sense. So does the spring coming (hormonal issues with human race). See what happens after a 35M week (or whatever fits your fancy) and take another approach after that.

Hi Meghan, Hard to comment after all the great tid bits of wisdom given above and especially since I have not done a multi-day event. I'd say from your analytical description and a bit from my experiences after a hard long race effort that it's a combination of overtraining and possible change in metabolism from the increased addition of protein to your diet. Often times I like to listen to my heart and feel no pressure from a program that I am following. At times like these I will go out without a watch, try running new courses and change things up so I don't have to think about my pace, and feel slow. I think it's fun at times like these to run courses in new directions and mostly just to go out and run when you really want to.. don't feel any pressure. It's also a good time to think about your next goal and plan how you can gradually build up to it. Sometimes that gives me a lot of motivation. The old saying is, that you need a day off for every mile raced. I think it varies so much for each person but I think the recovery is much longer than we allow ourselves as endurance athletes. Not only physical but emotional as well. It is such a huge build up and the event itself is so consuming for your body and your senses, it's hard to quickly find balance afterward. You will NOT loose your fitness if you take a few weeks off, observing Liz being pregnant, having her lowest mileage ever, and then getting a pr, taught me a lot about recovery and listening to your body. Listen to your body, try some new things, and take the time to appreciate your accomplishments.

"I think it varies so much for each person but I think the recovery is much longer than we allow ourselves as endurance athletes. Not only physical but emotional as well."

Right on Mary! This is good all-around etchable thoughts category! :-)