30 Minute Treadmill Interval Workout (Speed Ladder)

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Coco

Now that I’ve made it through my April 10 milers, the next race on my calendar is the Lawyers Have Heart 10K. While I never do particularly well at this race (it’s usually too hot and sunny), I am using it as an excuse to focus on speed work for the next few weeks.

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What I Ate Wednesday: Kale Chips

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Coco

Last weekend when my Mom told me that she had a bumper crop of kale and other greens, I was happy to take some off her hands. When I saw how much kale she had, I knew I would have to make kale chips. Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Dinner By Herman Koch

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Coco

I started reading The Dinner by Herman Koch this book before I learned that it was the April selection for the Healthy Living Blogs book club, but I am so glad that I will have an opportunity to chat about it. There is so much that I want to say about this book, but most of it would would require a spoiler alert, so I won’t say it here.

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Five Ways Racing Is Like Having A Baby

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Coco

We runners are a tight group. We encourage each other to reach our goals. We share our training routines and tips for avoiding injury. We congratulate each other for crossing the finish line smiling. In many ways, we are like a close-knit mom’s group. That makes sense, because I can think of at least five ways racing is like having a baby. Continue reading →

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Post-Race Recovery

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Coco

I had a great race at the GW Parkway Classic last weekend, and I’ve had a great post-race recovery week.

I kick-started my recovery by taking an ice bath when I got home. As much as I wish Epsom salt baths worked as well for me, they just don’t. I took a warm Epsom salt bath after the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler and was hobbled by delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) the next day. I took an ice bath after the GW Parkway Classic and noticed that my quads didn’t even complain about walking down the stairs.

On Monday, I opted for a “triple threat” workout to help my legs recover:

  1. 20 minutes on the elliptical (forward/reverse intervals)
  2. 25 minutes with Rodney Yee (Forward Bends program)
  3. 10 minutes core work with Cathe (from my X-Train DVD)

I made Tuesday a strength day, and did my ITB Rehab routine, my super sets routine, and 6 minutes of planks (4 sets of 30-second planks front/left/right).

20130425-214806.jpgI need my interval timer app to lead me through those planks!

On Wednesday, I was in Chicago for a business trip, and went for a run along one of my favorite routes from the Navy Pier out to the planetarium.

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The planetarium is at the point in the distance.
I’m not used to being able to see my destination 2 miles away!

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It was a bit rainy, and windy, but I didn’t mind.
I love the Chicago skyline!

I ended up covering about 5.6 miles in 52 minutes, with most of my splits at a 9:25 pace–clearly my legs were ready to be running again.

On Thursday I was back home and did my strength routine again, doing Cathe’s core routine instead of planks.

Today I plan to do an easy run before work, and tomorrow I may do some speed work at the track–nothing fancy, just some 400M repeats for fun. The next race on my calendar is the Lawyers Have Heart 10K in June, so I am going to spend the next few weeks focusing on speed instead of distance.

How do you recover from a race?

How long does it usually take to get back to your usual workout routine?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments