Recipe for Recovery After a Rough Run

My track run on Sunday was really rough for me. Now when I trained for the Boston Marathon in 2009, we did 117 times around the track to get miles into our legs but here's the thing. I was so adept at what Tom Myers calls Kinesthetic Dystonia, that I could easily ignore what was going on in my body. The 3 mile run around the track went well. I did one five miler and noticed that I was having a few missteps along the way but was so happy to be running again and not be out in sub zero temperatures that I didn't pay much attention. This past Sunday, with temperatures in the single digits with a wind chill, we returned to the track.



Even though my time was a 15 minute/mile pace, it was not a pretty run by any means. I had a lot of missteps due in part to there being something sticky on the track but also because going around in one direction (and you have to go in the direction that everyone is going in on the particular day) was not serving me. I was aware of what was happening in my body where my gait was not smooth and steady and I had a couple of near falls but because my balance is improved, did not go down. Still my system was jolted by the missteps and even though I got in an intense cardio workout and put miles in my legs, overall, the run took a toll on me.

Yesterday morning it was off to Spaulding for Aquatics Therapy. What a blessing the warm waters were on my still recovering body. Karis led us through our paces. Because there was a patient having an individual therapy session, we had to move into the shallow end of the pool. It was amazing to discover the difference in what muscles were worked and what was challenged in the more shallow end of the pool. Karis suggested that I be very mindful of how the exercises felt with the 3 pound ankle weights I was using. When I emerged from the warm water, I felt refreshed and renewed realizing that I need to be ever so mindful with what activities I decide to engage in.



This evening it's Finding My Aquatic Strength and tomorrow I will get back out on the roads. And now I know that even if I have a rough run, I have a great recipe for recovery.

What's your recipe for recovery from a rough run?