Each week, one of our our coaches jots down a short thought piece giving insight into elements of coaching, training, racing or mindset. This week Coach Chris talks about the importance of recovery in getting to your next start line.
I’m borrowing this little gem from Dr Phil Maffetone, who often writes about health and endurance sports. To me, the value of this equation cannot be understated. So many runners or athletes only look at one part, the workout. They hit the treadmill, trails or track every day, stacking up the km’s on Strava as they go. Don't get me wrong, working out is addictive and recovery, lets face it, can be kind of boring, but recovery is where the magic and the adaptations to your body happen. Recovery allows you to keep doing the fun workouts. This equation simply shows that if you aren’t recovering, then you aren’t training. Yep, it’s that important.
So what does recovery look like for someone training for a longer event such as a half, full or ultra marathon? Well, you are going to be putting your body through more than normal, so it will need more than normal recovery. After those long runs or tough sessions, you are likely to be tired, possibly depleted of nutrients and your muscles might feel sore, so taking care of your body becomes doubly important. That care comes in the form of more sleep and rest, but also more help for those aching muscles in the form of massage, rolling and stretching. Good planning of your routine should include strategically placed days of total rest and lighter recovery days, where the aim is just to get the body moving again. Remember, you can not finish the race if you don't make it to the start line, so getting on top your recovery in order to avoid injury, particularly in the last few weeks of your training becomes really important in just getting to your start line.