Friday 22 May 2009

Recovering Our Senses

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, May 22, 2009 with
Thanks Janene and Yili, your feedback is very welcome and much appreciated.

Firstly, last night's training under lights at Dickson Oval consisted of three 1km intervals with a bit of a break in between. Present were Brett M, Bronwyn, me, Heidi, Janene, Jennifer, Miranda, Nadine, Rod, Roger, Ruth & Yelena. Joel and Maria also dropped by but did not train.

Secondly, late news from the Canberra Half Marathon. Cathy Montalto won her W55 age group. Congratulations Cathy, great effort!

Thirdly, some useful information on the subject of Recovery. Recovery is more than allowing time to build in strength after a hard training effort or race. It is much, much more than that.
The following is stolen unashamedly from Peter Magill's blog. Follow the link to read in more detail what Peter has to say.

"You see, recovery isn't just a period of time between one run and the next. It's that and all this too:
    Correct effort for the workout itself, remembering that each workout is just a link in a chain, and that 100% efforts are always races.
    Post-run stretching and exercises to return muscles to normal suppleness.
    Icing of any new or chronic injuries or sore spots.
    Hydration - making sure you replace water you've lost during your workout.
    Nutrition - replenishing muscle glycogen stores in the immediate aftermath (first two hours) of a workout by eating high-carbohydrate foods, as well as making sure that you get enough calories and nutrients in the rest of your diet.
    Sleep - no one can run on 3 hours of sleep a night ... and everyone runs better when they're fully rested.
    Recovery runs - whether this is an easy 30-40 minute morning run or an easy distance run the day after a hard workout, these runs are essential for repairing muscles.
    Soft surfaces - we older runners benefit from doing our easy distance on trails and grass (as long as there's still good footing).
    Hard/Easy - this applies to days, weeks, seasons, and - when it comes to us older runners - even years; lots of masters competitors will allow themselves a down year or two in the middle of an age group, before charging back fresh as they enter the next age group.
    Proper perspective - we often forget that part of successful running recovery comes from keeping running itself in perspective, that our training and race goals should never produce anxiety; rather, they should be a healthy addition to otherwise full lives.
If we follow all of the above rules of recovery, it's very likely that we'll attain reasonable training and racing goals."


Lastly, MOUNTAIN RUNNING EVENTS COMING UP
Online registration and full event information are available on www.coolrunning.com.au/mountainrunning for the following events.

SUNDAY 24 MAY. Homestead to Summit, 11am, Lanyon historic homestead, Tharwa Road . Turn right 500m south of the Tharwa Drive roundabout at Banks, and drive 2kms to the homestead carpark. 9km run to the Mt Rob Roy summit (walk or jog back). 18km run or bush walk to summit and return. Online registration and full event details at www.coolrunning.com.au/mountainrunning. Helpers needed. Contact John Harding ph 62486905.

SUNDAY 7 JUNE. AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR, SENIOR and MASTERS MOUNTAIN RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS. 12 noon Dandenong Ranges National Park , Ferntree Gully, Melbourne . Run in a beautiful mountain ash forest on scenic trails. Open to all fit runners aged from 16 to 80, there is no qualifying.
12.00pm Australian junior men’s 8.2km
12.05pm Australian junior women's 4.1km and W60 and over women’s 4.1km
12.05pm Australian open women’s 8.2km and W35 to W55 veteran women’s 8.2km
1.00pm Australian open men’s 12.3km and M40 to M50 veteran men’s 12.3km
1.00pm Australian M55, M60, M65 and M70 and over veteran men's 8.2km
Online registration & full event details at www.coolrunning.com.au/mountainrunning
One 8-seater bus of ACT veteran competitors is already full. Contact John Harding ph 62486905 if intending to compete and also wish to go by 8 seater bus, and if prepared to share in the driving.

SUNDAY 25 JULY. BUSH CAPITAL BUSH MARATHON FESTIVAL. 2km, 5km, 10km, 16km, 25km, marathon, marathon relay and 60km ultra off road trail runs and 5km, 10km, 16km and 25km bush walks from Campbell High School next to the Australian War Memorial. A fund raising event for the Australian Mountain Running Team. Helpers needed.

See www.coolrunning.com.au/mountainrunning for all these events and more.