Or Ironman Lack of Recovery. Whatever you want to call it.

The last mile..

I think, well hope, I’m not the only one who gets ancy after sitting around for a week or ten days after Ironman, eating bonbons and peeling sunburned skin off my shoulders. While I understand the need for the body to recover, I also think some of the theories out there about just how long recovery takes are extreme. Made up by someone who wants to keep cyclists off the road, or wants to win the local 10k a month after Kona.. and is trying to trick you into staying home!

The whole one-day-off-for-every-mile-raced that many marathoners use seems extreme to me. 26 days off is not going to work for me. 140.6 days off? No way, Jose.

I had a chance this week to swim with Andy Potts. He raced well in Dallas 6 days prior to kicking butt at Kona, his first Ironman, so I thought I would ask him about a little plan I had brewing in my head and how best to recover. He said to alternate hot and cold tubs to repair the muscles. But not all of us live at the Oly training center, Pottsy. So he said ice baths are good. And then he said that when the muscle soreness of Ironman is gone, and you feel ready, throw in a hard run. If the pain comes back after, you were not adequately recovered.

I’ve renamed Kona. It wasn’t my race, it was my long training day for the marathon at Silverman, four weeks after Kona. I have been feeling good. Lots of swimming, very moderate running, and a bike still living in its box. So I ran 10 miles at marathon pace yesterday. And I woke up today more sore than I was after Kona. I threw the laundry down the stairs in order to avoid walking down. It was messy, but worth it. I guess I’m not recovered.

I guess it’s another week of swimming in store for me then.. happy recovery, all!