Runner's Wave Recovery

Does anyone know about the phenomenon known as the “Runner's Wave Recovery”? This is just an idea that I have been crossed my mind, and I thought I would share it on my blog.

So what is it? Well, let me try to explain it.

Think about this way. At the end of a hard trying session, you are gearing up for a specific big race. The race goes okay but not perfect. Your body just doesn’t seem to be feeling need to “paw” the ground and run hard. Then, just as strangely, 2 or 3 days later suddenly the workouts feel easier. There is that extra spring in the “Runner’s Step”.

This is what I mean by a runner’s recovery wave.

Taking the day easy right before the race or big workout doesn’t really help. Well, it helps, but “yes and no”.

In my opinion, the process of recovery is much more fluid and takes much longer to show up. It is like a wave of water hitting the shore line. The wave starts as a tiny movement of water, but as it travels, it gets bigger. The same can be said for a recovery day. Take a single recovery day and tomorrow, you probably will not feel much different. Take a couple days, things really start to feel better. Even if you only take one day, the next day probably will not feel any better but by probably Sunday or Monday, you should see some improvement. Granted, I am making a lot of assumptions here. First, and for most, recovery all depends on your training. I am assuming that you are training pretty hard. Also I am basing my ideas around how my training goes. How I feel after taking a down day.

Therefore, the next time there’s a big race on the calendar; don’t use the last couple of days to back down for a recovery. Use the weekend before to back down and then roll into the race running hard.

Try it and see if it makes a difference

 

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner