Recovery - slow and sore

It was a short night and when the alarm rang, I had difficulty in getting out of bed. The temptation to lie-in was huge and it was sheer determination that got me out of bed and into my running kit. I slipped on my Saucony as although I had no intention of running fast, it's good to alternate shoes and this morning I wasn't going to leave the roads.

I felt the tiredness in my joints as soon as I began to run. My right knee threatened to collapse under me about 3 or 4 times in the first 200 metres. My thigh muscles were sore and even an easy pace was hard to maintain. I tried to relax and carried on in the hope that this weariness would ease off and that this really would be a recovery run for once.

The rain from the storm had flooded the path down to the Seine and I had to almost wade through these in the dark to reach the road by the river. Once this obstacle completed, I was able to keep a steady pace just under 5 minutes per kilometre. I cut short my usual morning route and headed left around the castle in Maisons Laffitte, running into the park directly rather than passing by the racecourse. A couple of joggers were out in the park but apart from these, I spotted nobody on the way around town.

No accelerations today and I kept the pace even though my legs began to feel slightly better after 5 kilometres. The shortened route meant that I got home in just over 41 minutes to cover the 8.5km or an average pace of 4:50 per kilometre. Hopefully, I'll have recovered my energy for tomorrow's session.