recovery days(after races)

the day after a race for most runners is a day of easy running(worthless!*) or a day completely off.
i use my post-race workout as a way to help me recover by boosting the hormones that i help rebuild the body ive just trashed.
full-body workouts have been shown to increase the levels of anabolic hormones, especially when lifitng heavy. human growth hormone, HGH, in particular is what im after: it causes new tissue growth anywhere in the body (muscles, bones, ligaments, etc). running has been shown to decrease these hormones (since your body is trying to get smaller and lighter to better handle to extended activity). so i do heavy, full-body workouts to counteract this negative effect. the obvious side effect of this system is a bit of muscular gain, about 5 pounds in my case. in the past weight gain scared me as it does most runners, but if i can gain less than half a percent of my body weight and get 5% stronger, then its well worth it. plus the effect on preventing injuries is priceless to me.

*its too "flush out lactic acid." yeah right! -the human body clears out most lactate within a few minutes of exercising and all of it within and hour, and lactic acid itself is used in the muscles as an energy source. how do runners go so wrong?!

the night after the Delavan Half Marathon, i did the following workout:
>20 mins sauna (first time in the sauna in a few weeks)
>4X5 clean and jerk BU (build up; getting heavier each set and ending above 100 pounds)
>3X3 deadlift BU
>25 GHD situps

after my first half marathon race ever i had no noticable soreness by 48 hours after the race and was able to hit a pretty solid day three days after. the following workouts were on wednesday after the sunday race:
-midday (in Vibram Flows)
>half mile BU dragging the tire (post about the tire coming soon)
>5X120 meters all out efforts
-evening (barefoot)
>plyo WU (jumping jacks, split jumps, and some running)
>10 mins AMRAP(as many rounds as possible): 20 bent over rows(30 lbs), 10 chest to deck pushups, 20 upright rows(30 lbs), 10 face to floor decline(feet elevated 18") pushups
>10 mins rest
>10 mins AMRAP: 6 alternating pistols*, 5 hands to toes V-Ups, 4 cleans

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-4IpNoJZRw -an educational video on pistols. i was never forunate enough to practice for them: i just kinda did them one day. pretty good video though.

the Delavan Frostbite Classic

this race reports a bit late, but ive been takng the advice of a person who i really look up to for being an amazing runner and a truly great guy: he told me the key is to spend less time talking about running and more time actually running. as usual it hasnt all benn running, but training of some sort has been much more seious and race-specific now that im racing regularly.
ive run a few races beyond marathon distance but never bothered to race a half marathon, until last weeked. and its true that one of the best parts of racing a new distance is a guaranteed PR.
at first it peeved me to be racing in another small where people seem to be scared of me because i wasnt born there, but on the way down i began to accept the fact that its not the small towns -its me. living a full hour outside chicago makes me feel as if the rest of state should be like the oswego area, but you after less than an hour of driving south, i became fully aware that my trip to McNabb, shocking as it may have been for me, wasnt a journey to one small pocket of completely rural illinois. most of this state is organized into towns of well under 2000 people each.
the course was pretty perfect for running fast, but the conditions were the kicker. we took buses out to the starting line and ran two roughly square loops (of about 5.5-6 miles each) before running back to the school where the finish line was set up. the wind was pretty stiff, 35-40 miles per hour during the race, and considering that we ran stright into it on the hilly portion of the loop, the splits werent great. i stayed right around 6:40 the whole time, but my pace dropped to over 7:20 each time i hit the wind. the sun was feeling suprizingly warm at the start and by the time i was pasing the 8 mile mark it felt hot. i havnt been hitting the sauna like i should and going from about 40 degrees in training to above 70 racing doenst feel too great. i was just glad that i was as naked as legally possible. i dont know how people were running with shirts and arm warmers. however im sure the heat was more of a shock to me than most others: lake effect sucks.
i was fellin burnt by the last mile. i saw my pace bouncing from 6:40s to 7:00 and didnt care to much either way. i knew for sure i was gona break 1:30 and all things considered i was content with that.
finishing in 8th place, and under 1:30, made me very happy. with the conditions like they were the only way to measure my performace accuratly is to consider who i finished in front of as well as who i finised behind. i finished in front of atleast two people that have recently enough run 2:40s for a marathon. -thats when i knew my run was a success.
now to recover, train hard, and get ready for round two on april 3rd.

the Lisle Chamber Spring Sprint 10k

perfectly awful splits (im pretty sure every mile was slower than the previous one, except the last one maybe). i just felt awful after going out a bit too fast in the first two miles. the competition was great although i quickly realised that a PR there was near impossible. there were somewhere between ten and fifteen 90 degree turns on each 5k lap. sometime before the third mile my stomach was letting me know that Roctane for a 10k is a bit strange, but before the 5th mile it settled down.
i cant say too much more about this one without more complaining and excuses, but overall as i look back at it and look forward the half marathon this coming weekend, im content with how it turned out
thrid place overall and a 6:05 mile average. a minute slower than my PR for 10k, but a decent day.
just short report for this one, but ill have alot more to say about the half marathon in a few days.

thoughts going into the Lisle Spring Sprint 10k

2-13: looking over the results* from last year makes me think that winning might need to be the goal. going for even splits and a time goal will mean a conservative start and not responding to other runners pushing the pace. but if the first place runner is only running five seconds a mile faster than me, that could help me get even more out of the race. i know that i can run a 35:30 10k (ive done it before), but im just not sure if my fitness really is as good as it was, atleast not for the 10k distance. *http://www.athlinks.com/time.aspx?eventid=118791&courseid=169448
3-8: winning is the goal. the weather should be perfect, probly in the 40s. my legs are strong, but my distance run this week (only 12 miles) didnt feel too good. im worried that, while ive run enough 5k's to fake one if i havnt trained right for it, my heart might be pumping a bit too much battery acid through my legs after about 4 miles. i feel ready for some hard tempo work now, but i just havnt enough to be ready for a PR yet.
the game plan is just to go out as easy as possible and run to win. i dont wana have to lead from the start this time, the Frozen Buns Run went perfectly, if theres someone to follow for atleast the first half ill be happy.
ill have the race report up but tuesday the 15th.
and two quick workouts from yesterday...
about 3:00pm:
>3 miles dragging tire (post about that soon)
about 11:00pm:

>WU (light clean and jerk, 100 supine bike to each side, 100 side plank dips each side -alternating 10s)

>5 rounds of: 

 ->5 clean and jerks (at 3/4 bodyweight)

 ->20 pushups (chest to deck)

the entire evening workout had virtually no rest at any point, so it was less than 10mins total

i usually use a bit less weight than these people (ok, alot less!), but heres what a clean a jerk looks like for those who arent familiar with olymipic lifts

video from the Frozen Buns Run

you can find the video at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=190119704362112&oid=114974175241931&comments
check it out, it was pretty well made