1 day for every mile

How long should you recover after an intense race, particularly a marathon or ultramarathon? I know of runners who race in back-to-back marathons only a week apart, or even a full marathon and 100 kilometers all within a week after running 160 kilometers on the road.

While these runners do not show any signs of slowing down or any obvious physical damage now, I believe that this form of abuse will take its toll later. If you want to run for the rest of your life or until your old age, then you must allow for optimal recovery before engaging in another intense race, marathon or ultramarathon.

While factors such as the runner’s fitness level and age influence the period of optimal recovery, the popular rule of thumb is one day for every mile. Hence, if you ran 100 miles (160 kilometers) then the recovery period should be 100 days or a little over three months and for those who ran 50K last March 10 should allot 32 days for optimal recovery.

However, recovery doesn’t mean sitting in front of the television and zero exercise. In order not to lose cardiovascular fitness even during the recovery period, the runner must engage in active recovery during the off-season following a particularly intense race.  Activities for active recovery could include swimming, spinning, dancing and aerobics.

It’s been two months since BDM 160, which means I still have more or less 30 days of rest and recovery before training again for another race. That’s an awfully long time and it’s depressing. I can practically feel all the fat I lost while training twice daily for BDM crawling back inside me.

While recovery is giving me the blues now, I know it will pay off in the end. Just as training for an ultra requires patience and smarts; so do recovering from a physically punishing race. If you want to keep running injury free till your old and grey, remember to be kind to your body.

New Trail Routes

I haven’t run since the All-Women 50K last March 10. Truth to tell, I’ve no desire to run on roads for a very long time. That is why the trail runs lined up for April and May are welcome relief for the road-weary runner like myself.

On April 22, 2012 the Quota Trail Challenge will take runners to hidden trail routes in Barangay Bacayan in Cebu City, Casili in Mandaue City and Tolo-Tolo in Consolacion giving runners a unique experience of being close to nature, running through amazing views and a pollution-free route.

The run organized by the Quota Int’l of Cebu-South and Mahogany Grove Homeowners’ Association for the benefit of the deaf and hearing-impaired students of Lipata National High School Sped Center. Proceeds will be used for the construction of the school’s livelihood training center, as well as a fully-operational bakery with TESDA certified teachers.

The starting area of the Quota Trail Challenge will be at Pristina North Commercial Area in Bacayan, Talamban, Cebu City (6 a.m.).  Race distances include 400m, 800m, 5k and 16k. The registration fee is pegged at P250 for 400m and 800m, P350 for 5k and P450 for 16k. You may register at The Brick Multisport Store at the ground floor of JC Mall, Clinica Melgar at Rm 205 Dona Luisa Bldg. Fuente Osmena and Runnr Ayala Center Cebu from April 8 to 20, 2012.

On May 6, 2012, runners will be treated to new trail routes in Carmen town north of Cebu City for the 6th leg of the Columbia Eco Trail Run. There are limited slots for two race categories – elite 14k and executive 8k. Registration for the Eco Trail Run started last March 6 and will end on May 1. The fees are pegged at P650 and P350 for the elite and executive categories respectively.