Another Recovery Week in the Books

This was a strange "recovery week". Although I limited myself to three runs this week, and only made it to gym for three weight training sessions due to a course I had to attend, I still felt a bit more wiped than usual for a couple of reasons. One, my diet was not so good this week, and two, I helped my sister move so that meant a lot of lifting and stair climbing. The diet was linked to the move on Saturday, but the rest of the week could have been better as well. The crap they serve at courses did not help matters...

I did manage a decent 9km on Friday after being let out early from that course at UofT, running from home around the trails in Taylor Creek and to Owen's school. That actually felt OK, but even though I tried to maintain my heart rate in the 130s the run was more difficult than I'd have liked and it averaged out at 145bpm. The effort level was right where I'd wanted it to be, but something weird was going on.

The weirdness continued on Sunday. After spending Saturday with the move, I went out this morning for another easy run, but it didn't turn out as easy as planned. I ran 11km, but was never able to keep my heart rate in check. Although on the perceived effort meter I was right where I wanted to be, my heart rate was elevated and averaged out to 150bpm. Not good. Too much pizza and cookies over a few days will do that I suppose, and at least it's good to know that this is how my body copes with crappy carbs.

The recovery week got me over the monthly total goal of 155km - I managed 31km for the week and now my March total is up at 157km. Now the fun starts as I plan on averaging 40km per week for the month of April. I'm mulling over adding a fifth run per week as my mileage keeps inching upward, but I don't know if my body can take it. The knee continues to be a trouble spot, but at least it's not getting appreciably worse. I was really worried after Saturday that all the stair climbing would set me back significantly, but it seemed okay on today's run so I think I made it through better than expected. Just have to keep weight training, stretching, watching my running form and pace, and hoping for the best I suppose.