TIART - Recovery: But I don't Wanna....

This week's installment of Take it and Run Thursday is all about Recovery. And I can see everyone rolling their eyes right about now!

Recovery is definitely something I have had to work at a lot to do consistently. Back when I was an Irish Dancer with O'Neill-James in Washington, D.C. and most recently in Cleveland, OH with Burke, there was no such thing. You worked as hard as you could for as long as you could. If a competition called for three steps of something, you practiced four together, just so you knew you could make it to the end, looking just as fresh as when you started.

It's no wonder I spent my formative years with shin splints, stress fractures, joint problems, and now have arthritis in my knees. I might have been the dancer I wanted and worked to be if I had known about a little thing called recovery.

So this is why I'm trying to pay careful attention to recovery days and weeks, instead of letting old habits die-hard. Recovery helps you body to actually do what you've worked so hard to do, and it's a proven fact that it works. I think often, those of us who are middle-of-the-back-of-the-packers want to work at getting faster, so we feel that if we take a day off or maybe take a walk break, that we're undoing all of the hard work we put in the day or week before.

Not so! There's no other way around it; trust your coaches and the experts. Rest up and Recover.

Having said that, here's how I like to recover, in bullet form:

1. Fooding. This is particularly hard one for me. My natural inclination is to not eat anything, thus not getting fat again. Bad idea, because I'll binge later. It is not only okay, but necessary to eat post-run. Hell, it's important to eat well all the time. Proper nutrition, especially after long runs or hard weeks, helps to rebuild muscle damage. Simply put, if you eat the right things, you may recover faster. Yay for that! My favourite places to eat after a long run with CES is at Nookie's in Old Town or Flat Top Grill. You can get good-for-you and TASTY recovery food there, like omelets and oatmeal. If we're not eating out after a run (as often is the case when you, like myself, are broke), then I speed home and have a whole-wheat bagel with some natural peanut butter and a little honey, with a glass of milk, followed by more water. Mmmmmmmmmmm...

2. Nap. Pretty much all I want to do after a long run or a hard week is sleep. I could sleep all of Saturday after a long run! However, this is not always possible, so I try to follow the example of the elites, and get as much sleep as I can. This has meant, sadly, that I must cut out many of my favourite television shows. But a full 8 hours is slightly more important. I read somewhere that the ever important human growth hormone that aids in muscle and bone repair is mostly produced during sleep. So get some more rest!

3. Comfy Clothes. There's nothing better than getting in your favourite pair of sweats (well...post showering of course) after a hard run. In fact, putting on the pair of sweats that I've owned since freshman year at Kent (also about 40 lbs ago) really motivates me to do absolutely NOTHING for the rest of the day. Or weekend.

4. The Boob Tube. Do we still call it that anymore? I don't know...anyway, after I've progressed to the "comfy clothes" stage, it's time to move to the couch, or the floor if I'm doing that crazy yoga move (butt against the wall, legs up in air against the wall...really helps!), and either watch bad shows on VH1 or MTV, or pop in a movie that I haven't seen in a while. Perfect opportunity to regress back to the Nap stage ;)