By Alisa Harvey (2007 Masters Athlete of the Year) Your legs  will have a heavy burning feeling during runs which will  indicate that you may need to have either a day off or another  light jog instead of a workout. If your alarm wakes you up  before you naturally wake up in the morning it may be time to  assess the amount of sleep you are getting; you may need an  extra day off from running. A big signal that indicates that  you may not be ready to work hard again is when you try to do a  fast stride and you just can't seem to reach that last gear  like you could before. Day-to-day stresses will also play a  factor in how your body recovers during and after runs. A major  emotional event may mandate that you take at least one day off  from training. Listen to your body.

The amount of healing for any given runner depends on the  individual's gender, age, and health. A woman will need more  time to recover from any given workout than a man because of a  man's higher testosterone levels, muscle mass, and blood  volume. Masters runners generally need more time to recover due  to decreased hormone levels of men and women as they age. A  runner who is suffering from an illness will often cause  himself more damage or delay in healing if he attempts to work  out while sick. Be sure to consult your physician when you are  confronted with any type of illness before engaging in  strenuous exercise. Continuing to train through illness or an  injury can prolong healing.

Taking an after exercise plunge in an ice water bath (a tub of 12 to 15 degrees Celsius ice water) is a common practice among many elite athletes as a way to recover faster, and reduce muscle pain and soreness after intense training sessions or competitions. From elite runners like Paula Radcliff, the ice bath is a standard practice routine.

Tips for Resting Well 

1. Give yourself at least one day of complete rest per week.

2. Use a heart rate monitor to help assess your recovery

3. Never do two hard track sessions on consecutive days.

4. Always err on the side of too much rest between intervals.

5. Take an ice bath to assist in recovery. 

6. Get a sports massage; it is well worth the cost.

7. Stop the workout if you begin to slow considerably from  predicted pace.

Thanks Washington Running Report.

Or you can turn a garden hose on your legs after a run. An old horse trainers trick. Jack Foster the great masters runner from NZ used this all the time.
Richard Stiller 8/11/12 3:36 pm

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by Barry Anderson Ujena Fit Club Coach This is a racing technique that may not help your time but can help you defeat that rival who seems to constantly beat you to the finish line. Though blind turns are more often seen in cross-country courses, many road races do have turns where someone that is 10-20 yards or more behind you will loose sight of you as you make the turn ahead of them.

The idea here is to surge or accelerate for a short distance as the runner(s) behind lose sight of you in the turn. By the time those behind you make it through the blind turn and see you again, your lead will have increased by more than they have expected. This can be deflating to those competitors and they may begin to worry more about who is behind them than trying to catch you.

Photo: up ahead looks like a perfect blind turn.  This would be a good time to open up some distance on the person who is trying to finish ahead of you at the finish.

As my running progressed, I enjoyed moving from the mental state of merely trying to figure out how to finish, to thinking about strategy - whether I could implement it or not!
Steve Gilbert 4/28/14 7:30 am

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