5 miles (2.26) (The day after a long run)

I ran on Sunday and forgot to write about it.  I still will because it is my first run the day after a long run and I might want my comments for future reference.  Saturday I ran 20 miles for a race so faster than a normal 20 mile run would be.  Then Sunday, I met with some friends to run an easy 5 miles. Some of them were doing 7 or 15 but I was only doing 5.

Before we ran we took a group picture. We asked a guy who just got back from running to take it. Jen asked him how much he ran and he said "only 19 miles." We laughed at his use of only.  He said he was supposed to run 25.  He recognized my shirt and talked about the weather Sunday versus Saturday.  He was the guy on the back side of the lake with 2 kids encouraging all the runners.  His wife ran in the race.

Prior to running I told everyone (and myself) that I was only running 5 miles. I figured I had to say it in order to hold myself to it. Lately if anyone else wants to run longer, I just run longer.

We were going to do intervals with 4:1 since Ibrahim is doing the Gallaway method for his marathon training and the rest of us are versatile.   I did not want to go faster than 10 minute miles. I wanted to do it slow.  We went slow.  It was almost a struggle. Well it was a slight struggle to even keep the paces we were doing.  My hips were sore. They have been sore so that was no difference.  1.86 miles in I looked at my watch and thought we had been running way further than that. At that time, Jen commented how it felt like we ran way less than 1.86. Everyone else agreed with her.  They all felt great and refreshed but since I ran so much the day before, I was not and it was a lot more challenging.

Around mile 3 my left knee starting hurting very similar to the knee pain I had in March and April of last year.

My mentality is very different than it used to be. I thought that it was only 2 miles left with the pain so I'd just finish the run.  Back in the day, I would have stopped with 2 miles left because 40% of the distance left was enough to convince me.

Our last mile was the fastest because we chose not to walk our last walk segment.

Running the day after a long run was good so I could experience the difference in a well rested body and a fatigued and worn out body. I think it was also good to keep my joints loose.   We ran in the same direction as we did in the race and I could tell more about the road angling. I ran more towards the middle to avoid this.

Do you ever run the day after a long run?