Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

bummer about the knee - hope it gets better soon.

Yeah, an easy week followed by a 10K should be a good way to recuperate from the knee thing, as long as you warm up really well for the race.

Just read yesterdays post, big time bummer, that is the first I have ever heard you mention any pain! Like IJR said, I was starting to think you were made of steel too! Play it smart and back off a little (that means taking a break from being at the top end of the mileage board!), and hopefully it will disappear quickly! Personally, I would not run more than 3 miles the rest of the week, with a full day of rest Friday, and hopefully you will be good to races a strong 10k. You could be looking at a 5 min+ PR over last April, which is absolutely amazing at that distance!

Take a page from the JG race taper ... and back way off ... you'll be amazed at how fast you can run on fully rested legs ... not too mention you want that injury to become distant history ... not lingering!

On a lighter note ... you got me there ... I had to Google Vitamin I ... I was like what the ... and then I quickly realized it is my favorite vitamin! :)

Seriously Joe, you have been an absolute machine the last 17 weeks! I just looked at your weekly chart, and you have only run less than 50 once in that timeframe (when you were forced to by your 'minor procedure'), and most weeks were over 60. Enjoy a resting week, it is well deserved ... have a great 10k, & then hopefully you can jump back into the Phitz plan! With the way you have been running, your body is already acclimated to like Week 10 of the Phitz plan anyway, a few days rest will help, not hurt.

You da man!

I must say I agree with JG 100%. Your body needs rest to repair and heal itself, only then will it become stronger. I truly believe there is a certain point where a certain mileage will get you the most bang for the buck, and after that the gains are very small or incremental and the increase for injury goes up exponentially. For example, what is the gain of doing a 10 mile recovery run after a hard day vs. a 6 mile recover run? Very little, if any, I think. Elites might get away with it, but they are genetic freaks who do nothing but run, rest all day, and eat.

I have found that recovery weeks are so important for me. But hey, just my 2 cents.

Some light reading:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--8256-0,00.html

I always repeat this mantra to myself: "The #1 goal of a runner is to get to the starting line healthy!"

sub 40!

You will have a great race. I am excited to see how well you do! 59 degrees? Guess you are still wearing your shirt?

While I agree with everyone, I also find that if I am hurting I can recover by still running miles, just taking one day of what was going to be a hard run and making it a extra recovery run. It works for my body, but maybe not for everyone. I think you are going to kill this 10k!

Flat - feels like that will be the plan

JG - thanks for the response - when I don't run for a few days, I feel terrible and out of breath for a few runs so this is my version of rest, which (for me) seems to be as good as a day off most of the time.

DH - I am with you on the mileage thing, there's no sense in piling it on if you're not 100%

April - I hope! wish it was going to be cooler...

Rye - 59 degrees was definitely shirt weather.

Dan - I am the same way, days off just make me antsy and don't seem to provide much additional recovery than a short, slow jog. I also hate recovery runs but ya gotta compromise somewhere I guess!

Understood Joe, everyone's body is different, and you are the only one that knows what is best for you! I wish I could run higher mileage than I do, but it breaks my body down, I am an old man! I hope you know that anytime I offer an opinion on anyone's blog, it is mot so much an opinion as what is the right or wrong way to go about things, just a different perspective that may or may not have value! I completely understand that some people thrive and improve with 100 mile weeks, and I think that is great! I also know people that excel and improve on running 3 days a week. I am trying to find the right balance for myself ... and while some would argue there is a right way and a wrong way to do it, I believe each individual has to find their own right balance.

In the end, we all can only hope that we arrive at the start line healthy and ready to roll, having maximized our training to put forth the best performance we can.

Your progress has been remarkable, you are looking at huge PR's in any distance you race right now with the progress you are making ... so I was not suggesting you change anything ... just enjoy an easier week of recovery so you stay healthy! Run like a champion Saturday! :)

No, I know it's just another perspective and I like having your opinions and everyone else's. It's pretty much the reason I decided to make my blog public, hoping to get other's insight and ideas. Without people tempering me in a different direction, I would tend to over-do things and make unwise decisions at times. So thanks for chiming in, and for pumping me up for the race!

I was thinking (as I ran today on the trail) to not discount the benefit of running some easy/recovery runs on a soft surface. Even hard packed dirt is better than pavement or concrete. I know many high mileage runners stay fresh by running a ton miles of softer surfaces. I don't know what options you have up there, but it is something else to thing about.