Confused- What is 'full recovery'?

LynneJ

 So first short, fast run intervals scheduled for today(haven't been to bed yet, will run between clinic and night shift to keep 24 hours ish between workouts). Don't really understand 'full recovery'. Should I walk, easy jog, stand there and pant? For how long? I suppose until I can run at pace again but that won't be all that long since IP is only slightly faster than vdot test pace that I held for 3 miles. Thanks for the help fellow ENers.

Lynne

Marc Robards

I'm interested to see what the coaches say, but for my first workout this morning with "full recovery" I just jogged at my easy pace until my breathing and heart rate calmed down...it was kind of subjective, but I got through the intervals with energy to spare.

Chris G

I think Marc has it about right. If the intervals are really hard I will walk for a few seconds then start jogging. Once I am running along at a normalish pace not feeling the interval anymore that is "full recovery". I usually make it a half mile so that I can keep to round numbers.

Kitboo

I will typically stand and pant then walk then jog at E pace. The amount of time I spend at each activity really just depends on how cold it is and how fast my body temp is dropping (but don't you live in HI--so not an issue for you, right?). Basically, I do whatever I need to do to feel like I can accomplish the next interval.

Spokane_Al

I am certainly no medical expert but have always heard that when one runs at a really hard effort, he/she should continue jogging between sets to cool down. As I understand it, during hard efforts the legs actually pump blood to the heart and by immediately stopping after that hard effort, one can cause undue stress on the heart. As a result, I slow to a jog but ensure that i keep my legs moving.



I would be interested on the validity of this thought process from someone a bit more knowledgeable in the mechanics of the body.

mancona

The key is really just to recover enough that you are ready to do the next interval and all of the intervals in the workout. For the short IP intervals, I usually recover for at least the same time as it took me to complete the inteval and sometimes the same distance.

I continue to jog, but very slowly, and then I slowly work my way back to my EP as others said. Once I able to hold my EP comfortably, I'm usually ready for the next interval.

I personally don't like to stop and walk, but my jog sometimes slows down to a few minutes slower than my EP if I am working really hard in the intervals.