Well... I decided to give this a go:

Day 1: 12mi run with 14x600m Hill repeats, 6x30s strides
Day 2: 10 mi run easy
Day 3: 6mi easy
Day 4: 12 mi easy with 6x30s strides?
Day 5: 6mi easy
Day 6: 18mi easy
Day 7: off

Today being day 2. I felt good today, and ended up doing 11mi easy (maybe a tick above).

I guess we will see how I feel on day 4 (aka Friday). I expect that it will take 3ish weeks for the load to settle in.

I'm curious what other post you are referring to?

I was looking at #12 and wondering which day was actually "easy".
That you have a delayed response is probably not that unusual.

I have joked for years that what I damage today won't hurt 'til Sunday, so perhaps your body is always playing catchup.
It feels fine on day 1 after a hard day because it hasn't registered...yet. Day 2 is just the start of catching up and you short circuit it.


One of the things about doing SBR is that sometimes it does catch up.
But doing only one thing means never really catching up.
And never recuperating.

Anyway that's my read.
But then I'm a shit runner.


Looking at your schedule, there's very little down time and no gym time.
There are pros who don't do much more than you, except maybe they do it at a 5 or 6 minute pace.
(which means they take less time and recuperate more|)

Hope you find a solution, but I don't believe (what do I know) doing more is a solution....:0)

Fair enough. Post 12 seems like more than it really is. See post #26 above, that's what I think I'll do (starting today) for the next few weeks and see how it settles out. It's all easy except for Tuesday.

For reference, easy is mid to high zone1 pace/hr...not low/mid/high z2 drifting into z3 hr... As is quite common for folks to do. That is a key to 70-100mpw running.

I've been at this a long while, and know my body quite well. I'm confident that I'm not over reaching except when I intent to. I know how that feels, and what my rhr looks like when I do that. I'm very aware of how much intensity x volume I can impose and how much soreness I will incur based on how I feel on the road. That's why I stopped at 14 hill reps last night instead of 16-18 that I was kinda hoping for. That would have been too deep of a hole to climb out of in 2 days.

My number one rule is never do something today that puts tomorrow, the day after, or next week at risk.

I'm 57 soon to be 58 and although only training and racing short course I feel no soreness, tiredness etc.. after hard training or racing and I can still finish at the pointy end of the pack on a good day.
I think it has more to do with the duration and intensity of the workout or race. Shorter for me equals feeling pretty good all the time.
I can bust out a sprint race every weekend and still feel recovered enough to enjoy life. :)

 
I came here looking for posts on a similar issue--periodizing and down weeks.

To answer your question, I am 50.5, and I have found that my recovery sometimes (not always) follows the pattern you mention, where I feel like a killer the day after a hard workout, but a couple days later don't feel great. I recently raced a half marathon and days 2 and 3 after were the worst.

My theory based on looking at sleep metrics, is that the night following a hard workout, your body is prioritizing short term recovery with an emphasis on re-stocking energy. But once it rebuilds the energy reserves, on nights 2 and 3 if the energy is good, it shifts over to prioritizing muscle building, with a lot of associated hormonal action. If I take it easy for 3 days, I notice that on nights 2 and 3 my sleeping heart rate and stress levels are way way up and I feel physically nauseous during the day, despite eating constantly. My legs literally throb with all the extra blood flow. But if I go out and deplete the energy again, I don't get this effect, or a least it's not as pronounced.

I find this especially happens during down weeks following a multi-week training block. My sleep is terrible and I feel nauseous. I used to think I was sick or overtrained but it happens every time, even when I'm being very careful in terms of my training load.

Then after a few days I feel awesome again.

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has this experience with down weeks. I actually took a sick day today from work to deal with it.

entering 50s: I follow up a longish run (more than 8 miles) the following day with a lot of mobility, stretching and 20 minutes in the sauna. I never stack run days anymore unless 6 miles or less. This coming from a dude that was a D1 runner in SEC that would eat miles for years.

I try to jump into hot power yoga class a few times a week as well. I realize running past a certain point is not a sustainable endeavor unless moderated and done so very carefully. Too many people that post on here about having no knees remaining but want advice on the best way to run. Surprised we haven't seen the "has anyone had an amputation to move to a prosthetic leg in order to keep banging out run volume?"

We are the same age and I have found my run recovery has actually gotten better but that's a function of intensity. I no longer go to the track and destroy myself with 400/800 type high intensity runs. I do plenty of "tempo" or VO2 paced stuff in my training but my coaches plan also allows for decent recovery in between and a very gradual build up of duration. Last year I trained for IMAZ, my first full in almost 11 years and even though I did similar high volume from when I was younger, I found it much easier to wake up and repeat day in and day out. I suppose I felt more "durable", so even after a day with intensity, I was recovering like a champ. I also get a lot of sleep, so maybe that helps.

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