Zen and the Art of Triathlon

After I do my long runs on the weekend, I'm feeling pretty zapped out for the rest of the day, I'm not sure if I just training to hard or not eating correctly after the run to help with the recovery. I'm leaning probably to training to hard, as I'm doing the runs in high zone 3 and zone 4 then with peaks 5.

Then for recovery meal I try to have some carbs and protein. Like this morning, I had 3 egg omelet with cheese (little bit of chipotle pepper for flavor) and some banana bread.

Then generally on the following day my energy levels are back to normal and my legs feel good.

any recommendations? My wife is starting to complain about my long runs.

BTW, my short term goals are to running a sub 4 hour marathon. my current PR is 4:13. Long goal is to run Boston and I'll need a 3:30 to qualify. I'm hoping to be able to run Boston in 2012. Then it's the long climb to do an ironman :)

Hi there,
my personal opinion is that many of us like to tightly control our bodies and their reactions as part of our trainining. It is often the case that we don't like to simply accept that after we do a hard or long workout that we feel "zapped out". I often have to remind myself that it is ok for the body to be tired. We sometime try hard to take supplements like anti-oxidants and vitamin C or E, or whatever to try to recover quicker, and take cafeine drinks to stimulate us. While the science behind this is often sound, allowing and accepting your body is sometimes tired is good too.
Now, a structured program is important to make sure that you have balance, with a mix of intensity (hard/easy days) and distance (long vs short runs). I'd say if you can already do just short of a 4hr marathon, that you have a plan, and it is working. If not I'd highly recomend one of the ones in the book "Lore of Running" by Tim Noakes. Chapter 10 on Marathons has a variety of different plans.
What I wanted to really suggest to you though is that you consider monitoring yourself to prevent overtraining. Now again from Tim Noakes book (and no I get no commision, or anything for mentioning it, it is just a classic reference on running) they have a great section on overtraining. Now I used to use a feature on my Polar HR monitor that measures your HR in the morning (first thing) lying down, and then standing up in a test. It gives a measure that is helpful. However, as HR monitors work on measuring skin resistance, and this is aided by sweating, it is often hard upon waking to get the dam HR monitor working right away. I found mention in the book a way of calculating a Running Load. So, from my HR monitor on a specific run (say 10km) each time I run it, I get the time spent in each zone, and I multiply them by a weighting. So the calculation looks like (1*HR1)+(2*HR2)+(3*HR3)+(4*HR4)+(5*HR5) so you end up with a number that represents the load you put on your body for that run. Now I divide the resulting number by the time it took for the run, so that you get a standard work / time. I have found by monitoring this number, that when (for me) the number for the same run distance, goes above 68% of the norm (mean x 1 std dev) than I am overtraining. I know in reading this your probably thinking this is a lot of work. True. But once you have it in a spreadsheet, and all you have to do is type in your HR for the zones (5 numbers) and it pops out a number that gives you an indication if you are overdoing it, it can be quite handy. I often also record my Perceved Effort on a scale of 1 to 5. Often the 5's (max effort) line up with a "std work / time" that is outside of the norm. The interesting thing is when you feel ok, but the number shows you worked a lot harder (your heart rate was in a higher zone). Interestingly I also found this method works for swims, cycles and recovery walks.
All that said, in my humble opinion, long runs shouldn't be in HR zone 3 or 4 (but you can have short spikes in them if your run has hills). The average should be in mid to high zone 2. The aim of the long run is distance at low intensity. HIT (High intesity Intervals), Fartlek or trackwork is best for intensity. Few marathon programs do too much intensity, as the recovery from it isn't fast. They focus on volume, and with periodization to have the intensity towards the end of training period after the base is built with volume.
As for the diet, whole volumes have been written on it. I'd say that for your long run if it is over 2 hours then some form of food intake during your run is important. However even more critical is your hydration. Really focus on that. Weigh yourself before and after and make a calcuation of your sweat rate (minus any fluid you drank during the run).
Hope this helps. You're a lot faster than me (and probably younger), but I do read a lot, and have tried many things over time.
Cheers Tom.

Great post!!!