How to recover without stopping.

I felt it on Tuesday. 48 hours after Marathon number 13 of my 12 Marathons in 12 months Challenge for Gorta Self Help Africa. http://www.mycharity.ie/event/patrick_mercies_12marathonsin12monthsin2015

I hadn't slept well on Monday night. I didn't sleep on the flight Tuesday, something I normally do with ease. I felt lethargic. Didn't enjoy my food.

Nothing major, just that this Marathon seemed to have taken a lot of energy out of me. Time to go in recovery mode. That used to just mean rest for a week or when I first started running a couple of weeks.

Now I know more. When you immerse yourself in something you love you will always learn. From others, from reading, from blogs, from video's. When you do things you truly love you will always be eager to grow and learn. Just for you. So you can enjoy it better. And to give back, to share your knowledge with others.

I know now that for me recovery; apart from steady sleeping patterns, recovery food and drinks; means keeping moving just slower. I used to stop running. Then it would take me a week or more to get back into the rhythm. Not anymore.

I keep doing the same distances, just slower. 1 minute/mile slower at first and then naturally recover back to pace. It works for me and it keeps the mind from overthinking the rest periods. Because stopping to do what you love is not easy. So it's best to keep going. Mind over matter with a bit of clever thrown in.

So this week I've done 3 x slower 10K's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Hoping to put in another one this evening. 9.5 miles tomorrow morning and 11 odd miles Sunday. That'll bring up the 45 miles for this week while running in recovery mode.

I'm already looking forward to my 7th Dublin Marathon in just over 2 weeks for number 14 this year and 31 in total. It's where it all started in 2008.

When you find what you love, immerse yourself!!