After a hard effort we do need time to recover, a day, two, whatever. Some of us, like to do a recovery run the day after. But, sometimes, my recovery runs are pathetically slow. I could end up going 2 or 3 minutes over my easy/long run pace. That’s 4 minutes over my marathon pace. I wouldn’t record a “walk” to the grocery store or through the park, why record this run? Am I just delaying the recovery with a run that’s worth nothing (just junk miles!) and would rest be a better option?

So, I look at heart rate, and that’s how I like to evaluate effort. If there is effort, then it’s worth it. But there shouldn’t be effort on a recovery run!! So, at what point is a run too slow to even count? Or should we go as slow as possible so it doesn’t count? (in which case, yuk, I’d rather do anything else!)

another running dilemma: at what point is a run pointless?