Why I Decided to Become a Morning Runner — Again

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  Why I Decided to Become a Morning Runner — Again After two years of injuries and excuses, the answer was embarrassingly simple. I just had to wake up earlier. I. The Hunger to Run For the past two years, the pattern was always the same. Train a little, race, get injured, spend months unable to run. Recover just enough, race again, get hurt again. Despite years of running, I was going nowhere. This year, I changed one thing: I stopped chasing times and focused on staying healthy. The results? A full marathon finish. A 100km ultra finish. Both without injury. After every previous race, I'd been limping for weeks or unable to run for months. This time, I could lace up again within days. I didn't realize how extraordinary that was until I experienced it. That difference — between pushing too hard and coming home in one piece — deserved a closer look. Pushing too hard → Injury Finishing healthy → C...

Recovery Run After a 100km Ultra: Medicine or Poison? I Tested It Myself

 


Recovery Run After a 100km Ultra:
Medicine or Poison? I Tested It Myself

Two days after finishing a 100km ultra at Cheongnamdae, I laced up again.
Here's what happened — and what science says about it.

My Body Rejected the First 300 Meters

Two days after the Cheongnamdae 100km ultra, I put my running shoes back on.

Honestly, even walking wasn't comfortable. The moment my foot hit the ground, my palms went cold with sweat. My entire body was screaming at me.

"Not yet."

But then something strange happened.

Around the 300-meter mark, my body started to loosen up. By the time I hit 1km, I could actually run. I started at an 8:00/km pace, and before I knew it, I'd settled into 6:30/km. I ended up running about 5km total.

The real surprise came afterward. Walking felt noticeably easier than before the run.

That's when it hit me.

"So recovery runs really are a thing."

· · ·

Why Does Running Help You Recover?

1. Increased Blood Circulation

After intense exercise, muscles accumulate metabolic waste, develop micro-tears, and experience inflammation. A very light jog increases blood flow to the muscles, delivering oxygen and nutrients more efficiently and speeding up the metabolic processes needed for repair.

[1] Tufano et al. (2012), Effect of Aerobic Recovery Intensity on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness.

2. Reduced Muscle Stiffness

That unusually stiff feeling the day after a long race? It's because your muscles are still locked in a state of tension. Light jogging restores range of motion and naturally releases the muscles that have been clenched tight.

[2] Dupuy et al. (2018), Post-exercise Recovery Techniques and Their Effects.

3. Nervous System Reset

After finishing an ultra, your body is essentially stuck in emergency mode. With the sympathetic nervous system in overdrive, light aerobic exercise helps activate the parasympathetic response, restoring balance to your autonomic nervous system. A recovery run is your body's way of hearing: "It's safe to return to normal now."

[3] Stanley et al. (2013), Cardiac Parasympathetic Reactivation Following Exercise.

· · ·

Is Your Body Ready for a Recovery Run?

Good to Go

  • You can walk without major pain
  • Movement makes you feel looser, not worse
  • No swelling or heat in your joints
  • Tired overall, but stable condition

Rest Instead

  • Limping-level pain
  • Sharp, stabbing joint pain
  • Swelling or heat
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Extreme exhaustion

When in doubt, rest. Sometimes the best training is no training.

· · ·

How to Do a Recovery Run Right

1. The Slower, the Better Much slower than your usual jog. If you can hold a conversation, you're at the right intensity.
2. Keep It Short 20 to 40 minutes is plenty. Right after an ultra, even 15 to 30 minutes will do.
3. Listen to the First Kilometer Pay attention: is your body loosening up, or getting worse? If it's loosening — keep going. If it hurts more — stop immediately.
· · ·

What a Recovery Run Really Means

I think the essence of a recovery run is starting slow and watching whether your body adapts. If it keeps hurting through the first kilometer, you should stop. If it gradually feels better, keep going — gently.

When I hit that 6:30/km pace, a thought crept in.

"Maybe I should push it a little?"

Once my body loosened up, the temptation was real.

But I didn't. I wanted to recover properly so I could get back to running at full strength. That mattered more than one fast run.

Holding back that urge and staying slow —
maybe that's what a real recovery run is.

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