I need six hours...how about you?

That seems to be how long it takes for me to become semi-human after a hard training session.

Lately I've realised that training is not really all that simple.

I mean, we go out, train, come back, recover, then do more training. After talking to Hawaii-based coach Brian Clarke -- and reading his other book "Running by Feeling" -- I started to pay attention to my feelings between training sessions. He has a state of mind/fitness that he calls "ready to run hard"; I used to think that this was just a matter of will-power, but actually it's not, it';s a function of how well-prepared you are, how rested you are, what your level of life stress is -- and how well you have recovered from the last training session.

I've also started timing my recovery. I'm noticing that a hard session leaves me reeling, as expected, but that the descent to general uselessness -- ie not being able to do much of the walk-talk-shop-"relate" phase of existence required to pass as a normal human being and/or family member -- is NOT open-ended. If left to my own devices, my energy returns. And I'm noticing that this takes about six hours.

Now I'm sensitive to the timing of recovery, I've started being a bit cannier with the timing of my workouts. For instance, say I'm doing the Dash 'n' Dine 5k on Tuesday night; I know I need to leave about 48 hours between that and any really hard run. So this afternoon's hard 11.5 on the Bobolink trail is timed OK. But tomorrow (Monday)., I would probably go for a brisk 5 miles or so in the late afternoon. Not any more. Going out for a slower run earlier in the day, means my legs will be fresher for Tuesday night. Just a few extra hours., I've realised, can make a world of difference.

Is this bindingly obvious to everyone else? I never noticed it before -- I've always operated on the hard day, easy day principle, but I've never paid any attention to the number of hours between workouts.

* Brian Clarke's "Running by Feeling" and "5k and 10k Training" are available here.