Touching on what makes up good recovery in and around running, some of the fundamentals are:
Eating a carb/protein heavy snack asap after a very long or hard run.
Eating to hunger. Never skip a meal, and fuel up your body when it wants to.
Staying sufficiently hydrated after a hard or long run.
Having regular good sleep (8 hours or more)
Leaving at least 48 hours between two hard sessions (Although I personally would recommend 3 days).
Running to feel on easy runs.
If your body or mind *really* does not want to run, rest it out completely until you want to do so.
Avoiding hard cross training after or between hard sessions.
Improving/limiting overall stress levels and any personal stress.
Speed sessions as themselves are not particularly useful unless you recover from them efficiently. A lot of training gains, and a lot of sensible training, takes place behind the scenes. Cameron Harris- Head Coach