Thursday, October 22, 2009

Post-Marathon Musings...

I have so much swimming around in my head and will likely never be able to get it all out concisely! I find myself somewhere between feeling like I just did something really great to it not being a big deal at all. And really in the grand scheme of things, it isn't a big deal. I've just devoted the past 16 weeks of my life to it and find it hard to just let it go.... So with that said, here are some things that really stand out to me.

Race-Day Miracles:
1) Beautiful, sunny, cool, dry, skies!
2) NO tummy issues!
3) NO pain at all in my right leg/shin!
4) Feeling great at the finish line
5) No wardrobe mishaps
6) Not having to stop once to go potty! (I didn't even go until we got back to the hotel!)
7) Deciding at mile 24 that there would definitely be another marathon in my future!


Fun Memories:
1) The guy running near us (with a pink head dress) yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs. We were hoping we'd have his energy around mile 23, but he was only doing the half.
2) My sister getting called "Gi-nay" at one of the water stations. She's my soul sister!
3) The Asian kid yelling out "vanilla" in the most monotonous voice ever at the Cliff Shot station
4) Cheering for and thanking the bands/entertainment along the course
5) Seeing all the little kids out cheering for their mom/dad
6) Dedicating the last 6 miles to special people in my life:
Mile 20 - Taylor Jones (my 4 year old friend fighting AML)
Mile 21 - My grandparents
Mile 22 - My parents
Mile 23 - My hubby
Mile 24 - My kiddos
Mile 25 - God
Mile 26 - ME!

Marathon Mishaps:
1) Forgetting my handheld water bottle in the hotel room
2) Bummer of a Expo
3) Horrible race week anxiety
4) Being told by a MD at work that I had enough time to stop and have a barbeque with my finishing time.....

I find myself in that post-race funk. The DOMS was pretty much gone by Wednesday. My right leg pain has resurfaced, so I decided to take a whole week off from running/exercising. I've exercised 4-6 days/ week for the past 17 months straight. I feel like a sloth doing nothing! Hubby has now decided he wants to start running, so it looks like my running days will be cut back to 3 days a week. That's fine with me, considering the winter months are ahead! I really feel like I've lost a lot of muscle tone (from lack of serious weight training the past 16 weeks), so I look forward to adding some more cross-training into my exercise routine.

So what's next?? I'm thinking maybe the Kentucky Derby MiniMarathon on April 24, 2010.... and maybe the Flying Pig Half on May 2, 2010? With only being able to run 3 days per week over the winter, a full just isn't in the near future!

I'm hoping to have more pictures soon.....


Here's a pic of the sweet roses huby got me:
Photobucket

He must have not got the matchy-match memo.... Oh well, yellow is pretty close to orange! :-)

5 comments:

Marlene said...

I love the musings... I was also feeling some post-race blues. Hope you can get back out there soon.

As for that MD, pffffft! I'd like to see him do it.

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Great list. I like the format A lot!! I usually do lesson learned but it often ens up to all blend together.

So first step....will you be changing your Blog name? Inquiring Bloggers want to know?

I think I will have post race blues until i run my next one and get my GOAL!!

Have a grat weekend.

Janice {Run Far} said...

great post...

to answer your question about Kentucky Derby... I ran the Full which was hilly the second half... and Hot as hell... :)
I heard the half is great though. you should do it. I will either do that Full again or attempt Country Music marathon in Nashville the same day. Good luck.

Native Stone Company, Inc. said...

Great list! I wish I would have written down more fun notes. :)
I couldn't agree with you more about the post marathon stuff. I'm going through the same feelings as well. Crazy what this dang addiction does to you! :)

Lindsay said...

fun lists! boo for the md at work... he obviously does not know anything about running!! brush him off!

after a long round of marathon training, i certainly can't blame you for taking a bit of a break. the spring races sound like good goals, and hooray for hubs catching the running fever :)