What I've been up to since Louisville DFM

It’s been ten days since the Louisville marathon and I have been doing...wait for it...absolutely nothing--and enjoying every second of it!

(I promise I have a full re-cap of the Louisville Derby Festival Marathon coming soon, but—spoiler alert!—I totally killed it and qualified for Boston and can't wait to tell you about it!)

Normally I am not one to sit around—I always have to be doing something, be it working out or cleaning or cooking or helping the kids with their homework or peeling wallpaper or whatever, or else I feel unproductive and lazy. But this past week, you could not have prodded me with a hot poker to do any of those things (except help the kids with their homework. Mom duties are never off the hook!). I was tired. Not just my body but my brain. For 16 weeks I put everything I had—physically, mentally, emotionally—into obtaining my BQ, and I was exhausted. Quite truthfully, the idea of running has not been appealing at all. Memories of every part of my body being jarred and hurting are still a bit too fresh. The first day after the marathon, simply walking was a feat. Every time I moved my knee screamed at me, my quads felt like they were being ripped apart, and there was a terrible pain in my right arm (I have no idea why my arm hurt so much but it was actually worse than my legs!). The stairs, sitting down and standing up were particularly awful. It would be Wednesday before I was able to walk down the stairs like a normal person again, and it wasn’t until Thursday that I was entirely soreness-free when walking. I went to swim practice Thursday night and did an easy spin on the bike Saturday morning, in addition to some planking throughout the week (I’m participating in the Peanut Butter Runner Ultimate Plank Challenge—join me!).

Add "planking with Henna"

to the list of things I'm doing instead of running 

I went for my first post-marathon run on Sunday, eight days after the marathon. I did six really easy miles just to test the waters and see how I felt and honestly it really didn’t feel that good. My quads were sore, my knee started hurting a few miles in, I was really out of breath the whole time and kind of just wanted to be lounging on the couch instead of huffing and puffing and making such an effort. The idea that I had just run more than four times as far, at a far faster pace, seemed pretty incredulous. So I’ve decided to wait a few more days to run again and play swimming and spinning by ear.

Add "playing with puppies"

to the list of things I'm doing instead of running

When I qualified for Boston at Marine Corps in 2014, I wasn’t at all happy with my performance. For some silly reason that makes no sense to me now, I allowed the fact that I had an awful race to completely overwhelm the joy I should have felt at PR-ing by almost TWELVE MINUTES; the pride I should have felt at accomplishing a BQ even with running the last half of the race hunched over, in pain, clutching my side from the world’s worst and most relentless side stitch; the happiness I should have felt at finishing, in any amount of time, a race that less than 1% of the U.S. population will ever even attempt. Because I thought I should have run faster (all training data and long runs pointed at a sub-3:30:00 race but I ran 3:38:40), rather than celebrate my accomplishments, I criticized myself. And because I wanted to show myself that I could do better, rather than get some much-needed rest, I barely took any time off after Marine Corps in my quest to get stronger and faster for the next race, and in retrospect I fully see that not taking time to properly recover and allow my body to heal is how I ended up sidelined for nearly a year with ITBS. I will not make that mistake again. You live and you learn, and what I have learned is that no matter what happens you have to just leave it on the finish line and give your body the time it needs. Twenty-six miles is a long way to run, and it’s really hard on your body. So no matter if I think I could have or should have gone faster, I am now simply thankful that I am able to do it at all, and I'm giving my body the recovery it deserves and allowing myself to take the break I need.

Add "taking my kids to carnival and

watching them climb a wall" to the list

of things I'm doing instead of running

Which means I am currently enjoying a tremendous amount of down time during which I am snuggling with the kids, finally reading a book I’ve been wanting to read for months, antiques shopping, napping off and on, and eating ice cream and pizza and milkshakes without a single ounce of guilt. I must admit, I could get used to this (I may just need to lay off the ice cream a little, though)

 Add "doing absolutely nothing late on a Saturday morning

except drinking a cup of coffee in my nightgown"

to the list of things I'm doing instead of running.

I highly recommend :)

Here is some timely commentary on the importance of recovering both mentally and physically after a big race:
From elite runner Tina Muir
From Boston Marathon blogger Nat Runs Far

Fall race plans are in the works and I will share them soon!