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| Second run after Javelina. Very difficult. |
Recovery sucks. I mean, it’s worse than tapering.
At least when you’re tapering, you are looking forward to a big race. Whether it is your first half-marathon or your first ultra, there is a sense of simultaneous excitement and nervousness, but all in all the anticipation level is high. As you taper, your muscles heal, recover and repair from the stress of training. They become primed for your event. They quiver with excitement and they become difficult to tame.
Then there is the frenzy of preparation in the days and hours preceding your event. You lay out your clothes on the hotel bed the night before. You carbo-load. You drink entirely too much water. You pin your bib crookedly on your shirt. If it’s a really long race, you organize your gels and electrolyte tablets, bars, food and toilet paper for the inevitable times when you arrive at a port-a-potty only to find that 20,000 people have already used it.
Even so, you’re still excited.
You get to the starting line with the thousands of people about to embark on the same journey. There is camaraderie. There is awesomeness galore!
You run your race. You cross the finish the line. You get your medal and pig out on the after-race fare (that is, if they haven’t torn everything down yet—that’s another story). You run into the arms of your family and friends (that is, if they’re not sitting at the Buffalo Wild Wings as you’re finishing your second Marine Corps Marathon—again, another story). You shuffle painfully around in a contented daze, visiting the beer garden and marveling at yourself and at others for completing what you had thought to be impossible just a few months prior.
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| This is exactly how I felt in the two weeks after Javelina. |
Love what you're saying here (and cross-training helps, but not enough some days!). Why is Women's Running Magazine putting pictures of a skinny white runner at the top of your article? LAME. I think your "Second run after Javelina" picture conveys your feelings on the matter much better.
ReplyDeleteSo true! I was weeks recovering from our little 35 mile run - I've got notes about the adventure, but I was so thankful to have a couple of friends to complete it with me. We were already friends, but this event certainly bonded us in different ways...once you live through runner's trots (that friend will always make sure she's hydrated now! Ha!), and the inevitable rash that requires another week of diaper rash ointment...well, those are some special friendships! I hope the holidays find you well rested and inspired for what's next! Don't forget about us here in Maine! We'd love to do a repeat of this event just for you!
ReplyDeleteHang in there. It takes time, but more will power than time. You're not racing against yourself. :) Keep thinking, it's not impossible. That thought will help you meet your goal.
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