Back at it

Well, it took me over a week to do my first run after the marathon.  I was pretty sore.  My knee was swollen.  But overall, I felt pretty good.  It wasn't that long ago that I felt that way after a half marathon.  So sore that I could barely walk, much less run, for a week.  Now, half marathons are still hard, but my recovery is almost immediate.  Not for the marathon.  My experience for the marathon is the same for all races in the past and something that I have worked hard to remedy in the last year.  Typically, that is my legs give out way before my wind.  So, I have worked hard to beat the crap out of my legs.  Hills, steps, bike  riding and especially kettlebells.  Leg strength and building muscle has been my answer to much of my running problems.  When I do all this, my legs just don't die.  I didn't do enough for the marathon and my legs died.  I'm not necessarily unhappy, but I know what I need to do differently.  When and if I do another, I will be better prepared.

What does any of this mean?  I don't really know, but when you are doing a running blog and you haven't run, you have to find something to write about.  Filler stuff.  Talk about the past.  Talk about the marathon to deflect attention away from the fact that you haven't run.  Milk out the marathon sympathy.  Milk it out.  I'm so sore.  I did, after all, run a marathon.  26.2 miles.   I actually found a way to put the marathon thing into almost every conversation I have had for the past few weeks.  "I would like $20 of gas and by the way, I did a marathon.  That is why I can't pump the gas myself."  "I would like a Big Mac, but I can't reach my wallet.  Little sore, I just did a marathon.  And yes, of course I want large fries with that."  Try to act like it is no big deal.  Anyway, I have actually become weary of talking about it.  That was then, this is now.

I ran three miles with some good friends on Tuesday.  It felt good to get out there.  I was recovering from a cold and from running a marathon.  I don't like to talk much about it, but I recently ran a marathon and I was still a bit sore.  The three felt okay, but I needed to stop.  I wanted to do 5, but because I had a cold and ran a marathon, I couldn't.  Yesterday, Michelle and I did a step workout.  It felt good to do that.  Up the steps, set of pushups.  Down the steps, set of crunches.  I was a bit careful, due to the swelling in my knee as a result of running a marathon.

Saturday, I am running a 10k.  Some old friends, including Ed are coming up.  It should be really fun.  Ed is going to smoke me.  He would anyway, but I am still a bit stiff from a recently run marathon.  He is fast.  He works his ass off.  His workouts are truly inspirational and I want to do some of them very soon.  I would love to join him in a Master's track meet.  This weekend should be lots of fun.  I would love to think that I can rip it out on Saturday.   Just not sure how I will feel.  Some of my best races are when I really don't feel that great during the week.  At any rate, it will be fun to see everyone and the race atmosphere is always a blast.  

The moral to this whole story is that I have realized that I love to run.  I have some incredible people that I run with and who inspire me.  It isn't always easy, mostly it is hard.  But with the right people and some motivation almost anything can be achieved.  I'm ready for the next challenge, whatever that is.