Two Afternoons after

OK , now that my endorphin level has finally dropped to normal and there’s nothing in my system to mask the pain, I have to say…My body feels trashed. I feel like I was it by a train. Every muscle in my body hurts– from shoulders to ankles and everything in between. I can only imagine how my friend Brandon (who walked 26.2 miles with two bad knees), is feeling …
Dont’ get me wrong…I’m elated with my finish time , but I’d gladly trade it for a slower time if meant less post race pain.
With four half marathons under my belt in the past 12 months, you’d think my recovery would be quicker and less painful. You’d think ..wouldnt you?

Then again, looking back on this race, I see myself making the same ‘ole common mistakes, like pushing myself too hard and.. under-hydrating! ! When will I learn that the body needs fuel ! especially a sick body! During this race I thought I was doing good because I forced myself to drink at every station. The problem is…. drinking two to three ounces of cytomax or gatorade every two miles is probably not considered adequate hydration, certainly not enough to stave off the massive leg cramps that I get every single time.( Oh..and I think I did one Vanilla goo too)

Another thing to consider is…. this is the first time I’ve ever racewalked in a race!
Not only that , but I racewalked much more than I had planned to. In my training leading up to this race, I thought of maybe trying to racewalk a few hundred feet per mile… tops. Well, instead of doing two or three hundred feet per mile, I ended up doing two to three THOUSAND feet per mile–Tens time as much. This would probably explain the post-race pain in my upper arms and shoulders as I’ve never had my arms in continuous motion throughout an entire race.

Even though I set a new PR and made a strong finish, to be honest… There’s no way I could have raced another foot, let alone another 13 miles. I think I hit that proverbial wall , right at the finish line. If I feel this way after 13, how am I going to feel after 26? Is it even possible for me to do 26? After this last recovery, I’m really beginning to wonder if 26.2 is in the cards for me.

Well. It’s too soon to call it quits on my full marathon plans. In 4 weeks I’ll be attempting an 18 mile LSD … That’s when I’ll make a final decision on whether or not to postpone it.
In the meantime; I’m going to eat a banana everyday and try to get the right balance of electrolytes circulating. I’m going to eliminate racewalking from my longer walks to save my calves ( I’ll still racewalk on the short days.) I’m going to wear running shoes for my long walks and racing flats for my short walks. I’m going to do my best to down those 4-8 glasses a day.
I’m going to do all these things ….and more, because what’s the point of hard training hard for a race if your going to feel like crap afterwards. I haven’t even considered the “lung ” implications of a 6 to 7 hour walk.

We’ll see how things go when my full marathon training gets started next week.