Monday: 1 walk
Afternoon easy walk at Wahaneeta with Brady and Jana. Sore for sure, but nothing like past marathon recoveries, where I had trouble going up and down stairs even. This is encouraging.
Tuesday: 2 walk
A fair amount of walking while working during this week's CCC session at Winnapaug Farm Preserve. Clearing along stone walls and the trails going down to Winnapaug Pond.
Legs not only still sore from marathon, but also some very minor dull pain in my right knee. Just enough to convince me to play it conservatively and take one additional day off from running.
Wednesday: 3
Easy run at Ninigret on grass, trailing Matthew and Brady. First mile felt really sore, even at 9-minute pace. Second and third miles slightly faster (slightly less slow?) and felt slightly better. Still, three was enough. Made the tough, but likely best, decision NOT to run in the Pie Run tomorrow. I really like that race, but I wouldn't run it easy, and my body is clearly not ready.
In the evening, we picked up Mark from the airport, and the four of us subsequently went out for dinner at Condesa Restaurante Mexicano in West Warwick. Besides being fun to have the family together for the first time in three months, I think I can unequivocally speak for each of us that we really enjoyed this restaurant. Not your everyday Mexican-American restaurant, but rather a bevy of authentic dishes to sample, none of which disappointed.
Thursday: 3
Thanksgiving Day. Four days out from the marathon. Went to Barn Island with Brady with expectations to run about six miles and hopefully feel just fine. Didn't really pan out that way.
Parked at the first entrance to Barn Island Management Area on Palmer Neck Road, only to see a sign that the trail there was closed due to construction. Continued on down the road to the main entrance, to find a similar sign and with further explanation that that the trails here were closed during the months of November and December but to access via Stewart Road. OK. Drove to Stewart Road, where the trails were open, but had a less than optimal encounter with a hunter that approached me as soon as I stepped out of the car. I won't rant about it and he peppered in "Good morning", "Happy Thanksgiving", and other feel-good phrases, but interspersed, he proceeded to tell me the rules of the preserve in a somewhat condescending way. At one point, he said to me, verbatim, "I don't want to be a dick about it, but ..." Um, then don't! Not sure why I struck him the wrong way. I generally feel uncomfortable at all speaking to hunters while they are carrying a rifle, so I didn't argue at all or even speak much and was just glad when our one-way "conversation" [really a lecture] ended. Just one reason why I love to run at preserves where I encounter no humans.
The run went only marginally better, as my hamstrings were tight the whole time and we soon ran into a roped off section of the trail and preserve, where past the roped off area there was a lot of construction equipment and the trail was dug up, so we had to backtrack. I won't be coming back to Barn Island until at least January, when at that time both the construction and the hunting season will be concluded. Onward.
The rest of the Thanksgiving Day, including time with my sons, Mom, and two local brothers all went well. Good food, good company, good conversation. That's all that counts, right?
Friday: 5
Burlingame picnic area and a little bit of the campground trails. 2 miles with Matthew, all five with Brady. Longest run since the marathon. Felt pretty good overall as well. Certainly not 100% but getting more comfortable.
Saturday: 5
Burlingame campground roads with Matthew and Brady. Very windy, especially on exposed areas near Watchaug Pond. Pretty much deserted. Felt good overall. Stop at The Bakery post-run.
Sunday: 5
Got up at 3:50am to drive Mark to the airport for his return flights. Flights were slim picking and expensive on the busiest travel day of the year. I am so not an early morning person. Came home and promptly went back to bed. My early morning days taking the train to work in Boston are 7 years in the rear-view mirror now, but even as recently as March of last year (pre-pandemic) I would regularly (once every week or two) leave the house at 5am to drive up to work in Wellesley, MA. I can't imagine doing that on a regular basis again, and honestly hope I never have to go back into the office again. (January 10, 2022 we're supposed to return.) But I digress, as usual ...
Bluff Point fire road loop with Matthew and Brady, before Matthew went back to NH. One week out from the marathon now, but for some reason, my legs gave up earlier gains and were super tight the entire time. Not just the hamstrings this time, but the calves as well. What gives?
On a positive note, there were sporadic snow flakes and even a brief snow squall towards the end of our run!
 |
| While cleaning up the backyard of leaves and sticks in the afternoon, against the stark background of late November, it was neat to see Jana's roses in bloom. |
Weekly mileage: 21 run, 3 walk
Weekly synopsis: The low mileage is fine and expected, but my recovery didn't go as well as I had hoped. If you search online for guidance on when to resume running after a marathon, perhaps not unexpectedly the advice varies greatly. Some suggest as much as three weeks off! Obviously some of this is subjective depending upon the person, fitness level, how many marathons they've run etc., but I honestly thought 3-4 days and I'd be fine.
I do have to put it in perspective, as after my first marathon, I think walking was still a chore three days later, so no major complaints, but rather a minor disappointment.
I think the bigger issue for me is now that the marathon is over, what now? How will I stay motivated and engaged? Will the Border Patrol Challenge return this winter? If so, should I sign up for that? Or now that races will be back in early 2022, pick a few and target those? Or just pick a spring marathon, and focus on that?
Weekly highlight: Running-wise, the Burlingame campground run and Bakery visit. Non-running-wise, having the week off, both my sons home even if just for three full days, and spending Thanksgiving with family.
Weekly lowlight: As mentioned, post-marathon recovery taking longer [than my own expectations]. Non-running-wise, I am just feeling run down. Or maybe the two go hand-in-hand? Certainly a day off from running is in store tomorrow to start the new week.
No comments:
Post a Comment