Sunday, November 20, 2011

55 miles - the aftermath

After my first marathon, I wasn't exactly shocked to be sore and tired. I had no idea what to expect after a 50 miler, and, just like the race itself, the after effects were crazier than I could have imagined. As we drove home, I thought every light I saw (such as street lights, headlights, etc) was a headlamp of a runner who had gotten lost. I swear my thoughts were starting to take on a Colombian accent. I felt really short of breath and kept using my inhaler, which is actually still going on, so, as always, any medical professionals, feel free to weigh in on that.


The race was apparently a total body workout. Every muscle in my arms was sore, my back was killing me, my neck hurt, and my abs felt like I'd gone to one of those crazy bikini body bootcamp. My feet and ankles, which I realize aren't shocking places to hurt after a race, were really tight and sore, which did surprise me, because that's never happened after a marathon.


Here's what my "walking" looked like the day after running a 55 mile race:





After reading Victoria's blog about her post marathon ideas, I thought maybe I should actually do something to promote recovery, and not just sit around and cry when I had to pee.


Eric and I took a walk, covering about 2 miles or so. I did Yoga for Runners when I got home. I then attempted to foam roll, but even just getting on the floor was tough, and the foam rolling was pretty painful. I probably lasted less than five minutes before I gave up to go make ice cream. It did seem to help, this morning, I was still extremely stiff, but I didn't have to pick my legs up one by one and put them on the floor to get out of bed, so, that's improvement.


Oddly, my appetite seems pretty normal. I expected to be completely starving the day following the race (especially since it took me so long to finish that I never got to stuff my face with Mexican food). I was a little extra hungry for breakfast, and had 1.5 bagels, but then I ate a normal sized lunch and was stuffed, like it was a Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was actually a tad on the small side, and then I made a bowl of homemade ice cream, and couldn't even finish it! That is truly a first in my life.


Luckily, today we are having parent teacher conferences, so if I get hit with a sudden insatiable hunger, I can  go out and stuff my face whenever I want.


Bad news - I have to get my flu shot today. Our school nurse is a friend and fellow marathon runner, who is always telling me how impressed she is by my ultra training. I'm planning to go see her and impress her with my 50 miler story as soon as I arrive, because this afternoon, when it's flu shot time, whatever respect she has for me will immediately dissolve when I turn into a sniveling, crying child begging for mercy. I have a gigantic fear of needles.


The million dollar question: Would you do another 50 miler?


 Well, Perry astutely realized that I wrote in my recap "We were off on our first 50 mile adventure". I didn't do it on purpose, but, I want to do another one. I'm not frantically googling or anything like that, but, I really want to try a race that's actually 50 miles and see what happens. I think Stone Mill was fantastically organized and was filled with wonderful volunteers, and great trails, but there's no way in hell I would ever subject myself to that again.

18 comments:

  1. I haven't gotten my flu yet, but I'm sure as hell not doing it today.

    I also really want to do another. During the race, I was like "You never have to do this again" but even then I knew I'd do another. A girl that I ran with was talking up the 100K distance (62 miles) and I think that sounds fun.

    We are walking twins right now :)

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  2. Needles and 50 mile runs are completely different. NO judgement here. I used to be pretty phobic of needles until I got pregnant. They are always sticking needles in you at your check-ups and then I got gestational diabetes (go figure!). I decided I needed to put those big girl panties on real quick!

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  3. W00t recovery! Glad to hear that you aren't 100% miserable, and are instead like 50% miserable. Making homemade ice cream probably did the trick.

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  4. You are a ROCKSTAR! Congrats on your FIRST 50 miler! You are sorta crazy!! I don't know if I would ever subject myself to that! So inspiring. I hope you recover quickly!!!

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  5. I love this video!!! Enjoy the moment, the recovery, and THEN think about maybe signing up for another :) Rockstar.

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  6. I never get flu shots because they usually give me horrible flu symptoms. I figure for the few and far between times that I actually get it, it's better than getting the symptoms every single year.

    The beginning of this post and the video made me completely crack up. Then I started reading the rest in a columbian accent and it made it even funnier. I"m having a great morning.

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  7. I love after race walking. Always fun!

    You did amazing it was an oddly challenging course from what I have ever run. Big down side is that I didn't get to meet you and spend any time together. Boo! Hopefully our racing will cross paths again soon.

    Congrats on entering the 50 miler club in a BIG way!

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  8. I can't believe how there was an extra 5 miles....that's brutal! and you are awesome girl!!!!!!!!!! YAY :D ps: love the walk vid :P lol

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  9. Your video made laugh so hard my abs hurt again!!!! In reference to the accent I am the one supposed to work on her accent not you.... but I guess spending over 14 hours with me would do that to you....LOL

    I used the foam roller but not for very long.... surprisingly enough my legs hurt more when I am laying down in bed than when I am walking- DONT UNDERSTAND that.....

    we now can say we have run a 55 miler!!!!!

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  10. you know my answer to that question! after reading kara's recap, JFK seems awesome.

    i swear by the flu shot. i get it every year.

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  11. That video is great. How nice of your hubby to film your walking attempt. I think it's funny you say you want to do another 50-miler...and also that I think it sounds fun :)

    I didn't get my flu shot this year because i remember last year it made my arm hurt, and my arm should only hurt because of an awesome workout. It's just unnatural otherwise.

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  12. oh man I would be dead so even walking is impressive!! wow i bet its nice to be done with that for the time and very cool you want to do another! great job, what an accomplishment!

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  13. When Kara talks you in to Badwater, I'm gonna laugh my butt off. That video was super amazing, so thank your husband for me!

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  14. there is a huge difference between running on rough and hilly natural-surface trails vs. smoother terrain --- and between running (or hiking) at night vs. daylight --- you may wish to try the Bull Run Run) which is a superb local 50 miler that I've done with pleasure for the past five years (cf. many boring and silly race reports on my zhurnaly.com domain) --- far nicer than the JFK --- and on roads, consider the Tussey Mountainback) in central Pennsylvania --- ^z = Mark Zimmermann

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  16. Again I'm so impressed with you running a 50-mile race! I am not sure I would be walking at all. Props to you for doing Yoga for Runners and taking the 2 mile walk. Hope you get to feeling better and more like yourself by the end of the week!

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  17. Haha, I love that Eric recorded that! Your post-55 walk is too cute. I can't believe you walked a few miles and did yoga already. WOW.

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