Recovery and Reflection

This is my last Gasparilla related post… I promise.

After crossing the finish line Sunday and completing my 25.5 mile challenge, the first thing I thought was, “Holy crap! I actually did it.”

Yeah…I think the second picture pretty much summarizes it.

The second thing on my mind was recovery. This was the most miles I have completed in a short time span and I had no idea how to recover from it. Do I treat it like I am recovering from a marathon or a half-marathon? I almost ran a marathon but it was split over two days. What should I do?

I looked at Hal Higdon’s Post Marathon Recovery plans and read some of his tips. I’m in a tricky position of needing to recovery properly from this past weekend but continue to train for my triathlon which is in a few weeks. Ultimately I decided to play it by ear and see how I felt.

Yesterday I took a complete rest day. I always do this after a big race and Gasparilla was no different. However, I was surprised to wake up yesterday morning not as sore as I had expected. I definitely think the post race massage, along with Tylenol, Icy-Hot, and some gentle stretching/ foam rolling on Sunday helped with my soreness on Monday.

This morning, I woke up with only minor soreness in my upper quads- a complete change from how I felt post- race Sunday AND much better than I thought I would feel by this point. Don’t get me wrong- I know that I still need to be careful. There are still micro-tears that my body needs to repair, but otherwise I am feeling pretty good! I can walk up and down stairs with ease and I am not crying from pain when I foam roll.

Today I wanted to move, so I took it easy with a swim, upper-body weight training, and core/ stretching. After the workout, I felt even better and more loose. I can touch my toes again, which I’ll take as a good sign that I am regaining my flexibility.

Tomorrow I plan to swim again and also add in some moderate resistance on the spin bike. Depending on how I feel Thursday, I might take a short easy run around the neighborhood. As much as I want to run again, I also want to make sure that I am not rushing into things. I also don’t have any speed work on the schedule for awhile as I recover/ fix my running form.

In addition to the recovery from Gasparilla, there is also the reflection/ processing of the three races. I went into Gasparilla with a few goals: no PR’s, pace my mom for her own 5K PR, slow my roll, redeem myself, take a good finish line photo, and to have fun!

I accomplished almost all of these goals- unfortunately I did not pace my mom to her own PR, BUT she still did amazing! I am a very proud daughter! She pushed through the heat and gave it her all.

However, I did meet the rest of my goals- I did not PR, I slowed down my pace, I definitely redeemed myself, I (sort of) took a good finish line photo, and I absolutely had fun!

I think it is safe to say that this weekend will be one that will never be forgotten. I may not have broken any records, but I refound my love for the sport that has given me so much over the past two years. The sport that has given me confidence, physical/ mental toughness, challenges, and most of all, a wonderful group of new friends.

(Source)

Now it is time to take this incredible runner’s high that I am still on, and use it to push me through these final few weeks of triathlon training. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am ready to complete this new challenge.