Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Post-marathon thoughts

I stayed home from work today. I felt drained and on the verge of a cold when I woke up...much worse than yesterday. I decided that spending the day in bed would probably save me from a week or more of illness, so that's what I did.

I was excited to tell everyone that I had completed the marathon, and happily accepted their congratulations. But I feel strangely dissatisfied. Maybe I am disappointed with my time. Maybe I feel let down because I worked so hard to attain my goal, and now it's done. Maybe I am just plain tired. I haven't run since Sunday, of course, and I probably won't attempt to until at least Thursday. I was so stiff yesterday that I couldn't walk very fast. I am a bit better today...even managed a couple of flights of stairs.

I have a few goals in mind: a 55-min 10k, a sub 2-hour half marathon. Maybe another marathon is in my future, though I don't think I'll do another one this year. All I know is that I need another goal to keep me motivated.

3 comments:

Cliff said...

the maraton didn't satisfy me.

What satisfied me more though, is the time i spent training for one. Those 3 hr runs. From my house to downtown.

Woah. I never imagine telling others "I am running downtown". Never imagine going along lakeshore where the year before i use to bike down there. Never imagine burning 3000+ calories.

anners said...

I had fun telling people that I ran downtown, too. I used to think it was far to DRIVE to the Martin Goodman trail...in fact, I still think it's far! Well, now I have a choice...45 min drive (in traffic), or 3 hr run :D

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel, anners. I have those mixed feelings, too... it's quite common, actually (post marathon blues). You train so hard for one day, and then it's done. "Is that it?" You want to try again, but it takes so long to get back to that point... Anyway, I hope it helps to hear that you're not alone :). Also, I waited till thursday after the marathon to run, but it still feels like a bit of a slog... it's almost like starting over.

I have some goals of getting faster tat the shorter distances, too... a good way to do that is to start with some speed work before you build the distance training.