This, almost 2 week rest has been, well, interesting. A roller coaster of emotions, and thoughts and energy. I've come to the conclusion that this "running business" not only is addictive as hell, but can make a person kind of psycho!
I remember the night before my race, the Hubs and I sat on our beautiful balcony, overlooking the San Juan coastline, and I told him that we needed to figure out our next running "step" right then and there. Between the paranoid morbid talks of a possible tsunami and verbally making up our living will and testament (as of date, we have still not done that on paper...ugh!) I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't experience that horrible depression that comes after a race. From what I have heard and read, post-race depression, is quiet normal. It makes total sense. As runners, we spend months, upon months training for a race, a race that lasts mere hours. You cross that finish line, get your medal and then, "what?!" What happens now...? Maybe, you feel a little bit underwhelmed with your performance, time or simply you experience a unexplainable case of the blues. Whatever the reasons for post-depression blues, I was bound and determined not to let it happen to me. So, there I was, talking to the Hubs and planning out a detailed plan (yes, folks, I am definitely a Type A) on how I, Bella, would not become a victim of the horrible post-race blues. At least, not again (you can read all about how "blue" I felt after my first 5K, here)
I had it all planned out. I would take one week, yes, you read that right, one measly week to recover. During that "recovery" week, I would do some slow and easy 1 milers, just to "get the blood flowing" and then I would gear up for a full marathon training program. Except, I decided that I would start the training program where the half-marathon training left off. I would run a 10-miler about a week and a half from the day of the race. In my mind, we would finish our marathon training, keep adding more miles until January when we would do the Disney Marathon. All of this, the night before the race sounded like a solid and genius plan. I was sure it would be how everything played out.
Insane, right?! At the time I didn't think so, today I sing to a different tune.
What the frak was I thinking?
Instead, this is what really happened: I could barely move, much less bend my legs after the race. It was, by far, the hardest run I have ever completed. The hills killed my knees, and the intense knee pain masked what later I found out was plantar fasciitis or "runner's heel" and that, my friends, was killer. I couldn't put any weight on my right heel, and everything else hurt due to over compensation. The first week, I did hardly anything. Stood on my feet the least amount of time possible, and iced, rolled, massaged and used a healing homeopathic essential oil blend. At times it felt like all of those things were working, and times the pain was so intense that it made me feel like I hadn't made any improvement. Was this the end of my running hobby? Had I pushed too hard for the race? Why hadn't I done more hills during training? Damn it, damn it, damn it! I was itchy to get back out there, regulating my breathing, feeling the breeze on my face, feeling my heart pumping almost in unison with my strikes, but I could barely stand, much less walk and forget about running. It terrified me that maybe I had done some major damage. Luckily, I have an amazing group of people, all runners, who reassure me that this was normal. They told me to keep icing, keep babying the injury and that before I knew it I would be back to normal. With everything inside me, I hoped and wished they were right.
I took that down time to plan out my next running move. The Hubs and I decided that we would not do the Disney Marathon this year and instead take a whole year to train for the next Puerto Rico Marathon (May 2014). We would take it slow, starting the program from scratch, to gives us plenty of time to concentrate on improving form, strike, stride, posture, fitness levels and nutrition. Plus, taking a whole year to train would us give plenty of room for unexpected illness, injuries, family vacations and out-of-town visitors. To battle the post-race blues, we researched all the island races that will take place from now until May and plan on doing as many races as we can. I figure this will keep us, in a way, always training for something.
Last weekend, the Hubs and I decided we would go on a snorkeling date, just the two of us, with our Princess in the good hands of our next-door neighbor and babysitter, K, we grabbed our gear and headed out. By then, my knee pain had completely subsided and the heel was just about back to normal. In a probably very stupid move, and with a sudden burst of energy to propel me, I decided to go on a very short, easy and slow run on the beach. My legs felt great, my very purposeful mid-foot strike didn't bother my heel at all and I felt light as a feather. My heart was pumping and my lungs were full of the salty beachy air. It felt so great, I felt alive and I knew I was BACK! The gods were smiling on me because as stupid as running on the beach probably, most likely, was, my heel kept improving and today I feel zero pain. A few days later I went on a trial run around my neighborhood. I made a conscious effort to zone in on my strike and form and took the mile very easy. It felt great and I am just beyond relieved that I can run again.
I am learning that rest is like a dirty word for a runner and that the thought of not being able to run kills the spirit. BUT...rest is a necessary, actually more like crucial part of training, and most injuries, with proper care, will eventually heal. There is a season for everything. At times I will need to rest. There will be unexpected events, injuries and situations that will arise, that won't allow me to run. Something or other will put a temporary halt to my training. I am learning take those interruptions for what they are, simple temporary breaks, and not allow them to break my spirit or motivation. But, the thing that I think is the most important that I learn is that with proper care, proper restraint and the proper attitude, I might just come off a break stronger than ever. Refreshed and ready to hit the pavement once again.
Next week, the Hubs and I, will officially start marathon training. We will use, "The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer" by Whitsett, Dolgener and Kole as our guide. We are both psyched out of our mind and look forward to seeing our endurance, speed and time improve.
Until then, I will take the next several days to continue resting and planning for the weeks and months to come and try not get ahead of myself always reminding myself to "enjoy the process!"
Our "chat" time has come to an end for now, but don't worry we will "talk" again soon, until next time I leave you with a couple of questions:
Have you every experience post-race blues? What did YOU do to battle it and move forward?
Love&Hugs,
Bella
No comments:
Post a Comment