Fly out next week to head back to Canberra for 4 days. Will be good to make the trip to pick up my running Mojo that I seem to have left behind. (forget the fact that my sister is actually getting married.....)
Coming home after the Marathon I had fully anticipated a lot of things - little running for the first week, immmuno suppressed body, and depression. This was all catered for as my pre-race strategy had included preparation for this.
POST MARATHON RUNNING:
I took 5 days off with no running at all. Then hubby took me out for a 4km run. It was good to get moving again. Two days later I went out for another run - 8km easy with Chris's training group. Again, the legs felt great but I just didn't get into it. I haven't run since Tuesday and am starting to feel fat, tired, grumpy and useless.
IMMUNE SYSTEM - POST RACE:
I ate healthily the week after the marathon up to Easter. No alcohol, low fat, lots of veges etc. This was good for the body and I managed to not feel tired or get any colds or flus or even much muscle soreness after day two.
DEPRESSION:
Not often talked about but certainly in all the marathon books etc to watch out for. I am just not the type to suffer from depression however my lack of motivations is a form of depression I am starting to think.
I purposely set myself some goal races for after Canberra so I would not feel this way and would be keen to get back into training. But it doesn't seem to be working. Tess isn't out there running with me and it seems everyone else is training for Brisbane Marathon so doing long long runs. I am not ready to kill myself at speed training just yet so have not been back to Pat Carrolls session with all my mates either.
I just keep thinking....I had the perfect race - what else is there?
I know I need to pull my finger out and kickstart my running but the kit kats and alcohol that I have been avoiding for three months now are my best friends.
On top of all that my hip is giving me grief - not when I run but certainly when I have been sitting for a period of time. Maybe Tess is right - all this inactivity is just not good for us!
Off to the Sports Doctor to get a professional opinion and will keep you updated.
19 comments:
You certainly did run the perfect race in all respects - you ran it as a very experinced marathoner in regard to preparation, having a wise race plan and then excuting it perfectly. What else is there .... after that you say.
Sure take it easy and accept that a bit of a flat period will occur but also remember the buzz of the run and the exhiliration as you came up to 40k and then down to and over the finishing line. Is that worth experincing again - if it is set another marathon and start back slowly.
Your training will not need to be so intense as you now have a great base and all you have to do now is maintain it - that is easier than trying to acquire it as you needed to do.
Come on run with me (you pace me !!) at the Gold Coast and get us in under 3.20. See you next weekend.
Gees Clairie, Eagle's offer must sound tempting. Wonder if he's got Alice Springs on the agenda :-)
The most marathon depression thing sucks. But the good thing is that when you snap out of it the feeling is fantastic. It happened to me a week or so after GC last year. After a week or so of the blues I hit the top of the hill on Mt Coot-tha and suddenly the world really was wonderful. So much so I ran partway back down and up again! Another time it happened it was the Bribie Beach Bash that did it for me.
So just wait. I think it probably takes one of those special runs. I'm guessing your run that it will be your run in Canberra next weekend.
PS Chocolate and wine are part of my daily diet.
PPS Excuse the typos. And no, I haven't had my wine yet today.
You should be a little flat after a great first marathon. Its only natural. But you need to get back on the horse ASAP so you don't undo the good endurance base you have.
It's very normal to feel flat after you've achieved something you were working so hard for.
Sounds like very wise advice from those others. Maybe a run with CJ with perk you up!
Great post with important insights into the post "goal-achieved" mental processes. When I set my marathon PB last November, I felt, yep, that's about it. I've reached the top of my physical mountain. I'm sure I could shave a few more minutes off IF I was prepared and able to put in the time for training...climbing up to 130, 140-km weeks. But that's just not possible within other life constraints. And I wasn't hovering just above some magical barrier either, being already in just sub 3-hr territory. So what was left?
I did, however, have a slightly soft half PB and was able to go out and smash that in February. So now my 5k, 10k, half and full PBs are all just about maxed out. And again, it does make it harder to set goals and find motivation. Mainly all I've done is try to keep up the miles and do a few alternative types of event involving trails and mountains.
So my advice is to just go with the flow for a little while. Don't expect to be motivated. Don't put any expectations on yourself at all. Just set a period where you look for the other reasons why you run, besides goals and PBs etc, and try to recapture the enjoyment. Let the mind chew over what other goals in the medium and then longer term you can aim for and gradually the motivation will return.
For one thing, yes, you had a great first marathon, but there is no reason to think you can't improve on it in the next couple of outings. That gives you a couple of years outlook for a start.
It will be OK Clairie.
BIG HUG
Hey Claire, what a great post.
You've just completed the best run to date and the thing you have been gearing up for, for months, its only inevitable that theres a bit of a come down after that. I know what you mean about everyone else doing something more than you want to, when I started on the long runs again this year (it felt like) everyone who wasnt injured or out of state was preparing for Canberra and doing way more than the hour I was capable of doing, soon changes though, so hang in there.
Make sure you get that hip checked out, dont want you keeping away for too long :)
Hey clairie... ditto!!! I was feeling on a real high for the forst week, and then this week I have felt a bit grumpy and not quite myself. I agree that Canberra was so exciting and to have achieved our goals was such a buzz that a bit of post marathon blues is ok. I went back to training really quickly just to be around all the great running mates... I am just doing about half what they are, which is nice just to be a part of it with out any stress. I have also set the sydeny half as a bit of a goal so I can work towards something. Will you do the Sydney Marathon in Sep???
Take care!
Remember the 12 things list at the end of last year ......
I think the answer is there:
"Five Things I do Daily
Eat
Sleep
Kiss Allan
Think about running
SMS someone
Four TV Shows I watch
House
McLeods Daughters
Big Brother (groan)
Sunday Night Movie
Three Places I have Lived
Darwin
Alice Springs
Scotland
Two Things I Really Want
Sexy Legs
Bigger Boobs
*One Person I can't live without*
Allan"
What Steve and Ray said!
Clairie, I promise....that once you get out & do one short run & next day another short run, you'll be back in business, as I am now!
Ditto what everyone much wiser & with much more experience than I has said ;-)
Leave your watch at home & just ran for the pure enjoyment of it for a while.
It is normal to feel like you do now after setting your sights on a target event for so long. And now you have achieved your huge goal for the year, what's left? Well for me, it is just getting out there and running so I can keep in touch with all these great people I know who happen to be runners.
;-)
Just take it easy Clairie, although you dont feel enthusiastic about running at the moment it will return. There is no need to worry and rush things.
Just focus on maintaining your endurance base with a few nice and easy recovery runs. That way when you start thinking how great the Weekend at Warwick will be you will still have alot of that fitness left to run great times.
In the mean time enjoy the Kitkat's and Wine :)
*hugs* what they said!
Only one thing for it Clairie - come across to the dark side and do some ultra's - you know you want to ;-)
Hang in there Clairie - it will get better. After the first couple of marathons I felt flat, fat and totally unmotivated. Now I allow myself some time off, enjoy my running just for the sake of it, enjoy eating whatever I feel like, sleeping in, staying up late, etc. Then I get stuck into a new goal. This year its Operation Mayday due to commence 1 May.
Looking forward to Saturday and a very slow run and good food, coffee and company afterwards!
Sorry to hear about the hip Clairie. Your great run in Canberra must have had a lot to do with your inner toughness and I am sure the same engine will get you back in the groove before too long.
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