I have been extremely pleased with my recovery from Sunday’s marathon. It’s been night and day difference from my first marathon. I attribute it to better overall fitness and my body being more accustomed to recovering from tough workouts.
All of my soreness faded by Tuesday and now I’m just dealing with general fatigue and feeling run down. Despite getting eight hours of sleep last night, I literally had to peel myself out of bed this morning. In addition to feeling physically exhausted, I’ve been a bit emotional. This is nothing new for me – anytime I push myself to the point of exhaustion the tears come much more easily. All I have to say is poor Mom and poor Brandon. Love you guys! 😉
I took Monday and Tuesday as complete rest days and decided to make my way back to my yoga mat this evening. It had been a week since I practiced – the longest I’ve gone in many, many months. I was mentally ready but my body was NOT ready. Within five minutes of class starting my legs were shaking. This is partly my fault for choosing to go to a hot vinyasa class rather than a more relaxed, stetching-focused class. I toughed it out and took lots of breaks. I was planning on an ashtanga class tomorrow but I have to teach BodyPump too so I think I’m going to wait a few more days before I attempt ashtanga since it’s a pretty physical practice.
And one last note on recovery. I honestly didn’t know if and when I would run after the marathon. I was planning on taking a couple weeks off of running and then most of the winter off after the Thunder Road half in December. I already miss it. I totally did not see this coming. I am definitely first and foremost a runner but this last year I’ve felt a little over it and discovering yoga has helped me see that I don’t have to run all the time. But I realize now that training for and running the Marine Corps Marathon actually helped me fall back in love with running.
And enough about all that…I haven’t taken many food photos the last couple days but here are a couple from today.
Brandon and I grabbed a quick lunch at Panera.
I had the You Pick Two with vegetable soup, a salad and whole wheat baguette.
For some reason that I do not understand, I had a serious biscuit craving. It was so bad that I considered stopping at Bojangles yesterday but then I really thought hard about that and it didn’t seem like such a good idea. Instead, we had breakfast for dinner tonight.
I had an egg, a Morningstar “sausage” patty, cheese grits and a biscuit. I covered the biscuit in Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter and it was blissful. Everything I was hoping for and more! 😀
And last…we’re FINALLY getting a Whole Foods in Charlotte! WOOOHOO!!! There has been a void in my life since we left Birmingham where we had a Whole Foods just a mile from our house. When I had a hard day at work, I would stop there and just wander around to boost my mood. I know, I’m crazy. Bring on the hot bar and the 365 brand!
I saw an update on the news yesterday that we were getting a Whole Foods and knew you would be so excited! 🙂
Love your blog! I can totally relate with wandering around Whole Foods to boost your mood! 🙂 There is one close to my work here in Dallas and I do the same thing on my lunch break (more frequently than I would like to admit!)
Great job on the Marine Corps Marathon! My last marathon was in April and I’m itching to get back out there!
Thanks for your comment, Emily! This Whole Foods will be close to my house but not very close to work…thankfully! That might be trouble on my lunch break. So much hot bar temptation.
Thanks for the congrats on MCM! I can’t believe it’s all over now. It’s weird (but nice) not to be training. I’m ready to gear up for my next half in December.
I’m a new reder to your blog, and as someone who is getting ready to run her first 5K it was super inspiring to read about your recent marathon run. Yipee for the whole foods! I just spent 3 months in Spain, and one of the first places I visited when I got back to the states was my local Whole Foods. I could spend hours in that place!
So glad you enjoyed my marathon recap! GOOD LUCK on your 5k! You will be awesome! And I’m so jealous that you just spent three months in Spain… 🙂
Yes! I am so happy to have Whole Foods coming to Charlotte….mere minutes from my house!! I have missed that store so much!
I always have plans of taking time off from running, but then about two days go by, and I can’t take it anymore and end up running again. I guess the addiction is just too strong!
Until I ran a marathon, I never understood the recovery process. I mean, I’d run 20 miles and got right back at it. I thought it would be a little worse, but the post-marathon fatigue hit me hard. I went to yoga and started shaking just like you. Enjoy some rest 🙂
Have you tried the Morningstar Hot & Spicy “sausage”? It is SO good!!! I love Whole Foods hot bar, I think I’ll be making a trip this weekend 🙂
Jen
I haven’t tried that yet but it sounds awesome! I will pick it up next time. Also, have you tried the Amy’s brand of veggie burgers/sausage? More expensive than Morningstar but I get them when they’re on sale. SO GOOD!
I am going through the same thing, girl. I am physically exhausted and have barely exercised since the marathon. And emotionally I’m a wreck. I feel bad for my hubby too 🙁
I’m happy to hear you fell back in love with running though! Bring on Thunder Road 🙂
Where did you hear about the whole foods in Charlotte?! I am so stinking excited, I must know details!
It was in the Charlotte Observer yesterday!!! There’s a link in my post. I’m SO excited!