Life After November 6th.

After months of long runs, early wake-up calls and endless amounts of pasta - marathon day came and went. I trained hard and ran hard to meet my big goals.  And speaking of meeting my big goals, thank you all for your kind words and support, it really does mean a ton to me.

But now what?

For the first few days after the marathon, my legs were incredibly sore. Like, please-don't-make-me-get-up-and-out-of-my-chair sore. I was hoping that that since that was my second marathon I wouldn't be quite as sore,  but clearly that was quite an optimistic view.

By Thursday late afternoon I was starting to feel more normal. I thought about running, but I knew I should stick to my plan of taking the week off.  Then I remembered this old thing...

Oh hello, bike. Have we met before?

I haven't been on my bike for weeks since I ended up switching to running 6 days/week for the last 6 weeks of marathon training.  Although I do think that was the right decision so I could run a strong marathon, it did make me a little sad inside to see my bike just sitting there unused.  So since I was feeling pretty good on Thursday, I decided to take it out for a spin. Besides, isn't light exercise supposed to help recovery, anyways?

The first few miles felt great - it was like I never stopped riding.  Bu towards the last miles my rear end was getting a little very sore, and my legs were screaming "Hey, remember us? we just carried you through 26.2 miles, dammit!" I guess I am still recovering, after all.

I was hoping for a triumphant return to the roads today, but instead, I woke up with my requisite post-marathon head cold. Just when I thought I had escaped it!  So instead I will spend my day in bed/on the couch with some few old friends...

Manischewitz is key to recovery.

Is there anything a tray of fresh chocolate chip cookies does not solve!?

A little wine never hurt.

Assuming I can kick this cold to the curb, I would like to start running again on Monday. But after being on such a strict schedule for 16 weeks, I am feeling a little lost.  What should my weekly mileage aim be? And how much cross training should I do? I'm torn between being nervous about doing too much, too soon and itching to get back out there and onto the next goal.  And next year's goals are pretty lofty - an "a goal" half marathon, an Olympic triathlon, and a fall full marathon - all in New York, of course.

At least I can admire my additions to my bling collection in the meantime.

Cheesy or not, I do love my medals.

How have you bounced back from a major race? Do you rush into setting a new goal, or do you take some down time?