Happy Tuesday! I hope the beginning of your week has been off to a good start. Mine has been busy busy busy, but that’s just life! And settling back into the normal groove after a weekend away is never easy. 🙂

We arrived home from our quick and busy race weekend in STL late on Sunday evening. It felt like I should still be celebrating post race, but it was time to get back to reality.
We had time to unpack, eat, and head to bed. I feel like time is never on our side during the weekends that we travel. But I was happy to be home and in my own bed.

Post-Race Thoughts

Post-race has been a learning experience all in itself. Saturday I was on Cloud 9. Everything and everybody was awesome. I was sore and tired, but it was okay since I had finished my first half-marathon. Sunday was the day of mental fatigue. I drove us home from STL, and I felt groggy and weird the whole way. I just felt fatigued and drained….there’s no better way to put it. I was physically tired and getting some soreness, but it wasn’t too bad yet. The soreness finally set in yesterday. And it was bad.

I got out of bed for my early Monday morning Jazzercise class and was immediately upset with myself for not getting a sub for my class! I was certain that I would be fine by Monday, but I was definitely wrong! I got to class and had 2 smiling faces show up to dance. The first half of class was painful (and probably pitiful looking!), but I was feeling a million times better by the second half. I thought it did my muscles good to warm up and then stretch. But then the rest of the day wore on and my quads kept getting sorer and sorer. To the point that I couldn’t have squatted to get into the bottom of the cabinets if you would’ve begged me. Ow. I hobbled around the office and then around my house all evening. Nick went to the gym after work; I went to the couch. And I don’t think I moved more than 3 times all evening. 🙂 I hate being lazy, but I knew that I owed it to my body to be still and relax for a couple hours.

Today, thankfully, my legs are feeling 95% better. I can walk and climb up stairs without cringing like yesterday. But today has deemed it’s own label: the day of Blues. I’m on day 3 post-race, and I am not loving how I feel. I don’t really feel depressed, just more ‘down’ and sad. I figured it was because I didn’t get in a morning workout, but after some lovely (and supa trustworthy) Google research, apparently ‘post marathon depression’ is a thing! And a very common thing!

I love this post on Pace of Chicago about ‘post marathon depression’: http://www.chicagonow.com/pace-of-chicago/2013/10/how-to-deal-with-post-marathon-depression/. It’s specific to the Chicago marathon, but it is such a good read for anyone feeling blue after a big race. It’s perfectly normal to feel a little sad. Let’s face it – I’ve been training and focusing on my first half-marathon for MONTHS. And now it’s over and past. I have more races coming up to look forward too, but I’ve been too tired and sore to be excited about racing again right away. My favorite part is where the post discusses eating well and resting post-race. The days after your race should really be focused on taking good care of yourself as a way to thank your body for getting you through months of training and across the finish line. What a good way to sum it all up! After a big event like a marathon, treat your body well and thank it with rest and yummy, wholesome foods to help it recover. 🙂

I’ve still been on a carby kick since the end of last week, so today I really tried to get away from it and go back to my veggie-filled salad for lunch. I still wasn’t feeling satisfied or full though post-salad, so I brought along some of my favorite yogurt to have this afternoon as my little treat for getting in a bowl of vegetables today.

Yum!!!

Tonight will be a busy one teaching Jazzercise from 5:40-7:45, so I won’t have much time to munch on carbs for dinner. I can slowly feel myself going back to normal after the build-up for my race. And I must say, it feels good. We are such creatures of habit!

I’m going to attempt going on my normal Wednesday morning run tomorrow. Wish me luck that it goes well so I can get back into my normal training groove! Have a great night!