I'm going to Disneyland (recovery week)!

Week of February 27 through March 5, 2017 - recovery week following the BMO Mesa-Phoenix Marathon.  I remember when professional athletes used to say, "I'm going to Disneyland!" when asked what they were doing after a big game, and humorously enough, my husband and I booked our family summer vacation to Disney World on our first day back in Missouri after our Phoenix trip.

Mileage:  15.8.  I hesitated to even write about this week since I wasn't exactly training, but decided to keep it real.  I like to read about other runners taking down time because it shows me that we all need it.  Even I'm not dumb enough to think I should be working hard this week!  When my coach sent me my schedule for the 4 weeks following my marathon, he told me that I was going to hate it, but that he was nice and gave me a little running this week.  I actually didn't hate it at all, and thought it was just what my body needed.  Plus, I had sore quads for days!  Nothing else was sore from the race, but my quads were SO sore.  This marathon was harder on my body than my previous 3 marathons were (I had minimal soreness after any of them), and it was hard not to compare my recovery and feel bad about not recovering faster, but I also know you can't bully yourself into recovering faster!  Mainly I missed my normal routine and schedule that I love so much - and also missed spending time with my running partners!

I thought this was a fitting recovery week shot, with the protein & salt in the cart

Monday - 30 minutes super easy on the elliptical followed by a nice stretch and foam rolling session.  I later walked about a mile with Jon and did some more foam rolling.  I took the day off from work to obsess about running recover from my marathon and the trip, which was really nice.  I didn't take a day off following an evening return from the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona half, and got sick shortly after that (I believe because I was so fatigued), so I also figured better a vacation day now than a sick day later! 

Tuesday - 3 mile shake out (8:49).  I felt like I was in slow motion, but I felt better after this run than before it!  One of my friends asked if I wanted to run a 10 mile workout with her, and I had to laugh...I couldn't walk up and down stairs normally yet!

Wednesday - 60 minutes easy on the elliptical.  I usually swim for cross-training during recovery week, but about a month ago my YMCA's pool had cryptosporidium in it, and even though it's been completely resolved I am still terrified to go in it based on my past experience with crypto!  My quads were too sore to bike, so elliptical it was.

Thursday - 3.7 mile shake out (8:17).  I had a bit more pep in my step than on Tuesday, although my quads were still somewhat sore!  The 3.7 was me cheating on my 3 mile planned run, but I felt it was a good sign that I wanted to, since on Tuesday I did not run one step over 3 miles.  I also did 5 minutes of planks on Thursday, re-introducing a little strength.  I also tried a hot Epsom salt bath, and the jury is still out on whether that did any good, but I sure slept well afterwards!

Friday - 60 minutes easy on the elliptical, plus 15 minutes of arm and core work (definitely not up for leg strength yet!).

Saturday - 4.1 miles easy (7:28).  This was my first post-marathon run where I started to feel more like myself!  I did a few lunges as part of my dynamic warm-up routine, and I could still feel soreness in my quads on them, though.

Sunday - 5 miles base pace (7:16)  My coach said that hopefully I'd be back to "normal" easy pace for this run, but not to force it if it wasn't there.  Fortunately, it was there, and my splits made a pretty progression run completely unintentionally (7:33, 7:22, 7:15, 7:10, 7:05).  Marathon recovery is always a mental trip for me, and it's always a humbling experience to feel like you can't even run 1 mile at the pace your recently ran for 26.2!  I am very thankful for recovery, and that I don't have any injuries or abnormal pains.  Next week I will ease back into a more normal running routine, which I am ready for (again, the mental trip thing!), but lower mileage as my recovery continues and before I target some shorter races in April and May.