I just had my eyes opened to a sudden and disturbing realization… I had been living under the false assumption that by running I could get in shape and further more the more I ran the better shape I would be in. And furthermore from all my previous experiences I’ve found this to be more or less true… to a certain point… and that point is 26.2 miles.
18 weeks of training, 530 mile of training, plus one marathon later and I’m in worse shape than I was when I started. For the first couple days after the marathon I was hard pressed to even climb up stairs, a task that I had previously thought I had completely mastered since the age of 3. The following few days I could finally walk again as long as it wasn’t any farther than the mailbox (and it wasn’t easy either, but those Netflix movies weren’t going to watch themselves)…
Finally after a week of whining, complaining, and self-pity I finally get out the door for a run. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is out, the birds are chirping. This is going to be great I think to myself… WRONG!!!! 1.25 miles in and my knee feels all Tanya Hardinged… Come on! My first training run was 3 miles… So now I’m in worse shape than before I even started running.
Oh well, if I can’t train at least I can still say my prayers and eat my vitamins…
Ahh, the first marathon. You'll be back out there hitting the road sooner than you think. It takes a while for you to recover from a marathon. Techinically, right after the marathon, you may be weaker than when you started, but hang in there. Give your body some time to recover. Make sure you've restored your glycogen stores and that your fully hydrated. Start back slowly. You'll notice that you're adding miles back a lot quicker than when you initially started your training. Marathon amnesia will soon kick in and you'll be picking your next race before you know it!
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