I knew long before the marathon took place that its completion would bring mixed feelings. Certainly in the days leading up to the race I was happily imagining myself sitting on the couch watching t.v. But I also knew it would be very difficult to suddenly be going about my daily life without a big goal on which to focus. For better or worse, a marathon sort of takes over your life for several months; when it is finally done you can’t help but notice the gap it leaves. So what do you do when you have finished a marathon? Here’s what I have done so far:
1. Eat from the four major junk food groups (potato chips, chocolate, baked goods and McDonalds). I have successfully hit each of these groups, some more than once.
2. Tell everyone – and I mean everyone – about running a marathon.
3. Start looking up 50k ultra marathons…just out of curiosity…really…maybe…
4. Register for a half marathon being held exactly 3 weeks after the marathon – one last race to squeeze into 2013.
5. Start planning for the Around the Bay 30k – North America’s oldest road race – held in Hamilton at the end of March.
6. After a week off, get out for a 7k fun run on a beautiful, crisp October day and remember how amazing it feels to go for a run.
I remember what it felt like after my first marathon. I didn’t run for a week and even then it was a slow 5km. It wasn’t that my body hurt at that point. It was all mental. The “what do I do now?”. Did I want to run another marathon? Did I even want to keep running? All that energy and attention for that one big race and then *poof* the moment is gone. Makes me wonder what Olympic athletes must feel given that they get ready for something that happens every 4 years.
Even now I still have a bit of the “blahs” after such a big race. I’ll keep running of course. But I’ve learned that taking awhile to recoup and refocus is completely normal.
Love this! I’ve also done #1, #4 and #6.