So, what's next?
The first couple of weeks after the marathon were a bit weird. I was glad to finally rid my head of the endless deliberations and nervous thoughts that had plagued and distracted me for months. I was also well pleased with what was undoubtedly (and statistically!) my best ever race performance. I did feel a little bit lost without having a big target race to aim at, but, at the same time, I felt 'free' of the expectations I had placed on myself.
Recovery
My recovery plan was simple: take it slow, gently ease back into a few miles, enjoy good food and beer without worrying about 'race weight', cross-train a bit in the gym, and do no pacey running at all for a couple of weeks. Wait for the bounce to come back and then think about what to aim at next. Maybe try and get that 5K time down over the summer, somewhere a bit closer to 16 minutes?
Recovery running started on Tuesday evening about 54 hours after the marathon finished with a very light jog down the canal whilst the kids were at athletics. Jesus, I was bloody tired. At the end of the second mile, I was shot and if I wasn't two miles from where I needed to be, I would have stopped. The third and fourth mile were unpleasant and painful. Stupid mistake number 1.
The next afternoon (I know...) I did 20 minutes very easy on the gym bike, and 1.8 miles on the treadmill. Shot, again! I remember literally saying to myself "what f**king good is this doing, you idiot?" Stupid mistake 2 made, I got off the treadmill and did nothing for a few days apart from walk the mile to and from work. I did feel a pang of jealousy whilst marshaling the South Yorks 5-mile road league round Bradfield that evening though - looked fun.
The following Bank Holiday Monday, after 5 days of rest, I was feeling a bit more lively, so I headed out for one of my favourite loops into the countryside - a 9.5 mile round trip round redmires (Roper Hill). Felt pretty good actually, not too stiff and nice to be out again enjoying running across the hilltops over Sheffield; it is actually a really nice thing to do.
And, then someone objected to being overtaken coming down porter valley and before you can say 'grow up you're nearly 43', the pace dropped well below 6 minute miles and I'm hammering down the valley like a 20 year old fell runner. Stupid mistake 3. My quads were not recovered enough for that kind of descent - muscle soreness arrived the next morning.
The rest of the week saw a return to daily running and a total mileage of around 65 miles which I have maintained since. It was Friday - nearly 2 weeks after the marathon - before I got any sort of bounce back in my legs though.
What is this 'racing'?
Two and a half weeks after the marathon, I felt ready to try a hard run, so I dropped in on the final 5 mile road league fixture of the season at Oxspring. I settled in early with a pack of people who I would expect to race with and ran sensibly enough. During the continuous descent of mile 5, my legs started to wobble, and, not being one for getting downhill very quickly, I dropped behind the pack a bit to finish 10th overall in a new 5 mile PB of 27:32. I should have been happy, but I knew I was 15 - 20 seconds slower than where I should have been. More recovering to do I reckon.
A few days of light recovery running later, I was on the start line of the vets masters relays in Sutton Coldfield. Fabulous venue for relay running, and always a great event. A review of the race, which I won't repeat here, is available on the club website. The run was hard, but I felt fitter than at the 5-miler and clocked 16:14 for the undulating 3 mile course. I was particularly pleased to kick the last mile in 5:16. It felt like I was getting the benefit of all of that marathon training whilst finally escaping from the fatigue caused by the race itself.
The next week saw a return to my usual training cycle, which I won't bore anyone with here (all of my training is on strava).
Weight for next time...
I have had quite a bit of contact and positive feedback on this blog, asking me when I am going to update it again, and whether I am going to write a bit more about my improvement over the last few years, tips on weight loss, training etc. Flattering to think that anyone finds my ramblings, which I write as a pretty self-indulgent public diary, at all interesting. There are also far better runners than me blogging about training (I like Jason Cherriman's open and honest blog for example).
I did actually sit down to write this blog because I said a couple of months ago (vlm training week 12) that I would return to the subject of 'racing weight' when I had a bit more time. And so I shall, but not here because I have rambled on for a few hundred words about recovery and getting back to racing.
Amazing how quickly the time goes when you finally get the peace and quiet to capture your thoughts... Lola spent hours this evening before bed noisily banging about the house moaning about her mobile getting dropped in the sea earlier today (can I have an i-phone 5s dad?) Deb is out re-living her youth at a De La Soul gig in town. Tomorrow involves an early treadmill session, and then a drive to Preston where Lola is competing for City of Sheffield in the Northern Premier athletics league (75m, long jump and 100m relay). I'm hoping she gets a PB for the 75m and the LJ - it might be enough to get her to forget, for a few minutes, that her phone is swimming with the fishes. I'm hoping the excitement will help me continue to ignore that niggle in my upper left leg. It's not been right since before London. Might need to admit defeat at some point and book into the physio.
