Post-Marathon Recovery

Running after a major event is humbling.  There are moments when you want to run fast -- as fast as you could go at peak training, and your body simply says, "Nope."  

RnR USA feels like it was an eternity ago, which is probably why I haven't been so forgiving of my body.  It's only been 21 days and, if conventional wisdom is true, I should expect to need about one day for each mile that I ran during the race.  I've been trying to run at my usual pace, some days more successfully than others.  But, man, running still feels hard.

Last week, I ran the Women & Politics Institute's Race to Representation 5K.  I love this race (I ran it before in 2011) -- small field, looped course on American's campus, benefits a worthy cause, lots of fist pumping to Beyoncé's "Girls (Who run the world)."  My mistake, I think, was trying to race it.  I started off fast, felt pretty good, and then started to lose steam in the last mile.  I finished in 25:47 -- faster than I did in 2011.

During the week, I ran twice with my coworkers -- 6 miles on Tuesday and 6 on Wednesday.  I could keep up, but it felt harder than it should have.  I just have to give it some time, I guess.  

I still don't have much of a plan.  I'm running a 10K next month, but I'm itching to sign up for a longer race.  (NYCM, once again, told me no.)  I'm thinking of running the Baltimore Half again.  It really is one of my favorite races, but I think I want to travel to a different city for a half marathon.