four things friday
1. Just like every taper and race is different, every recovery period is different. I can't actually remember the last time I felt this fried after a race. Some of it, I'm sure, was due to the 8+ hour drive we made less than an hour after I crossed the finish line, but some of it I think was related to my effort. And because of that, instead of wanting to gorge myself on beer and ice cream and potato chips, I was a little worried about how trashed I felt and have spent the week putting good clean solid foods down, with the possible exception of a cocktail at dinner Tuesday night with some good sweaty friends.
But other than that, it's been vegetables galore, quinoa crazy mixes, and only a small bowl of ice cream here and there. I think that's also because it wasn't a season-ending race, but rather I need to get rolling again pretty quickly to tackle what's next for me. I was feeling pretty good by yesterday morning, and hopped in the pool for a real swim. I swam almost 200 yards and my crazy trapezius seized up. I self-massaged, crawled into the hot tub, and was in my chiro's office about an hour later.
I've noticed the last few times that I've raced, especially when I don't get out of aero, the whole left side of my upper body gets tight and cramped. I don't notice it in aero, I notice it when I sit up. Thinking back to Sunday, I actually can't even remember one time I sat up until the final miles - I ate, drank, swapped water bottles, etc all from the aero position, and all using my right arm. Which means it's very likely my left side didn't move once in 56 miles. My left arm and upper back was pissed when I got off the bike, but after a few miles of running it went away and actually hasn't made a twinge all week.
Anyway, Dr. Paul was able to decrunchify my back and after a few rounds of ice, anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer, it's feeling a lot better, just sore from the beating. I had actually scheduled a post-race massage for Tuesday but then canceled it because I didn't feel that bad and didn't want to spend the money. I suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere that I should probably learn about prevention.
2. This. I can't stop laughing.
3. I saw my breathing doctor this week for a check-up, and he has proclaimed me healed by his magical hands (and steroids). It only took about two days for me to feel a huge difference in running, and I think I've continued to steadily improve throughout the month. It's also finally starting to cool off here in DC, so I expect that these two things combined will mean every run I do is perfect and fast and leaves a little trickle of fairy dust coming out of my sweaty ass.
4. Two of my very close friends, Amy and Liz, are race directors for a charity 5K slash family fun day that is happening here in Alexandria at the end of the month. Mollie did an excellent post late last week about some of the awesome amenities, so I'll be lazy and just send you there to read it, but I'll also tell you to go sign up. It's a PR course in the best racing weather we have all year in DC, AND there are flushing toilets at the start and finish. If it fits in my schedule, Sofie may be attempting to run her first 5K. I'm not sure what else you can really ask for in a race.
I've noticed the last few times that I've raced, especially when I don't get out of aero, the whole left side of my upper body gets tight and cramped. I don't notice it in aero, I notice it when I sit up. Thinking back to Sunday, I actually can't even remember one time I sat up until the final miles - I ate, drank, swapped water bottles, etc all from the aero position, and all using my right arm. Which means it's very likely my left side didn't move once in 56 miles. My left arm and upper back was pissed when I got off the bike, but after a few miles of running it went away and actually hasn't made a twinge all week.
Anyway, Dr. Paul was able to decrunchify my back and after a few rounds of ice, anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer, it's feeling a lot better, just sore from the beating. I had actually scheduled a post-race massage for Tuesday but then canceled it because I didn't feel that bad and didn't want to spend the money. I suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere that I should probably learn about prevention.
2. This. I can't stop laughing.
Happy Friday, my friendly friends! Who's racing this weekend? Not me, that's for sure.