Is there such thing is post-marathon depression? In which case, I think I may have it. (And unfortunately already downed the champagne they gave us.) 

I guess I didn’t realize how big of a time commitment training for a marathon is for one morning that goes by way too quickly: waking up super early to fit in long runs or track workouts, heading to central park (farrrr for me) to be able to do some hill repeats, and then trying to get enough sleep to fully recover and be able to bust out another run the following day. It’s also an emotional time commitment too: counting down the weeks, then the days, until the race, facing injury, making goals and worrying about disappointment, knowing that all your hard work comes down to one race soyoubetterfeelgoodwhenyouwakeup….

Any runner will probably tell you he/she feels similarly. I guess I just wasn’t expecting to come off the high of such an amazing race (race report coming soon!) and feel…well, sad.

And also kind of broken. Oddly enough, I never usually am plagued by those dreaded D.O.M.S. After every long run, I’ve woken up the next morning feeling fine and with fresh legs. I guess I naively thought I’d just bounce out of bed the following morning, but yeah. Def not. 

My quads were the worst. Wineglass was a flat/downhill course, so now walking down stairs is like walking through sheets of ice. Next comes my feet, which were filled with blisters and now are all open and raw. But what’s possibly the weirdest pain is a Gu battle wound I acquired; I didn’t realized during the race, but the sharp, plastic edges of my Gu packets stuffed in my sports bra did some damage on my skin, and what I always think is really bad heartburn ends up just being my skin all cut up. SUPER sexy.

The trickiest part, though, is that I’m not a very patient person. I’m walking around with a body that feels broken, and all I want to do is go for a run. A long one. I tried going out for a “shake-out” run two days after the race (was I not supposed to do that?) and it ended pretty poorly. I am told I should take 1-2 weeks off. I do not want to listen. I want to train for something now, get to another starting line, crush another time. I’ve got the bug and got it bad, and feel trapped in my little ol body.

Apologies for this blogvent — it’s something I rarely do, but am curious if others have felt the same. In any case, stay tuned for a more detailed story of the race…. just trying to cut it down so it’s a novella instead of a novel (: 

PS) I know this doesn’t do it justice, but a HUGE incredible thank you to everyone’s support and congratulations throughout this whole thing. It means so much to me, and has brought many smiles to my face. (Including right after the finish!) This running community is incredible, and I absolutely could not have done it alone.