Back to Non-Training Life......

We did our first post marathon run on Sunday. One lap of the Reservoir, Sunday morning.....have you been there on a Sunday morning? Looks like glass, full of quiet boats which are full of fishermen. Turkeys, deer, and the occasional heron are usually about. And....people. Lots of people on the trail on Sunday mornings, makes for a lot of shouting out "On Your Left...and your dog, too!"There are usually a handful of runners, but mostly walkers, mostly with dogs....strolling along. I always love to hear the bits and pieces of conversations as we come up on groups chatting as they stroll. We haven't' been to the res to run in quite sometime. We cut that run out of our routine when we start to up our mileage when training as the hills begin to bother our knees if we do it too often. (keep in mind we are each pushing a double jogger full of 80+ pounds around it) I forget how much I enjoy that run. It's so relaxing. Especially this time of year when there are so many colors in the trees, and its cooler and the air is crisp. The sharp inclines and the downhills don't seem nearly as brutal when it's not in the 90's.
It's one run that no matter how peaceful and beautiful it is, it is never easy. It has always remained a challenging run. Even when we would do it 3 times a week, 2 and 3 laps at a time....it was always challenging. A nice thing is that Emma is now able to run it, rather than be pushed around it in the jogger stroller. So Sunday, we set out on our lap with 3 runners, and only one jogger stroller! So strange to have a kid running with us now! Seeing that we are still in recovery mode, and seeing that it has been months since we ran it, we were all about the same, slower than normal pace and stayed together most of the lap, which took 31 minutes.
We took Emma into Road Runner on Friday night to have her Gait Analysis. They gave her the full treatment - the treadmill, the questions about her running goals, how often and far she runs, any aches or pains, had her stand on the pressure mat to see where she tends to push off from, watched her stride on the big screen, in slow motion.....told her what shoe she needed, and that she was a size that could still wear the kids shoes, but also the smallest adult size, so she had lots of choices. He pointed out to us that the kids are a fraction of the price and he would go that route first. Brought her out 4 of the neutrals in different brands. She tried them on and did a few laps of the store in each shoe, hated the Nikes (that's my girl)... picked the Sauconys, and with that, she officially crossed over into the land of 'real runnerhood'. She has been asking to go for a run ever since, and couldn't wait to run at the res Sunday.
I ran a lap this morning at the res pushing Bubba in the jogger....not a great idea as I could feel my right hip and left hamstring giving me some left over marathon pain that had faded until this morning. I pushed through it and tried to suck it up while I met Brian at noon for our lunch break run, but had to admit to the pain as I knew I couldn't run on it again today. Well, Em came home from school asking if we could go for a run tonight. I love that kid! Brian did a mile loop from our house with her, again, her first time running it instead of riding her bike. Crazy how fast she is growing up.
Anyways....goal for this week is just getting back to our basic routine, as much as our bodies will allow. Paying attention to any pains that are lingering and/or things that feel off, and getting back to a lower cal, non-training mode diet....and by diet I mean way of eating, not diet as in temporarily restricting calories to lose weight. Just saying....
Today was the first run + workout day I have had in a while, and while the hip is hurting, it felt really good to have a 'normal' day. It was Brian's first day of riding his bike to work and back since the marathon also, and he says he felt really good. He did say he could tell his legs haven't recovered 100% on his run around the block with Emma.....but overall, I think we are both feeling OK and looking forward to getting back to normal life.