I AM AN IRONMAN!!!! I promise I'll get to my race rehash - and a lot more - in the next week. I have been recovering physically, mentally and emotionally and I'm realizing it takes time for me to process. I haven't had much time to write and honestly, I haven't wanted to share what I've been writing. Every time I'd start, I'd cry. All the crazy emotions would come out - gratitude, pride, disappointment, elation, positivity, negativity - which was hard to face and hard to share.
It's been almost 14 days, though, and I'm feeling back to normal. I was sore on the drive home from Florida. Being in the car for 11 hours is bound to make anyone achy. I have had spotty soreness - my piriformis, my lifters (hip flexors) and quads were all sore on different days. My face broke out, I gained five pounds then lost six and I had a few headaches.
The 11-hour trip home included compression tights and ChickFilA.
THE WEEK AFTER: I took the whole week off. No swim, no bike, no run. I hit the hot tub before we left Florida -- twice. I slept a lot and tried to remain in the lounging position as much as possible. I ate some of my favorite things [hello, ChickFilA and Wheat Thins (at least 3 boxes in one week)] but didn't go crazy. I'm craving black licorice and Twix bars. I did walk the dog a half mile and I did pilates on Thursday.I had to teach a bootcamp style class on the first Saturday after the race. I demoed four lunges and was sore the rest of the weekend.
Wearing my Florida Finisher's medal, my B2B finisher's pants and eating a snack in bed.
THE FIRST RUN: I admit I dove back in a little fast this second week. I have done a lot. I went for an easy run on Monday afternoon. I was surprised that my easy run felt easy, that I did about 3.5 miles and that it was faster than my training paces before the race. But, the weather was cool, I'd been resting for a week and I ran with a friend at the beach. It was a great run. My lifters were sore in the last 15 minutes, but I felt strong.
THE NEXT RUN: I jogged at the track on Wednesday with the tri club. My intervals were endurance effort followed by walk effort and it felt good to get my heart rate up. In past years, I haven't been able to or even wanted to run this soon after Ironman and I'm excited that my body and brain are able to bounce back.
FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH: I went back to my functional strength sessions this week and I may or may not have overdone it. The first session on Monday was a good reintro into core, leg work and arm work. Six of us met and did a timed circuit. I kept my reps to a minimum and spent a lot of the time mocking the others and creating excuses to NOT do a station. My second session on Wednesday was hard core. Jen and I went through a circuit and the coach timed us. Then we cut everything (distance and reps) in half and went through it again. My first time through was 36 minutes and the second time through was 20:00. It was an awesome challenge - but was a little much.
PILATES: Ahhhh! My Thursday session at InBalance feels like home base. Tardy Spice and I kept our date with Carrie and she provided an amazing workout. More core, pull-ups on the reformer, pikes on the chair and some amazing stretches. I always feel taller and happier when I leave.
BIKRAM YOGA: And then I tried something completely new! I went to my first (and second) Bikram Yoga classes. Sue gave me a 30 day pass at our studio and so I sweated through two 90 minute classes this week. My training mantra through this next season is: do what you're not doing. Yoga and stretching is my weakest link and I thought this would be a great jumpstart to a good habit.
Needless to say, I'm taking today off. And Sunday off.