The Inevitable Comedown
I don’t much feel like writing about running at the moment. I do feel like running, but I haven’t been able to do much.
I took the week off work to recover from the marathon and catch up on sleep and country walks. It should have been lovely. It was okay. My legs felt steamrollered on the Monday with sore quads, calves and hamstrings. I contemplated taking an entire week off running, but by Thursday I was desperate to get out of the house. I didn’t really think through the consequences of taking a week off last week. What is the thing I like to do most on holiday? Run.
I managed to jog for 2 miles on Thursday, then a 4 mile trot on Friday, but neither was exactly enjoyable. This morning I managed 5 miles in 8 minute miles. My body is probably back to normal. My mind isn’t doing so well.
No doubt this is the inevitable, predictable, post-race blues. I was surprised to have them, and am reluctant to write about them, when everything went so well. This sort of thing is hardly going to inspire any runners to break their personal bests, when all I’ll allow myself is a couple of days of the glow before the doubts set in.
Even two days after the race, the achievement didn’t seem that impressive. I read other race reports of people running sub-3 hours and felt deflated. How do you make yourself feel better about running when you can’t go running?
On a positive note (yes please!), I did get a lovely trophy for my third place – it’s a glass paperweight with a flying pig inside it – I’ll post a picture of it for your edification later.
Me: feel good about myself after running a 3:30 marathon? Pigs might fly.
Not a Jogger 
Strange how no-one ever mentions the aftermath of running the dammed thing, do they? That feeling of “unfinished business” is always sitting there. I suspect it will, no matter what time you (or I) finished in.
I’m still in awe of anyone who can run that far as fast as you did (and look quite so bliddy good while doing so). I have got far more excited about other people’s results than mine. Not sure this is going to be any help or comfort, but I feel better about your time than I did about mine!
Thank you, Helen, I know exactly what you mean and feel the same about you! I am proud of my time really, as you should be, and I think in this case the comedown is just a necessary consequence of feeling so elated on finishing. However my husband felt as un-elated as you on finishing his marathon a couple of years ago and it took him a while to feel proud of it. I hope he does now, though I know he thinks it’s unfinished business.