After four ice baths, my muscles feel almost back to normal. However, I am now the slowest walker in Jefferson City. In fact, I think a snail passed me as I walked from my car to the polling place to vote this morning. Even so, I think the blisters on my mid-forefoot are starting to shrink, if just a bit.
I have been finding recovery more of a challenge than I anticipated. I know I should be drinking a lot of water, but do you know how long it takes to get from my desk chair to the water cooler?? Or from my couch to the kitchen?? I thought the mental abilities it took to get from the beginning of training to the marathon finish line were challenging enough, but they have nothing on the mental strength it takes to encourage myself to stand and walk across the room! Forget the medal for crossing the finish, where's the medal for making it to water cooler?
I am pretty entertaining to watch. I've been hoping that my neighbors get a good laugh from watching me try to get down the flight of stairs that leads to my apartment building. I'm a little better going up the flight that leads to my actual apartment -- although I think I've been employing the same sound effects that weight lifters use. As I lift each foot to the next step, grunting definitely occurs, followed by heavy breathing.
Once I make it to the top of the stairs and into my apartment, I like to read the line in "Marathoning for Mortals" that reminds me that as a marathoner, I am more fit that 99% of the population that has ever lived (I like the "that has ever lived" part). If I knew earlier that being fit means you waddle slower than snails and grunt while going up the stairs, I could have faked it a lot better years ago!
I did order my marathoning reward yesterday from onemoremile.com: a long-sleeve tech shirt with the Penguin logo and mantra ("The Miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.") and a 26.2 window cling. Not that I really NEEDED a reward, but I've joked that I was running the marathon so I could put a 26.2 sticker on my car -- then no one sold them at the expo! So I HAD to order one, and I could hardly justify spending 3x the sticker price for shipping, so I obviously had to order a shirt to justify the purchase. A real sacrifice, I know.
As the Penguin says, "Waddle On, friends!"
