It has been almost 4 weeks since I ran, or as some of my friends and colleagues make it sound, crawled to the finish line of the NYC marathon. No matter what the individual’s approach, I finished and have the experience in. For good. One thing I want to note down in this short addition is “marathon running drains your body”! Despite all the running before the marathon, despite the 7-8 half marathons I ran, I never experienced the tiredness like the one for the past 3 1/2 weeks. I actually even woke up tired on several occasions and it wasn’t due to a long sleep. I would go to work and half way through felt like resting my head on the keyboard of my MacBook Air and just sleep. Coming home I was tired physically and mentally. The good old run did not help either. I would start, hoping for a well paced 10km run only to stop after 4km. Since the marathon, I ran only five times and it has never been “good”. I always struggled. I guess I should not be all that surprised but I didn’t know about the toll the distance and mental pushing of my limit takes on me.
Consulting our physical therapist and the web, I found out that it is normal to feel this way for good 3 – 8 weeks, especially if one is a first time marathoner. I only wish someone told be before. I haven’t lost my desire to run, but now with the snow in this country of windmills, it gets a bit more challenging. Well, if anyone has come to this blog to read about running NYC marathon, I hope you have been warned about what comes afterwards or at least read it here. Still, I hope to do it again in 2011.
For all those non-novice runners out there, the worst thing you can do for a first-time marathon survivor upon hearing their time is to say “oh, I did my first marathon in x hours”.
Sean, that wasn’t the worst for me. I knew people ran it faster. However what “pissed me off” were the ones who never! ran one and said “Oh? That long? A friend of mine ran one in ….”. I felt like screaming “Well, when you run one yourself at a faster time, them kindly come back to me and we can talk about times!”
I hear you. I also love the fact that a lot of people think a “marathon” can be 5 km, 10 km or 21!
Thank you for your thorough post about the NYC marathon! I am running it next week for the first time and I just can’t find enough to read about it every day. I know my legs are ready, but I need my brain to be fully prepared so it can calm down. Thank you!
You are very welcome. Thank you for your kind comment and good luck next Sun. Hope the weather works out for you. Enjoy it, it’s an unbelievable experience.