A few things have popped up, leading me to postpone starting the exercise part of The Plan for a couple of weeks.
First, I'm sick. Not in that beautiful, twisted, cilley way you've all come to know and love. Or rather, not just in that way. No, I'm getting a cold and I'm miserable. I'm almost always stuffed up so that's not such a big deal, but I've also got a slight temperature, a raging sinus headache, a sore throat, and to complete the picture the overall body aches started this morning. Add in the TOM cramps on top of it all and I am not a happy camper.
Second, my quads are still reminding me I ran a marathon two weeks ago. They are doing this by feeling about four inches shorter than they should be. I'm not sure if this is a direct consequence of the marathon or if it is being caused by my back and hip issues (which I still have), or a combination of the two. Regardless of why, the result is that I can't run like a normal person to save my life. Seriously, if a rampaging bear had come out of the woods yesterday during my run, I'd be toast. Although actually, I can't really walk properly either. It's like my legs just won't bend properly. I was supposed to do my easy two mile run yesterday at 12:28. I barely managed 13:50. This is slow even for me. When I do quad stretches, I get a gentle pull but nothing that reflects how tight they feel when I try to run. I'm going to keep on stretching and go see the chiropractor yet again this week.
Once I get on top of this sickness stuff -- since I want to get over it as quickly as possible -- I will also keep doing short easy runs. I won't focus on pace or anything, just on getting my legs to work properly again. They do start to feel better after about two miles, which didn't help me in a two mile run, but at least they do get better. Given that I was beyond a complete novice going into the marathon, I should have expected taking longer to recover. The chiropractor should help as well.
In other news, I'm down another 0.2 lbs from yesterday. I'm fairly certain my scale is just fucking with me at this point. They're like that, you know. At least with not feeling well, it's easier to stick to my diet because all food sounds pretty blah at this point. So, yay?
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
have you ever tried a gentle yoga class? It's normal to have tight quads after a marathon (and honestly, nothing wrong with taking 2 weeks off running before doing anything else - a 5K race 2 weeks later doesn't count as taking time off).
ReplyDeleteAnyways - a gentle yoga class might help keep you stretched out, and if your quads are wicked tight, that is probably affecting your gait, which in turn will affect your whole body.
You may also want to do some walk/run intervals as you're getting back into things...
Way to go on the loss :)
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to be a yoga-type person, so I will give it a try again -- fingers crossed I don't dislocate a shoulder or something ;) My gym offers classes that fit into my schedule, plus I've got several yoga DVDs at home too. I'm tired of walking around like Frankenstein!
ReplyDelete