While there is much to talk about with the actual race, I’m going to skip ahead to where I am today…… Recovery.

You train hard.   You push hard.  You must also think of recovery as another part of training.   You must take it seriously.   If not, even if not now eventually your body will revolt.

When walking through my door after the marathon the first thing that I wanted to do was shower.   I could feel the grit on my face from the sweat.   I’ve never thought of it till right now, but I am a salty runner.    So I showed off the grim of the dried sweat.   Then proceeded to fill the tub and soak in an Epsom Salt bath.

Then I promptly went and devoured food without breathing.   After the race, I drank water with calcium and chomped down the pretzels, but that was all.   By the time I ate around 7:00 that night, I realized that the whole day I had only eaten a pre-race banana and bagel,  then gels during the race, the power bar I got on the course and bag of pretzels all day.   According to my Garmin, I burned  2,2970  calories that day.   I had a lot to make up for.

Then to be honest there was nothing more I could do as I was literally passing out on the couch in between facebooking and trying to rehydrate.   I was in bed asleep by 10:30 which never happens.

The next morning as I’m guessing most of us who ran woke up to sore legs.   I must admit that I was happy that my dresser was close enough to use to help me get out of bed.   Something to think about as I continue to age!    Then when the feet hit the floor.  Oh boy.   After safely getting the boys off to school, the first thing I did was pull out my rollers.

No pain. No gain when it comes to rolling.

Then I took another soak in the Epsom salts.

While these measures helped, I was still sore (obviously).    Stairs were not my friend which unfortunately due to laundry needing to be done I had to navigate several times.   They were not fun.   They were not pleasant.  I may have looked like Grandma going up and down.

Then I was very lucky to be able to try something that I never tried before…. Acupuncture and Cupping.   Kim Fong is a member of  our group and she put together an amazing experience for those of us who ran NYCM at her office Health In Motion.   I admit while cupping was never anything on my radar, acupuncture has been something I’ve toyed with trying for a long time.   I’ve just been a big ole chicken to take the leap to try it.   This was a perfect opportunity.

Kim was amazing explaining it all so that we were comfortable with the process.   Since many of us were new, she also took a very gentle approach to it.    While I will say that I did notice the needles going in (but not all), they were not painful.   I really do not understand how that works, but it does.   She kept the needles in for about 10 minutes to do their magic.  I noticed them more when being removed but again not painful just an awareness.

 

 

Then she had one of her assistants perform cupping.   Again a very gentle approach.   Since I know that I won’t be able to explain it, I am going to copy from Kim’s website:

” Cupping is the term applied to a technique that uses small glass cups or bamboo jars as suction devices that are placed on the skin. There are several ways that a practitioner can create the suction in the cups. One method involves swabbing rubbing alcohol onto the bottom of the cup, then lighting it and putting the cup immediately against the skin. Suction can also be created by placing an inverted cup over a small flame, or by using an alcohol-soaked cotton pad over an insulating material (like leather) to protect the skin, then lighting the pad and placing an empty cup over the flame to extinguish it. Flames are never used near the skin and are not lit throughout the process of cupping, but rather are a means to create the heat that causes the suction within the small cups.”

I have to say it was very cool to watch as he heated the cups.   Again there was no pain.   The cups do not feel hot, so it is not a burning sensation of any kind.   I felt the cupping much more than the acupuncture but again not in a painful way.   It is a strange sensation that does leave temporary marks when the cups are removed.   I just laid back, relaxed and let the cups do their work.   Again is was not a long treatment nor was an aggressive treatment.    When the cups were removed, some massaging of the muscles where trigger points were definitely reached.

Then home I went to relax.

Today when I got up…..

While quads are still sore, getting up is no longer a challenge.    Stairs can be walked like normal although truth be told, I will give it another day before I don’t really try to avoid them.   I’m thankful for living in a ranch!

Tomorrow, I will continue to take it easy.   Doing more stretching.   I go back to my classes teaching preschool gymnastics, so tomorrow will be more moving but moving is good.   Thursday, I will try to go for a short run.   I mean short, but it is good to keep moving.

What do you do for recovery?