Do I Feel Too Good?

A bigger version of my new blog photo (on Runner's World). It's me and Matty showing off our Grand Rapids Marathon medals. This photo was taken AFTER we changed out of our sweaty, freezing cold running gear and bundled up in warm clothes. It was only in the 40s by race end!

It's Day Four post-marathon and I'm still feeling on top of the world. My husband found this hilarious "Day After" video somewhere online that shows marathoners trying to get around the day after running a marathon. The people in the video couldn't walk normally, stairs were an insurmountable obstacle and the last image was a guy sitting down at his desk at work wearing a nice work shirt with two large, red nipple stains. While it made me laugh, it also made me wonder why I wasn't suffering the same way. I was walking just fine the day after the race.

I figured it is either a very good thing or a bad thing.

Either...

1) I was very well-trained and the result of all my hard work was an exceptionally quick recovery.

Or...

2) I didn't push myself hard enough. Could I have done a 3:10, 3:08, .... ???

I mentioned this to one of my elite runner friends (who came in 10th at Chicago this year!!!) and she reassured me that I did the right thing by running at the pace I knew I could handle and not trying to kill myself with an overreaching goal. There are always other marathons and you don't want to risk injury at any time. She said I should have felt the way I did finishing the race. Next marathon, set a higher goal and take small steps each time to get faster.

I felt much better after that talk.

I am so excited about how great Grand Rapids went that I want to run another marathon RIGHT NOW! How in the world am I going to make it through the slow winter racing season with no marathons at all? How will I make it to April???

By the way, my new goal is to run between 3:08 - 3:10 at Boston. If I do that, I'll make it into the first seeded corral at Chicago next Fall, so instead of having tens of thousands of runners in front of me, I'll only have a few hundred. How cool would that be!?

Next up... training plans. How to choose????