Life after the marathon

Life has been good and easy. I took a week off of running after the marathon and did nothing but eat junk and sit around. Admittedly, I still shake my head at the thought of PR'ing the race by 43 minutes. Of course, I think of the things I could of done differently to possibly have run a sub-4:00 marathon, or cut 10 minutes off of my time, not walked through a couple of water stops as I did, blah blah blah. It's natural to think that I guess, it happens.

This past week, I did do a couple of short runs, so it was nice to finally pound some pavement for a change. I could tell my legs are not fully 100% recovered, but it sure did feel good to get out there. I'm getting a few "phantom pains" here and there, but nothing to be concerned about. The rest of October, for the most part, is going to be an easy month for running.

I feel pretty good as I write this, and feel like I could get out there for a 10 miler or so. I will say that I am in love with long distance running. I think my success in Chicago has taught me not to be afraid. I'm pretty sure I can get faster, and run longer than I've ever done. That's how I feel, anyway. Whether or not I can actually follow through is another story!

So what's next? I'd like to run a couple of the smaller races around Chicago like the Turkey Trot and Rudolph Ramble. I've yet to run a 10K, and would love to better my time in the 5K. I'm still planning something big for next year, which I'll announce in the coming weeks- or at least until I can determine I'm not crazy in the head :)

Although I love running in cold weather, the winter months haven't been good to me injury wise in the past (cough cough, treadmill, cough cough). I'll be concentrating on strength training, and doing some shorter runs with the hope of running a half in February or so. That's my plan anyway.

For now, it's nice not to be on any sort of training schedule. Perhaps I'll get the bass fishing gear together and fish my guts out until things ice over.

Sounds pretty good to me.

PS. Head on over to Lindsay's blog to read about her spectating adventure at the marathon along with some cool photos!