Post NYC Blues

Miles in 2013: 979.4

Days Until Dopey:  34

A quick recap of the past month.  After the NYC Marathon I fell into a little bit of a post marathon slump.  I guess it happens to the best of us.  If you start to type into a google search engine “post marathon” it suggests “depression”, “blues”, and “slump.”  I know you are supposed to rest and recover after a marathon.   Trust me, I enjoy the sleeping in.  But, I found myself drained physically and mentally.  I had been looking forward to NYC for most of 2013, even when I wasn’t officially “IN” I knew that I would be going and running that race. Now that it was over, what did I have to look forward to?  Yes, I have that crazy Dopey 48.6 coming up in just over a month, but having done the Goofy last year it doesn’t seem quite as exciting or intimidating, plus Disney is just down the street.  I’d have to check my Nike+ log, but I think in the month of November I only ran about eight times, and 3 of those were races!   Who is this person I was becoming?  I only went to 3 of our weekday work outs all month!  December is here and I haven’t started out much better, I skipped yesterday’s workout too!

The second weekend of November, Leah and I volunteered at the finish line of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  It was lots of fun and I enjoyed being on the other side of the race.  We also didn’t plan very well and had signed up for the Baldwin Park Half Marathon the following morning.  Since our shift ended at 3:30 in the morning we drove to the race and slept in Leah’s car.  Yeah. We are those girls.  So on two or three less than quality hours of sleep we rolled out of the car and headed to the race.  I didn’t go into the race planning on doing anything other than finishing – I mean I had just PRed a marathon the week before.  Leah took off and I lost sight of her about 3 miles into the race.  I ran most of the race by myself, and just went along at a pace that felt comfortable.  I spent the last half of the race looking at the person ahead of me and just trying to pass one person each interval.  I was super surprised when I finished with a time of 2:37!  It was my fourth best half time ever!  I couldn’t believe that a week after a marathon I ran one of my top half times.

But man, the next day I could tell I was going to pay the price for it!  I was so sore.  I felt worse after the half than I had felt after my past few marathons.  I knew I was in trouble.  I took it easy and didn’t run for a week and a half.  My first run back was terrible.  I was miserable and bailed after 4 miles.  I skipped Thursday that week.  We met for a Dopey Double on Friday, and I took my 6 miles easy.  Saturday I was supposed to run 14 miles.  By the time I was 5 or 6 miles in I knew 14 wasn’t happening so I bailed and did 10 miles.  I started to get worried, I still have a very busy Fall/Winter schedule ahead of me and I was worried that all of these less than stellar runs meant something.

I got up (while on Thanksgiving Break!) and ran Tuesday morning (mostly because I had about 4 people’s race packets for the weekend that I needed to give them).  The run was tough, but I did better than I had been expecting to do.  Thanksgiving morning I woke up to temps in the high 30’s/low 40’s and was in heaven.  It is no secret that I run considerably better in cold weather.  I met Krystal in Deland for the Thanksgiving 10 Miler which is one of my favorite races.  I like to get up on Thanksgiving and run more than the usual Turkey Trot 5k, it makes me feel like I can eat my face off later at dinner.  I ran the race at what felt comfortable and improved my time from last year by 8 and half minutes!

Sunday was the Space Coast Half Marathon.  This is also one of my favorite races.  Last year, Leah and I had huge PR’s there and both ran our first under 2:30 half.  The goal for our group was to run an under 2:15 half, but being in the slump I’ve been in I was doubtful that was possible for me that day.  I still tried to give it a go an attempted to keep up with the 2:15 pace groups.  I was only a few miles in before I felt like I was going to throw up. I backed off my pace a little and watched Leah disappear ahead of me.  I still was running a pretty strong pace for most of the race.  Space Coast is one of my favorite races because at about mile 5 I start to see all of my fast friends headed back and it starts to take my mind off the running.  As I make the turn around I get to see other friends who are a little slower than me.  When I saw Leah she was ahead of the 2:15 pace group and wound up finishing with a monster PR and our group half record.  Then, I get to see my REALLY fast friends running the marathon and cheer them on.  As I came up on the turn near mile 13 I saw a bunch of Track Shack people there cheering us in.  After I finished (with a 2:30! – my third fastest half time) Leah and I went and got ready for a long day of cheering.  We stayed to cheer on Rumen and Rebecca in their first full marathons!  Both of them did awesome jobs and I’m so proud of them both.

Then it was back to the slump… I didn’t run Tuesday.  I was sore and tired.  Yesterday I went to go get a much needed massaged and was benched for this morning’s run by both my massage therapist and my coach.  While I enjoyed the extra three hours of sleep it is not helping the mental slump that I am in!  Hopefully I will snap out of it soon and be back on my regular 3-4 days of running a week!

Looking ahead:  This Saturday I am pacing the 2:45 finish pace group at the OUC Orlando Half Marathon.  I think I even convinced Leah to take it easy and run with me, let’s just hope Dennis and Lauren don’t reclaim our group half record at the race or Leah might kill me.  The following Sunday we have the Mount Dora Half Marathon, and I’m also running a “Beat the Stress” Christmas Eve morning 5k.  After the Dopey I might still have a crazy half schedule!  I’m signed up for 7 more half marathons and a 10k in the span of 3 months.  One series I’m particularly excited for is the Best Damn Race series.  We ran the first Best Damn Race last year in Safety Harbor and it was beautiful.  This year they’ve stepped the medal to a beautiful spinning sailboat and added a race in Orlando.  If you do both of them you also receive at spinning medal showcasing both cities.  It’s pretty awesome – if you want to join me (and want to save some money) go sign up and use the code “MOREHEAD” to receive $5 off your registration fee (it also works for the 5k and 10k if you’re just not up for a half).

One thing that will help snap me out of this slump is that our group of 10 ladies made it into THE NIKE DC WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON!  A group of us tried to get in last year and didn’t make it.  If you know me the lure of that swoosh and a Tiffany and Co. necklace at the finish line is my idea of heaven.  So instead of wearing myself out and training for a spring marathon this year, I think we will work on getting faster and focus on the half marathon distance and start back on the crazy marathon schedule in June when we will hopefully be training for the Chicago Marathon!