MonTuesWedThursFri IM Recovery

I have been less than diligent about blogging this week and have been sleeping instead. I have definitely needed it. Sunday after the race I laid on my bed with my feet up (wearing compression socks) and made a few phone calls. After the race, I had a little protein shake; I would have rather had a smoothie, but it wouldn't have sat well all day. I got some pizza that I gave to Jesi and a soda I kept for later. Once back in my room, I ate some Coco Caribbean bars (dates, walnuts, coconut, and supposedly good for recovery) and had some eggs; I wasn't hungry but knew I had to eat something, first because I likely didn't consume enough calories while racing and second because I definitely didn't consume enough after the race. I'm so bad about getting calories in after—the last thing I want to do is eat!

I slept from 10 until 7, waking up to head over to the IM expo. I put the socks on again but was not at all sore. It was quite fun looking at all the athletes hobble around; not me—I was focused on walking like the athlete that I am!

I ran into Kurt outside the Galt House. We had spent a little time together during the run while his IT band was bothering him, and given the pain (which he was still feeling) wanted to say that he was happy with his time. I checked out the finishers stuff but was less than impressed with the options and the organization. Not only had a couple hundred people been waiting outside for the 8am opening, IM had only 4 registers open, with 2 lines, and it was impossible to get around to look at the stuff because the lines were all through the merchandise. The people who decided to wait in line were expecting it to be at least an hour. I wasn't interested and had no water, so I went back to the hotel.

We had the lunch and awards thing, but I just wanted to get home and didn't want to have to worry about the parking meter, so I headed home after getting some food. Stopped at the grocery store, then headed home and to bed. Slept another 9 hours Monday night (8:40–5:30).

Tuesday was another day off, and all I did was work (wearing the compression socks). I wasn't feeling bad at all and actually walked the stairs a few times. I am so thankful God preserved my feet and I have no blisters and all 7 toenails I started out with. I did stop at MFY on the way home from work. During the drive, I was praying that the massage person would be there. God answered Yes, and when I walked in I saw the chair indicating that someone was there. I asked at the front desk, and they called Lauren to come out. She worked on my for 20 minutes, saying that the tissue on my shoulders and neck was so tight. Yeah, I knew that, that's why I needed her! It felt a lot better when she was done, but it was slightly painful sleeping, like a pinching pain right on my neck depending on how I moved. Slept another 9 hours (8:30–5:30).

Wednesday I was thoroughly exhausted. I came home from work and took an hour+ nap. I spun on the trainer for 20 minutes, went to a Harpeth team meeting, and came home. Slept again from 9–5:30.

Thursday I was less tired and thus went to MFY after work. I rode a spin bike for 35 minutes, maintaining about 145 HR. Then I did my workout from Will. Well, I don't know if I actually did it all. If I'd have had more energy, I would have done it again and actually succeeded. As it is, I probably would have failed. 5 minutes (or less) as hard as you can go until you feel yourself relaxing) 1-leg squat (I did only 1 minute on each leg. I HATE this exercise and never feel anything), glute ham, scap pull up (I did only 1 minute just to have done something), and preacher curl (8-lb weight; I could have gone longer, so either it wasn't enough weight or I wasn't working hard enough). Came home and had some supper, went to Inversion, from which I left early, and slept from 9–5.

Friday when I woke up (before my alarm) at 5, I was awake, so I decided to get up. Went to work for a few hours, then ran for about 20 minutes around MFY. 8:30 first mile, not sure about the rest. Then I sat at the pool for a couple hours wishing I could sleep but listening to the guys mowing outside. Still no soreness, except the little pains on my neck. Next week I want to get a real massage, and hopefully that will work on my shoulders and neck also and fix whatever is going on up there. All this week I've really been trying to not "carry any tension there" (as Will says) just by trying to keep my shoulders down and chest up and stay loose, but I don't think it's really working.