Life After the Marathon

It's now one month since the marathon.

It's interesting to reflect and think about what has been both my best and worst month of running.

Best, because I ran a marathon.

Worst, because I haven't run since.

I've been dealing with the shin pain since the big run.  It's now completely gone in my right leg, but still persistent in the left.  It's not painful anymore, but it's just there niggling away.

The 3 weeks after the marathon were a bit of a write-off in terms of exercise and nutrition.  Because I couldn't run, I didn't want to do anything else.  Plus I did want to give myself a bit of a break too.  Then we went on holidays and I didn't really have much self control in the eating department.  I could feel myself put on a couple of kilos, so decided it was time to bite the bullet.

Since the start of last week I've been back on calorie counting and exercising and have already felt some of those excess kilos come off, thankfully!  I'm mainly taking the kids for a walk in the afternoon, and also doing a daily abs challenge, of pushups, crunches, planks and pushups.  As soon as I got back on the discipline of a healthy lifestyle, I just felt so good!  It's amazing what routine, healthy eating and some fresh air can do!

Yesterday was a bit of a milestone, in that I ran 2 x 1.5km - to our favourite park and back (with a play stop in the middle).  As I described already, it wasn't painful, but I could just feel that little niggle.  I felt like I didn't know how to put my foot to get the least amount of feeling - so in a way, I feel I need to go back to the start and work on my technique a bit, to avoid injury in the future.

And in saying that, I'm signed up to a "Running Injury-Free" workshop the weekend after next.  I'm really looking forward to it, and I know I'll get a lot out of it.  I might just stick with some teeny tiny runs until then, because the last thing I want to do is any more damage!

I'm also trying to work out what to do next.  I'd really love to do some hard strength training, and some high-intensity cardio that won't affect my shins - something like pump, step and/or fit box classes.  I've looked at the local gym, but I'm hesitant to commit, because I'm so limited with the times I can go around the kids, my work & Dean's work.

So for the moment, I'm making the most of a bit of a rest period, and am really looking forward to running some short distances again.  If nothing else, this whole period has taught me a whole lot about patience!  I'll keep you posted.