Naked People, Rookie Mistakes, and the Magical Powers of the Recovery Run

Last week was a very trying week for me on the training front. We saw more snow throughout the week and I ended up tweaking something Tuesday when I headed out for my hills. I spent the rest of the week R.I.C.E'ing and being overly cautious of re-injury and come Saturday morning I was a Nervous Nelly even thinking about running 16 miles.

Spike had it in his head to go run the "Hills of Death" out in Lansing (because he's a masochist when he trains for Boston), so we decided to start our respective runs from the MAC. Heading out to the River Trail, my leg was feeling all sorts of twingy and tight, and there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground to contend with. The first 4-ish miles were a mess as MSU hadn't gotten around to cleaning up their portion of the trail yet, so I was being really mindful of every step. I decided from the get go not to pay attention to the pace and just run as comfortable as my leg would allow.

I got a reprieve heading in to mile 5 with cleared paths and it gave me a bit more confidence for the remaining miles of the run. Arriving back at the MAC I was happy to have made it the distance in one piece and pleasantly surprised to look at my run stats; only 5 seconds off from last week! All hopped up on the after-run endorphin high I submerged myself knee deep in the ice tub in the locker room. I've never been able to (wo)man up for longer than 30 seconds at most in the ice tub, but with my pants rolled up, a towel wrapped around me for warmth, my thick SmartWool socks still on, and the charming naked women in the hot tub chatting me up I was able to make it 15 full minutes!

You were probably wondering where the naked people came in to play huh?

So as I was saying, the lovely naked women in the hot tub chatted me through my icy minutes, the last of whom was an artificially well endowed former competitive athlete (or so she claimed) who's endowments were bobbing just atop of the whirlpool's rippling waves as she berated my training technique and I did my best to be gracious and avoid staring at the girls. It was the most awkward convo ever for various reasons and I was so thankful to finally escape to the shower.

After the shower, a fresh change of clothes, and a modest attempt to make myself look presentable I made my way upstairs to wait on Spike in the cafe. This is where the rookie mistake comes in to play... by now almost an hour had passed and you know what I hadn't done? Ate a single morsel of food. When Spike appeared from the locker rooms I stood up and realized this fact when I felt an overwhelming need to either puke or pass out. I disclaimed my need for food pronto and we made a beeline for grub. Long run refuel FAIL!

Now let's fast forward to this morning, I had a recovery run date with my girl Jen B. She arrived and I was in full blown pimp-limp mode feeling all sorts of beat up. I know not everyone believes in the magical powers of the recovery run but for me, nothing works out the kinks better. It's how I turn from a 90 year old pimp-limping mess back into myself. And with that, week 12 is officially in the books and hopefully with it, the last of this leg tweak.

Which means... 11 more weeks til Cleveland Marathon!!!

Congrats to all those who raced this weekend whether you were a princess, pirate or slogged through the crazy elements for the Hyannis Marathon! Can't wait to read those recaps!!!