Over six weeks have passed since I covered just over 140 miles, all on my own steam, in Copenhagen (which I'll refer to as cph). So how am I feeling now?
It took about a month for my body to feel back to normal.
The day after, I awoke feeling pretty sore, as expected. In fact I probably would've been disappointed if I wasn't aching like mad. I spent the day mainly lounging around basking in a little pool of pride and satisfaction. We went out for a walk in the afternoon and I was treated to a beer and an enormous ice-cream AT THE SAME TIME. The most unpleasant side effect of the day before was swollen feet.
The soreness subsided within around two days. I took the next few days off training completely then very gradually started again.
The first few times I went to the pool, I found myself standing at the end of the lane chatting, enjoying bobbing in the water and knowing I didn't have to train hard now. I'm now doing 2 club swim sessions a week as I'm keen to maintain my swim fitness over the winter and to work on my technique and strength.......an ongoing struggle it seems. During the first few 'proper' swim sessions after cph, I felt as if I'd completely lost my swimming mojo. I felt sloppy, sluggish and slow! My last swim session was brilliant, however, and I came away from the pool feeling satisfied and on a little high (it was also a Friday and sunny). I was also given instruction by Andy the coach to use the pull buoy for over half of my sets over the winter.....this will hopefully build my arm strength.
I've cycled most weekends but the pressure of having to cover miles isn't there now. I've been out a few times with Dan, taken the BAD Tri novice group out a few times but my cycling 'highlight' since cph was riding to Cheddar Gorge and Wells to watch the Tour of Britain go by. For some reason, I hadn't thought about the fact the a round trip to Wells would be way over 50 miles so I found myself quite short on food and drink and, by the time the race finished, motivation to ride the 25 miles home! The ride home was mentally a bit of struggle but it was lovely none the less. After 40 miles though, my left knee started to ache, something that first made itself known on those Danish roads. By the time I'd got back into Bristol I was having trouble pushing down with my left leg. A few rides later and I'm still getting some pain, so it's something to keep an eye on. I'm not planning on cycling for a few weeks.
My first few post-cph runs scared me a bit. My heart rate was going through the roof, especially running up hills and the runs were, in general, pretty miserable. Like my swimming though, my run mojo is coming back, culminating in an awsome hilly run around a drizzly Bristol at the weekend. Next on the race list is the Cardiff Half Marathon, where I'd really really like to break two hours. I did 2h04 last year, so it's doable, but the thought of doing 9 minute miles for 13.1 miles is pretty daunting. Two weeks later I'm doing the Snowdonia Marathon for the second time. It was a brilliant event last year - tough but great fun and in stunning scenery.
How do I feel about having done an ironman-distance race? Every now and again I'll remember and I truly get a warm and fuzzy feeling. I sometimes even smile to myself about it. Someone I hadn't seen for ages asked me what races I'd done this year and I said Copenhagen. She asked if I'd done a relay leg. It was immensly satisfying to tell her "no, I did the whole thing". I was proud.
After Snowdonia I'll have NO booked up races.......that'll change soon though. I went to watch the inaugural Ironman Wales in Tenby a few weekends back and pretty much decided as soon as I got into Tenby that I want to do it next year. The atmosphere was electric and I'd forgotten how beautiful Tenby really is. I'm just waiting for entries to open....
