Hey you awesome blog readers! I’m sitting here writing this one-week post-race, reflecting on my recovery.
All in all, I walked away relatively unscathed…yes, ok, I said relatively – after all it is 100 miles!But seriously, having now done my third miler, I’m scared to jinx it and say, things are pretty good…in fact, more than good! I’ve driven my partner a little mad this past week by my constant exclamation of how great I feel, like a kid that really wants to show you their indistinguishable piece of art-work they drew at school today!!
So I’m giving my partner a break and sharing this epiphany with you all, to voice this observation in complete wonderment at being SO surprised how well I am recovering this time around.Truth be told, I was really dreading the recovery this time, to the point where pre-race I was really questioning myself – why I put my body through such an ordeal, and wouldn’t I rather take a long weekend to lie on a beach rather than grinding out 162.5km?? I mean really, this ultra-distance running thing is just not healthy on a few levels, right. But yet somehow on the other side of the coin it is the shining light in peoples lives for self-motivation, confidence, drive and holistic perspective on who we really are, and that is worth a little pain i’d say.
So, back to waving the big stick of jinx at the universe and back to reporting that this recovery has been relatively smooth sailing…almost too good (there’s that stick again). I’d go so far as to say l feel so much stronger, and so much more powerful than I’ve ever felt before – in both my body and my mind – like I’m Superwoman and Krayzie Kapers was my blood transfusion from Superman and all of a sudden I have SUPER POWERS!!!… too much?! Perhaps, but, yeah, it seems I feel pretty good all things considered.
I walked away with no injuries, other than an infected toe where I had a pretty impressive toe-nail blister and some reflux type problem that has meant eating this week has been promptly followed by some pain in my back and chest and nausea as my body protests to the extremes I put it through last week! So, in addition to my usual Be Pure supplements, I have a course of antibiotics for the manky toe and a course of omeprazole to settle my stomach. Both of these meds I hate to take, but I realise that to heal my body it’s a small price to pay for such an achievement.
So why so good this time?? What’s the contributing factors to my new found super-powers?? Here are my thoughts:
– My build-up saw me going into the race perfectly trained. If anything I was slightly under-trained, but all the speed and strength work I had been doing, along with an absence of really huge long stuff had my body rearing to go come race day. I felt fit, fast and strong.I don’t know who coined the phrase “It’s better to be 10% under-trained than 1% over-trained”, but man, they were SO right!
– Supplements. Be Pure had got on board with the challenge after race 2 and sent me their gigantic bottle of multivits which I have been taking religiously. These, along with a good diet and good training plan saw me go into this race the healthiest I’ve been yet. Even my blood tests were looking good, Hoorayyyy.
– Diet…foooodddd..noomm.nom. I worked hard between the last two races to make sure my diet was top notch. Taking in a good range of whole plant foods, and heaps of veg. Also, I am truly grateful to my pre-race self for stocking up the freezer with pre-made meals (two weeks worth – who says OCD is a bad thing?), so I had all the good stuff ready and waiting for post-race to refuel and rebuild my body.
– Hypnosis. I am 100% certain that my speedy recovery is thanks to the amazing work of Rosie Frost. I have listened to a recovery hypnosis recording every night since the race which has sent me off into the most restful sleep, and has seen me waking up feeling energized in the morning…yes energized in the week post miler – UNHEARD OF! (for me at least) 😀
– Adaptation. My body is getting used to this craziness, plain and simple. The more you do something the better you get, and I’d say that applies to recovery and racing long just as it does to anything else. Yes, nearly 36 hours on my feet was a shock to my body. But, having done it twice before perhaps not such a shock as the first time around?
So, I haven’t run yet. I have done a few rides cycle commuting, and I’ll get out for a wee hike and a swim by the time the weekends out. I’m not pushing it, I’ll run when the coach says the time is right, but for now I’ll enjoy resting my body, telling whoever will listen how great I feel, and just bask in the proud afterglow of another amazing race.
