surrealestate (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
surrealestate) wrote2009-09-14 07:58 am
surrealestate) wrote2009-09-14 07:58 am
The Day After
So it's the morning after and boy, do I hurt. I don't even know where to begin in dealing with it other than to take some ibu and wait for things to feel better. Besides the blister on the ball of my foot that I dealt with during the race (note to self: get serious socks), I discovered last night that I had two huge blisters at the back of my heel, covering quite a large area and sticking out over a quarter-inch. I'm baffled because it's the same foot I'd already been dealing with, and I did feel there was *something* going on, but I thought it was just the sock bunching slightly, yet I failed to notice it en route. Probably just as well. I lanced them last night, and there was so much there that the result was a fountain spraying a foot into the air. Sadly, no video.
Walking hurts. Bending hurts. One calf is a brick, the other rubble. Coming down the stairs was pretty bad. I have some odd chafing on one arm where it rubbed against the inside seam of the t-shirt. And I'd totally do it again, and will further do my best to recruit some of y'all as well. Had I actually trained properly, I'm sure I wouldn't be quite so bad today, too.
I'm still sorting through all the comments on yesterday's posts. FYI, when I wondered if anyone was reading them, it wasn't because I didn't think anybody cared. It was because I couldn't actually check myself (I was posting via SMS), so I simply didn't know if anybody was there. It was a beautiful Sunday, after all, so I couldn't assume folks were at computers, especially starting at 7am. I ended up calling Mark a couple of times, who read us the comments over the phone. It was inspirational (and often amusing) getting them en route, so big thanks to all! :)
Big appreciation also to my teammates. Luba was a trooper, pushing it to the halfway point despite clearly hurting. I'm still really glad she was there for as long as she was. And of course,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anomie666, the center of our team and master of the long walk, without whom the rest of us probably wouldn't have gotten a mile in. He probably could have done another 26.2 after we were done, too.
I'm really glad to have done the Marathon route so I have some familiarity now, but I find it sort of odd that it passes so little of interest. There is so much cultural and historical awesomeness in eastern Mass, but the route manages to avoid pretty much all of it. I wonder why that is.
Weirdest sight of the day, which had nothing to do with the Walk, was a nearly-naked guy with a long white beard (he was wearing something that looked like a loincloth) driving by on a scooter. One of my favorite things was the "20.8" flag on a house at the relevant point. I wonder if they keep that up all the time.
Lacking a "limping around in pain" userpic, Treadmill Cat will have to do.
Walking hurts. Bending hurts. One calf is a brick, the other rubble. Coming down the stairs was pretty bad. I have some odd chafing on one arm where it rubbed against the inside seam of the t-shirt. And I'd totally do it again, and will further do my best to recruit some of y'all as well. Had I actually trained properly, I'm sure I wouldn't be quite so bad today, too.
I'm still sorting through all the comments on yesterday's posts. FYI, when I wondered if anyone was reading them, it wasn't because I didn't think anybody cared. It was because I couldn't actually check myself (I was posting via SMS), so I simply didn't know if anybody was there. It was a beautiful Sunday, after all, so I couldn't assume folks were at computers, especially starting at 7am. I ended up calling Mark a couple of times, who read us the comments over the phone. It was inspirational (and often amusing) getting them en route, so big thanks to all! :)
Big appreciation also to my teammates. Luba was a trooper, pushing it to the halfway point despite clearly hurting. I'm still really glad she was there for as long as she was. And of course,
anomie666, the center of our team and master of the long walk, without whom the rest of us probably wouldn't have gotten a mile in. He probably could have done another 26.2 after we were done, too.I'm really glad to have done the Marathon route so I have some familiarity now, but I find it sort of odd that it passes so little of interest. There is so much cultural and historical awesomeness in eastern Mass, but the route manages to avoid pretty much all of it. I wonder why that is.
Weirdest sight of the day, which had nothing to do with the Walk, was a nearly-naked guy with a long white beard (he was wearing something that looked like a loincloth) driving by on a scooter. One of my favorite things was the "20.8" flag on a house at the relevant point. I wonder if they keep that up all the time.
Lacking a "limping around in pain" userpic, Treadmill Cat will have to do.
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I also want to emphasize that if I'd actually trained beyond one 6-mile walk two months ago and one 12-miler (15 was wishful thinking) last month, it wouldn't have been quite so hard. These long walks are totally doable.
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For future reference, take vitamin B1 (thiamine) right after finishing strenuous exercise like that, and again six hours later. It helps flush the lactic acid from your muscles.
Massage can help. I'm not available in the immediate future, but there are plenty of other good therapists around. If nothing else, you could try asking at Davis Square Massage Therapy Works for sports massage. They're pricey but know their stuff.
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you could also try elevating your legs to get the blood to drain out and 'fresh' blood to circulate back in them.)
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That said, the route does pass its share of interesting local sites -- Lake Cochituate, Natick town common, Wellesley College, Boston College, Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and Fenway Park.
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Hey, it passes right by my shop! Doesn't that count? :)
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I happen to look past on this post and saw this comment and wanted to mention that (unrelated to this, but as it turned out) I did get a pair of Wrights running socks, which I used for my last weeks of training and the marathon itself, and they were indeed awesome. Not only did I not blister, but I haven't even had a hot spot since I started using them. Woo!
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I do duo dry socks from Champion. They are padded only on the both, have arch support and are made out of quick dry material (no cotton). You should also remember that marathoners will often use things like friction glide or duct tape to reduce the friction on the feet. Friction glide can also be useful for between the legs or anywhere else friction builds up. My feet are weird, which cause me to wear my shoes at the heels weirdly, so I tape my heels often to avoid blisters.
In the future, more long walks would probably be helpful. It's not just the miles under the feet that are important, but figuring out things like which socks, which shoes, what music, what shorts, how much water, how much food, which food. A few weeks ago I spent a lot of money on two good bras to help me run down a 20% grade. I once said to a friend, "I have a lot of shorts I can run 3, 4, 5 miles in, but I have exactly one pair of shorts that I can wear if I am running more than 10 miles." It sounds really stupid, but those little things can really add up to be really positive or really negative.
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