On the Sunday after the Space Coast Marathon, I could barely walk.  My whole body hurt.  I was in a ridiculous amount of much pain from my heels all the way up to my left bicep.  I’m still not entirely sure why left bicep hurt so badly.  I assume every time I felt a pain during the race, I tightened my left arm and clenched my fist, but I’m not really sure.  All I know is my arm felt like I did 1000 bicep curls and it hurt!

Sunday after the race, I took a hospital strength ibuprofen (800 mg) and once we were on the road back home, I fell asleep in the car.  When we arrived at home, I tossed a water bottle in the freezer to help heal my heels and legs.  Between rolling a frozen water bottle under and the ibuprofen, I hoped to reduce some of the swelling and repair some of the damage.

On Monday, I still could barely move.  I popped another hospital strength ibuprofen to help relieve some of the pain and rolled the frozen water bottle under my foot several times throughout the day.  The stairs hurt the worst and since my left arm was still sore, I couldn’t lift Little Lion Man.

On Tuesday, there was still some soreness throughout my body, but now it felt like the results from a really good work-out.  You know the kind where it hurts, but it’s a good hurt.  My legs were still pretty sore, but the stairs were more manageable and lifting Little Lion Man was less of a chore.

By Wednesday, there was little pain left and I was amazed at how quickly my body healed.  At the mid- point in the week, it felt like only a week of recovery was necessary.  Judging from the way I could barely move on Sunday, I thought it would take at least a couple of weeks for my body to heal.  I suppose, since this is my third marathon, there must be some muscle memory somewhere inside this post-pregnancy body.

Thursday and Friday showed no signs that I nearly crawled over a marathon finish line almost a week ago.  I even mentioned on Facebook to my running friends that I felt like I could run on Saturday, but I opted to take one more day of recovery.

Sunday was my first day back to running, exactly one week after the marathon.  I ran about 3 miles, but since my Garmin has moved onto to greener pastures, I have no idea about my pace.  About halfway into the run, my Achilles started to bother me, so I stopped to stretch and continued running.

After a marathon Christmas cookie baking day on Sunday and standing on my feet all day drinking lots of champagne and wine, I decided to rest on Monday.  Thank goodness I did!  We had our family photo session Monday evening and I chose to wear high heels.  Man, that was a big mistake!  During the photo session, I didn’t realize how badly I had unraveled my heel healing.

This morning (Tuesday), I ran another 3 miles.  Again, I have no Garmin and no idea about my pace, but it wasn’t until after the 3 miles that my heel Achilles started to bother me.  After my run, I stretched and then spent the rest of day in my running shoes just to fix the damage caused by my heels the evening before.

So, basically at this point, I’m starting all over again with short easy runs.  In a couple months, I have the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon and I really want to improve my half marathon time at that race.  To prepare for the race, I started reviewing Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Intermediate and Advanced plans as well as Cool Running’s Half Marathon Intermediate and Advance plans.  Both Cool Running and Hal Higdon incorporate hills and sprints (fartleks) into their advanced plans.  Instinctively I knew I needed to add hills and speedwork to improve my finish time, but I also don’t want to push myself too hard too quickly.

For the rest of this week, I think I’ll just do some easy runs up to 5-6 miles and see how my heel holds up, which means lots of stretching based upon everything I’ve read about plantar fasciitis (when I wake up, before a run, during a run, after a run, etc.).  Then, depending how the easy runs go this week, I’ll start adding some sprint work next week.  But then, Allan and I are attending an office holiday party this Saturday evening and I really want to wear high heels again, which means I could undo all my heel healing again.  The price I’ll pay to look hot! UGH! 

As for my Garmin, I learned I could send it back to Garmin to be repaired for a small fee or they would send me a refurbished one in its place.  Sweet!  Hopefully, my Garmin can be returned before Christmas so Santa can surprise me with it in my stocking! *Fingers crossed!*

 Speaking if surprises…Don’t miss out on this one!