It’s been well over a week since I ran my half marathon and I’m feeling pretty good. The Monday following the race was a holiday in Canada (Victoria Day), so we got to relax after traveling back home (and a trip to the party store for birthday supplies).
I had no intentions of running last week and was happy to take a few days to do nothing. My evenings are kinda boring when my husband is working. I actually have TIME to do things like…bake….and properly clean my house and fold laundry! I think I want to go back to running most nights!!!
What was Planned vs What Really Happened:
Monday: Rest | Rest. Nailed it.
Tuesday: Massage booked| Massaged received. Best post race recovery tool I’ll be using from now on!
Wednesday: Rest | Rest. Nailed it again!
Thursday: Bike ride for work | 36 km of cycling. I thought I was going to die many times on this ride for work. We stop a few times as a group of 40 people and then 6 of us turned around and biked back to our cars. The others had a bus taking them back to the city. My butt hurt!!!
Friday: Rest | Rest. My butt still hurt and so did my quads right above my knees. It hurt to sit down.
Saturday: Nothing planned | Nothing done! Well, we went to a parade and walked a lot!
Sunday: Nothing planned | Ran 5k & Bike Ride. I woke up wanting to run again! So I hit the trail near my house for a slow run with a few stops to catch a few photos. I did not face plant like a few weeks back but I also didn’t have my dog attached to me this time!
We also went for a 5-6 km bike ride that afternoon. Two kilometres down to Avery’s Farm Market for ice cream with my girls, then back with a trip to the school to play for a bit, then home.
Now what?
Well, last night as I was driving my oldest daughter to Brownies and I was looking at the road and realized…I missed my long runs! I usually do my long runs along the main highway and love that out and back route. I felt kinda sad that I wasn’t doing any long runs and had a sudden burst of motivation to get out there for a long run.
Reality set in as I dropped her off, got groceries with our youngest and then picked her up again. There would be no long run for me right now…I had kids to get home, clean up and get to bed and chores to do around the house. I didn’t even manage a run last night on my treadmill after the girls went to bed as it was too late (my husband was working so no outdoor run for me). I’m sure I’ll get back out there at some point for a long run again. I’m feeling ready. I’m feeling like I want to run for more then an hour and just enjoy running again.
How long after a race did you run again?
Do you ever take a break from running to recharge?
What’s the #1 thing you if you take a break post race? Bake like me?
I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!
Piper's Run 
Massage mantra sounds great…will go for it after a race. After 30 miles bike ride on Sunday MB The Bike in Chicago Lakeshore.., I did my 5K run on Tuesday.
I definitely plan to get a massage after my race. Great job on that long cycle ride! That’s a large group to be cycling together too. I’ll take a big break a couple of times a year, but usually only a few days after a half. It sounds like you are already recharged and ready to get back to a longer run! Thanks for linking!
After a week off, I start to get kind of twitchy. Like you, I miss the long runs.
Awesome! I really need to book a massage. Nice week post race. After a half, depending on my pace goals are, determines my week after.
Opps! I meant to say..depending on what my race goals were will dictate my post race week(s). Ie. hard pace for goal time, then definitely easy the next week.
Nice to take a break until you miss those long runs! Nothing like that me time as a mama.