Recovery and everyone gets a minute

I gave my legs a couple of days off following the ironman. In fact there was no activity on Monday (10 hour drive back to Mississippi) or Tuesday. On Wednesday I went and splashed around in the pool for an easy 1500 yards. My legs were definitely tired after the race but nut achy or anything. They did not really hurt walking up and down stairs and such. They were, however, sore to the touch. If I pressed on my quads – ouch – they were tender. This tenderness went away by Thursday and I did the morning group ride. Although my legs did not hurt - this ride was taxing. My legs just did not seem to have any snap. They were still just very tired. On Friday I hit the pool and just cruised for 2500 yards in just over 40 minutes. It was a pretty good pace for me and it felt easy – water jogging again. I hooked up with a couple of guys for a 40 something mile ride on Saturday and then another 30 miles on Sunday. I have not yet. The legs still do not have that snap but they should be coming around soon. I also guess I am still a little tired. On Sunday night I was exhausted and took a late afternoon nap of about 2 hours then hit the sack and slept all night. I have not felt spent or run down but I normally don’t take naps. I guess that the body needed it.

On the ironman front, they have revised the times. Apparently the time clock for the run was not synced with the start clock and everyone got a minute. So my official time is now 11:18:14. The minute was subtracted from the marathon so I guess I ran / walked a 4:01:xx. So close to sub 4 hours. On a side note, I can’t believe that I forgot to mention it, the inspiration board during the run. There must have been a mishap because both times that I ran across the mat my message was:

Way to go Poo Bear – from pawpaw…

I hope that I did not steal anyone’s thunder. It just made me smile.

I am currently evaluating my next goals. I am not sure what it will be. I am thinking a Boston qualifying marathon time would be a lofty goal (3:15). I can run 7 minute miles for a half but for the whole thing that is a different story. I am also thinking about an Xterra (off-road triathlon) or something even though I do not yet own a mountain bike or have those mountain biking skills. Trail running also looks cool. There is a 20k, 50k, 50 mile trial run here in Mississippi in the spring. I am also considering joining the masters swim class at the YMCA. I have heard such positive stuff from a few of the team members and now that I am getting proficient I could really work on the speed.