The past few weeks have been interesting as I recover from my first 26.2. I've been following the Hal Higdon Intermediate Recovery plan. Yes, I trained on Novice 2. I guess I'm looking at this as my switch to the intermediate program. Well, did I say I’m following it? I meant kind of following it. Hal’s plan calls for Zero Week and then 4 weeks before a “celebratory” race. I had to cut out a week in order to make the Pulaski Day 10k fit in on March 1. That turned out to be Week 2.

Physically, a few things really stood out for me.

A week removed, I did an easy 10k on the treadmill. Peanuts compared to what I just did a week before. And 4 miles in, my legs felt sooo heavy. I’ve heard that happening to others, but have never experienced it for myself.

The following week I ran a 30 min tempo run. Outside of the taper, this was my shortest run in a long time and it really allowed to focus on form and on pace. Like REALLY focus. The result: a short run that I enjoyed simply because it gave me a new way to appreciate the run.

Sunday - “45-75 min” long run - I did 80 minutes (8 miles). This was supposed to be with a group. I didn’t get out the door fast enough so it became a run around home. I think here I really feel like the mental recovery took over. It was my longest run in the state since November. It was my longest “cold” run this season. And it just so happened to be of a very similar distance to a training run on a very similar path that I did last fall where I sustained my stress fracture. That place where I experienced a moment of adversity was now a place where I celebrated a moment of triumph.

Yes, I felt mental recovery kick in right at the finish line on February 2. But that’s more like euporia I think. As I really think back on it, I think about how long and hard I worked to get to that point and the physical demands to get both there and through it. I think about the time that I’ve dedicated to making it possible. I think how insurmountable that seems when you look at the big picture. And yet I did it.

A post from Hal Hidgon via Facebook really summed this up:

“And often they can apply what they learn in finishing a marathon to other challenges that present themselves in life”.

I was with a friends a few weeks ago that I hadn’t seen in quite a while. When asked how I was, I could genuinely say, “I’m good. No really, I’m good.” I’ve come to realize that I have the strength to finally move past things that have been insurmountable and finally feel like those are finally behind me. “Recovery” from a marathon so often focuses on the physical recovery and the mental recovery as it relates to being able to return to normal training and racing. But when it’s your first, it seems recovery from all your mental “marathons” also happens. :-)