Ow.
That about sums it up this morning, 24 hours post marathon. After crashing to sleep at 9:30 last night, I woke up with the legs of a 90 year old and the unenviable task of trying to walk downstairs.
(The only thing harder? Walking upstairs, which I've done three times this morning... Ugh.)
Seriously. I'm walking like my grandfather. It's not pretty. It's also pretty standard, for me anyway. By Wednesday I should be mostly back to normal. Odds are good I'll hit the road for a light -- and short -- jog Thursday morning.
But for now, I'm just trying to move as little as possible, seeing as the muscles in my upper legs have decided they'd really rather not move right now; every time I try to get up and walk around, they rebel in the worst way.
Naturally, it was all worth it. Here are some details about my place in the race:
There were 7,465 marathon finishers yesterday. With my time of 3:56:59, I placed 3,010.
At that time, I averaged 9:02 minutes per mile.
I completed the first half in 1:52:48. Had I kept that pace (and I plan on doing so next time), I'd have finished in about 3:45.
I ran in the 30-34 age group; I finished 368 of 686.
And among all men, I finished 2,208 of 4,357.
That's all nice, and the competitor in me really wishes I'd run a sub-9 pace, but the stats are just that: stats. The important part of this whole experience was pushing myself to a new level. It felt good, and sets me up well for the next time, even if the next time won't happen until sometime in 2011.
Other thoughts:
One of the things that struck me was how at certain points of the course, where no spectators were around, how quiet it got. I was surrounded by dozens of runners at any given time, and yet you could have heard a pin drop. The rhythmic pounding of hundreds of feet on pavement was very peaceful, and something I didn't expect. ...
Coolest thing about running with Team In Training? A lot of people know the tell-tale purple singlets runners wear. And since we all put our names on the front, you hear encouragement throughout. It's a welcome pick-me-up, especially as the race drags on and your body begins to tire. ...
Speaking of the purple singlet, have you checked out the video yet? Clearly, I need a stylist... gray shirt, purple singlet, red hat? What was I thinking? No wonder runners can be mocked for their fashion sense. ...
What does it say about me that as I wound my way through the streets of Philadelphia, the landmarks I noticed most were Dairy Queen, Haagen Daaz ... and a funeral home? ...
And finally, if you've been reading the blog or the column, the following should come as no surprise: Last night, I curled up on the couch with a cool carton of Ben & Jerrys. Cherry Garcia, of course. It was the first ice cream I'd had in a couple of weeks. A pint never tasted so good.
