I've been hearing a lot of fall marathoners/triathletes lamenting the post-race blues right now. Even though I didn't have any big spotlight goal races this fall for which I spent months training, I am feeling like a total slug.
Call it sympathy lethargy, perhaps?
Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend, which always signals the unofficial start of winter to me. It really is tough to get motivated when the sun sets at about 12:31 PM every afternoon. I am already battling the constant urge to do nothing but bundle up in amorphous blob fashion, partake in nightly soirees with the couch and TV, and consume my weight in deep dish pizza.
On that note...
Race of the Dead (and the Cold)
I'm scheduled to run the Carrera de los Muertos ("Race of the Dead") this Saturday morning. We've had a few recent days with temps in the 70s in Chicago. But current race-time weather forecasts are predicting a possible wintry mix of precipitation, with temperatures in the 30s!
I had a great time when I ran this race last year, but admittedly I'm not embracing yet another round of plummeting cold.
Runfession: My biggest motivation for running this race was because of the awesome race shirt. (Here is last year's recap, which includes a picture of the shirt.) Therefore, the thought has crossed my mind this year that perhaps I would just grab my shirt and run. Figuratively. Not literally.
Thankfully, I've got some forces of nature working to get me off of my tush. Namely...
The Bingo game is underway!
The staff at my company's fitness center is hosting a "Hold the Stuffing Fitness Bingo" challenge over the next several weeks. The Bingo board includes 25 fitness activities that we can complete and check off. Each Bingo that we earn gives us an entry into a prize drawing.
I am bound and determined to cross off as many of the squares as possible. There are a few workouts on the board that are Michael-Jordan-tomahawk-slam-dunks for me, e.g. "Run/Walk 5K" or "Attend Yoga." Then, there are some other specially-designed workouts. Today I did what they call the "Gobble Challenge." This includes four sets each of the following:
- 0.5 mile run/walk
- 15 push-ups
- 15 lunges per leg
- 15 pull-ups (I took the liberty of doing these on the pull-up assist machine)
This workout ended up being way more challenging than I anticipated. I think it had a lot to do with the constant switching from one activity to another. I find it easy to fall into the rhythm when I'm running, especially over longer distances. Having to constantly stop and start felt like I kept having to rebuild my momentum and heave the inertia.
Flashback to high school physics.
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| The Law of Inertia is much stronger during the Chicago wintertime! |
I love the bingo idea! I am not yet a slug, but after this weekend all bets are off. I find racing for the shirt perfectly reasonable. And if the mix is wintery I totally understand the urge to grab the shirt and bolt.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for you to run the NYCM this weekend, Marcia! You've been working so hard and now it's finally time for the big payoff! And you most certainly will deserve plenty of rest and relaxation after this weekend. =)
DeleteIt's funny how after us runners do a couple million races, our motivations for how we select a race turn to things like the shirt or the medal, yes?!?!?
That's quite the workout for an office sponsored wellness program. Someone on the committee must be a bad ass.
ReplyDeleteI'm super jealous of your Dia registration. I hope you enjoy the race (snow and all).
BTW, every time I see this politician's signs around here, I think of you lol! http://emmerforcongress.com/latest-news.cfm
DeleteMy company actually outsources the management of its fitness center to a professional wellness company! As a result, the fitness center staff is AMAZING. We are very blessed!
DeleteHey, next year, come on down to Chicago and run the Carrera de los Muertos with me! Let's make it a tour of Chicago's neighborhoods - this year it was the Chinatown 5K, next year it can be Pilsen!!!!
LOL at Emmer for Congress! That is TOO FUNNY!!!!
LOL! Chicago neighborhood tour. That would be soooo amazing! I'll have to see what weekend Carrera falls on ... since I'm now a Halloween "race director", I might not be able to do it in 2015. Fingers crossed that they do it the weekend AFTER Halloween!
DeleteUnfortunately Carrera always falls on the same Saturday as Halloween weekend. It might be a tough sell in competition with your new Halloween race director gig! =(
DeleteI was really surprised with how much post-marathon blues I experienced this year. Last year I was just fine, but the week after the marathon was a doozy this year. Granted, since then I've been so busy I haven't had time to think about anything other than what I'm doing at the moment, but the post-marathon blues were super real this year!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in West Michigan, which is so far on the edge of the Eastern time zone that it probably shouldn't even be in the Eastern time zone, and one of the biggest adjustments for me when I moved over here was the INSANE sunset/sunrise times! Not only does the sun rise crazy early during the summer (at home, it was never light before 5:45/6:00, even during the summer, whereas here during the summer it's definitely light by like 5 a.m.), but the sunset times during standard time are the WORST. SunSET on Sunday is 4:43!! And that's when the sun actually sets, not when it starts getting dark! Sigh. Though I do think it's funny when we spring forward and sunset jumps back an hour -- I always feel like I'm ducking out of work really early because it's still light outside when I leave once we spring forward :P
You worked SUPER hard on your training this year, especially considering all the PT, dance, and strength work that you were also doing at the same time. You are a superwoman! And I think that the harder you train for a race, the stronger the potential for post-marathon blues. Do you agree?
DeleteAh yes, the conundrum of being right on the border of the Eastern/Central time zone! Having the sun set at 4:43 is just incomprehensible. On that note, a good friend of mine from college has a cottage in SW Michigan. We'd go visit her there over the summer, and the sun wouldn't set until like 10:00 PM! It was insane! But it made for some really fun summer nights!
Incidentally - I once worked on a project at this tiny rural town in western Indiana. The company there basically put together its own time zone policy for its employees. Can you imagine being the executive there in charge of picking the time zone? Craziness!!!
Ha! I've taken the shirt and ran (I mean not run), but only when I've been injured. I wanted to do that race, but it was sold out and now I'm nursing a sore achilles, so just as well. That bingo game sounds cool. It would push me out of my run, yoga, swim, strength training routine.
ReplyDeletePete - that is terrible that you are nursing a sore achilles. I wish you a speedy recovery! I know you're running Hot Chocolate in a few weeks, so hopefully you'll be on the mend by the time that rolls around? Your run, yoga, swim, strength training routine is pretty darned diversified as it is - you are already nailing the cross training!!!
DeleteOh my goodness I didn't realize that Daylight Savings Time is this weekend until I read this post! Yikes, thanks for the reminder. Rumor has it the weather yesterday in Chicago was nothing short of horrific, I hope your race goes well today with perfect temps! (if you choose to run of course ;) )
ReplyDelete-Irina
Thanks for the well wishes, Irina! Isn't it crazy how much Daylight Saving Time creeps up on us!?!? We've definitely been having some god-awful weather in Chicago - it's been feeling more like January than November! Here is hoping that we don't have a repeat of last year's Chiberia-like conditions!
DeleteI forgot to ask you but did you run the Carrera de Los Muertos race?
ReplyDeleteI did run it. My heart wasn't in it, especially given how god-awful the winds were the night before, but I dragged myself out there and finished it. One of these days I'll get a recap put together...!
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