One Weekend, Two Very Different Runs

The transition from marathon to recovery isn't always smooth. I'm someone who hates downtime, much to my wife's chagrin. A lazy Sunday? What's that? I tend to fill my "rest" days with lots of activity, probably as a way to keep my mind off the fact that I'm not running. That said, I learned about the importance of rest and recovery a long time ago and I'm very careful not to rush back to training after a marathon.

After Boston I took four days off of any real physical activity but by Saturday morning, I was itching to go for a run. Expecting to feel a little beat up, I picked relatively flat five mile route by our apartment and headed out at a super easy pace. Well, I felt like crap. Half a mile in I began asking myself, do I have to run? Can't I find another hobby? By mile 4, I decided to stop. It wasn't painful per se, it just sucked. My legs felt like lead, my breathing seemed labored, and I wanted to punch every smiling runner who passed me.

I probably would have taken Sunday off from running, given my terrible Saturday, but I was signed up to run NYRR's Run as One with my wife. We signed up for this race together the last three years in a row so it's kind of a tradition. Even though my wife is in the middle of training for her first Ironman and hasn't run a road race since the fall, she was planning to shoot for a PR. I didn't want to miss the chance to help pace her (and--let's be honest-- I also didn't want to miss out on another race towards my 9+1 for 2015).

Photo credit: The Fit Wanderer

We got up at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday. We were cutting it kind of close for the 8:30 a.m. start, but we both really wanted some extra sleep. This gave us just enough time to eat a quick breakfast and walk the dogs before jogging over to Central Park. The jog to the start felt pretty good, but we were taking it stupid easy so I wasn't sure how I would feel once we actually got started. After some pre-race form drills and a couple strides, my legs still felt considerably better than the day before which made me optimistic.

To make a long story short, the race went very well. We saw a bunch of teammates out on the course, which is always fun. My legs didn't bother me one bit, even though the day before four miles had been a serious strugglefest. Best of all, my wife PR'd by 13 seconds! There may have been a little vomit at the finish, but otherwise it was a great run.

For the next couple weeks, I will be taking things pretty easy and not sticking to any kind of running schedule. Hopefully, the runs that I do will feel much more like Sunday than Saturday.

Friday Haikus: Post-Marathon Edition

So much has changed since my post on Wednesday: I can now walk down stairs with a close-to-normal gate and I can sit and stand without needing to hold onto an armrest.  One thing that hasn't changed? I'm still working on that pesky race report. While you wait on pins and needles to hear about my race in excruciating fascinating detail, enjoy this fresh batch of post-marathon haikus. 

Photo credit: InsideMedford

  Crossing the Finish

  This is terrible
  I hate marathons; finished--
  Can't wait for next one


  Post-Race Glow

  Medal on my neck,
  Boston jacket on my back,
  Feeling like a star


  Post-Race Low

  Hobbling down stairs,
  Ouch! Bending down is a chore,
  Recovery sucks

A Post-Boston Post: Me and the Media

It's now been almost 48hrs since the 119th Boston Marathon, though my legs still feel like it was yesterday. You've probably never seen a more pathetic sight than me hobbling down the subway stairs this morning to catch the Lexington Ave Express unless you saw me limping from the finish on Monday. Anyway, I'm still working on my race report so in the interim I thought I would share a couple shout-outs I got in the media.

While waiting with some teammates in the Athlete's Village I was approached by a reporter from the AP--never one to shy from extra attention, I happily agreed to speak with her. I've excerpted my brief moment in the spotlight:

8:50 a.m.:

Rain has started falling at the Boston Marathon starting line, and forecasters warn that it will be a soggy race for the 30,000 runners and 1 million spectators.

David Parkinson of New York City is running his sixth consecutive Boston. The 29-year-old was sheltering under a tent, sitting on trash bags and swaddled in blankets to keep warm.

Since this was an AP piece, it made its way into papers across the country which is pretty awesome! You can view the whole piece as it appeared in the New York Times here.

Shortly after speaking with the reporter from the AP, I saw Mark Remy of Runners World standing nearby. I shouted, "Hey, Mark Remy!" That got his attention and he interview me too. Unfortunately the best part of our exchange, a discussion of bathroom visits, didn't make his column, but some of the other stuff did. To check out that piece, visit Remy's World here.