Actively Recovering

While my stubbornness was part of what got me through the race yesterday–let’s be real here. The other thing that got me through was the prospect of brunch with my friends. That sounded way more fun than laying in bed feeling sorry for myself.

Before heading to brunch, we all convened at Athleta on the Upper West Side, which ended up being a great plan. They had free chair massages and were giving out water and hat to finishers. The chair massage was the best time I’d ever had kneeling for 10 minutes.

Afterwards, we went to Lansky’s for brunch.

I got a spinach and feta (light on the feta) omelette and some chicken sausage on the side.

I was originally bummed there was no toast with the eggs, but this banana bread with strawberry butter pretty much made up for it.

I came home and took a bath in Epsom salt (I associate ice baths with marathon training; anything less, I take an Epsom bath. Not sure why.) before returning to Twitter to stalk how everyone else did. I don’t know about you, but that is totally part of my race recovery strategy.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning and getting some work done and generally staying off my sore, angry feet. Actually, I can’t think of a body part that wasn’t mad at me yesterday. Other than maybe my left nostril.

My hip flexors and quads were hurting me the most, and I spent some time mounting my foam roller to open up my hips. This loosened them up some, but I also ended up putting a pillow under my hips when I went to sleep, which helped more than I ever would have expected.

I slept in till nearly 8 this morning, and it was amazing. It’s a good thing today was a planned rest day, because there was no way in hell exercise was happening waking up that late.

I had jury duty, and I spent even more time sitting than I normally do at work, and my quads and calves reminded me every time I got up that I’d run a half-marathon yesterday. It was one of those days i wished I were wearing a sign that says “Runs Half-Marathons; Walks Funny,” so there was a reason behind my being among the youngest in the courtroom, yet the slowest-moving.

As we got dismissed for lunch, I remembered that my friend and former coworker Lindsay worked in the area, and we met up for lunch. We went to Petrarca, an Italian place with good panini and salads. I got a chicken and avocado sandwich and took off most of the bread, because I’m finally feeling sort of carbed out. (This may pass.)

After a few more hours at jury duty, including being picked for a jury (and as fore-lady…yay?), I headed back to work to attempt to catch up a bit on the day.

I got home late and am incredibly thankful today was a rest day. I don’t think my body could have handled much more.

This is not pretty, but it is tasty. I warmed up the leftovers of the pork stir-fry I made last night.

And had two of my new favorite dessert–So Delicious Minis. While no dairy-free ice cream will ever taste quite the same, these come pretty damn close.

After yesterday’s race, I am still worn out both mentally and physically, so I am easing my way back into things this week. I’m thinking yoga tomorrow and maybe a gentle/easy run Wednesday.

What kind of recovery–active or otherwise–do you do after a hard race?