It is the Sunday after your race. There is no alarm set from the night before. Your running clothes are tucked away in their drawer instead of laid out the night before. There is no long run planned for that day. Suddenly, the adrenaline and excitement from your race have fizzled out as you realize you do not actually have to go on a run. This is a feeling I have experienced a time too many.
You spent the last 16 weeks training, prepping, pushing yourself. Race day arrived and you crossed that finish line, you officially became part of the 1%. Maybe you cried, maybe you felt an entire mix of emotions, and you rode that wave for days after. Even if this is your 2nd or 10th marathon, you could find yourself wondering what to do next.
If you’re anything like me, you might be experiencing a lingering sense of aimlessness or even going through your own version of an existential crisis. This is normal. Here are a few things that have helped me navigate it.
1.) Allow your body ample time to rest and recover. Congratulations! You did it! You just completed a marathon! That is no small feat. Give yourself some grace. Your body is a powerful machine, and it is important to return the favor and allow your body to recover properly. Personally, my body is happier when I incorporate movement. This could mean short walks, stretching, yoga or recovery runs. I also recover well when I allow plenty of time for restful sleep the week following a race.
2.)Cross train. Just because your race is over does not mean that you should stop training altogether. I like to consider the off season as “training for life”. This is where I hit the gym and focus on rebuilding muscle strength or discovering new forms of exercise that I enjoy as well. Motivation and discipline might not come easily at first, so take it slow and focus on what aligns best with your highest purpose.
3.) Maintain a base training. Maybe you ran a marathon and considered it a one and done experience. For those that are here to continue your running journey, it is important to maintain a base during the off season, so you are ready to pick it back up when the next training block arrives. I am lucky enough that my Fleet Feet store hosts Sunday long runs during the winter and spring months. We have the option to run 2 six-mile loops or however many miles we are feeling that day. Running with a friend helps the miles go by, I suggest looking into finding a run club to join.
4.) Spectate a race. If you are feeling unmotivated, there is nothing like spectating a marathon to get you excited for the next. My marathon was this past weekend, and I am heading into New York City on Sunday to cheer on the runners in the TCS NYC Marathon. Spectators are one of the main things that drives me through a race. Imagine being that person for someone?
5.) Sign up for a race. Set your goals and enjoy the process. Having an event to anticipate can help alleviate the feeling of being stuck in limbo. You’ll have a clear timeline, knowing exactly when your training needs to begin.
Remember, every runner’s experience is going to be unique. What works for some, may not work for others. Your race may be over, but your journey is far from finished.
Marathon #5. I chose Cape Cod for a number of reasons. My number one being my love for the Cape. The Cape has always been a magical place for me. I grew up vacationing on the beaches, a tradition that carried into my adulthood. There are so many memories that my husband and I have created and shared together. Another reason for choosing this race was its proximity to home. It was within a four-hour driving range and something I could keep relatively affordable.
The race is located in Falmouth Mass. and is approximately about 1200 runners. It is a very small-town race with a homey feeling. It has beautiful views of the shoreline including Woods Hole and Nobska Lighthouse. The course is about 500 feet of elevation gain with rolling hills throughout the course. It very much reminded me of the HMF half marathon course in Mystic.
My training block started out in end of June. I made the decision to train at home this year to cut back on miles on my car and allow myself to sleep in a little bit, thinking I’d relieve myself from some mental stress. I quickly became very lonely though. Training for a marathon by yourself is not for the weak. I struggled with a lot of burn out and found myself not excited for any of my upcoming races. I made the decision to run with the Fleet Feet training group on their last long run and quickly found myself getting excited again.
The week leading up to race weekend, I should have known better to take it easy. Instead, I overbooked myself at work. I worked multiple 11-hour days on my feet in a row, working until 9pm at night. It also forced me to push my workouts and runs closer to the end of the week and skip meals throughout the day. Naturally, I found myself run down and feeling the start of cold coming on Thursday night. All day Friday I tried to hydrate, eat and change my vibe to shake this bug off.
Saturday morning we headed out early to the Cape to hit the expo and bib pick up first thing. The entire drive I was experiencing body aches (the kind that makes your hair hurt) and could not get warm. Pete had his window open the whole drive because I was sweating him out so bad with the heat cranked. At this point I was super nervous I wasn’t going to be able to run.
The expo: The expo was located in the middle school gym at the Mullen-Hall School which is also where the start and finish lines are (super cute, small town ish!). There is no parking at the middle school, so we parked a little under a half mile away and made the easy walk over. The expo was very small and bib pick up was quick. We were out of there in about 10 minutes. I hesitated to buy any apparel because I didn’t want to jinx finishing the race. I got my bib, and we headed out for a drive.
Falmouth is so small that we basically drove the entire course just from sightseeing! For dinner, we grabbed a pizza from a local pizza place. We brought it back to our room and I was super excited to carb load without guilt only to find our pizza tasted like someone dumped an entire saltshaker on it. I ate a few slices just to make sure I had some carbohydrate stores and went to bed at 7pm.
The best part about this race? It starts at 8am and is such a small town, you can sleep in and literally get there 30 min prior and make the porta potty and bag check with time to spare.
Race Day: I set my alarm for 5am, laid in bed until 5:30 and finally got up and got ready. We left our hotel at 6:40, grabbed some Starbucks and headed to drop off. The entire weekend was calling for a coastal storm of a N’oreaster. The Weather Channel predicted 35mph winds and heavy rain. Luckily I packed plenty of clothes (a whole suitcase) for all weather conditions.
Race morning, I checked my weather app and luckily saw that the rain was going to hold off till about 10:30. Great, I would be more than halfway done at that point and I could deal with the wind.
As we approached the drop off area, I sat in the car with Pete and we just watched the wind blowing everything around. Pete turned and said “I really don’t like that you’re gonna be out running in this.” Oh well, I paid for it. I looked around and saw everyone else enduring it. Around 7:20, after keeping warm in the car I said goodbye and headed out to the porta potty line. Luckily, it moved super quick and I was waiting to enter the corral by 7:40. Thank god I threw an emergency blanket in my bag check because I wrapped myself up until about 5 min before start and kept warm.
There were no pace leaders in this race and amateur me, I forgot to print a pace band (they had none at the expo) I was left to pace this with just my watch. Ok I can do that. Cue the race start, the first mile was spent trying to get around other runners until it spaced out to reach my pace.
Now after all my years visiting the Cape and running through it, contrary to belief – the Cape is not flat like many people think. It’s filled with many rolling hills. I was very shocked by the amount of hills this course actually had. I initially started out too fast. I wanted to keep a pace of 8:50 but found myself at an 8:30 pace. I knew I was moving too fast but my body wasn’t allowing myself to slow down. Around mile 3, both of my hip flexors started hurting. A pain I had not experienced my entire training. I started lining up the 26 miles with the 26 letters of the alphabet and thinking of words for each letter and mile to keep my mind occupied. After that got old (about letter E) I turned my headphones on and zoned out.
Mile 13 was when it really hit me how this race was not going how I wanted it to. So many times I honestly thought I was going to DNF, especially with the head winds and not feeling well. I even said to Pete before he dropped me off I wasn’t sure I would make it. He told me, “Don’t worry, just call me and I’ll find you.” Then I started thinking of him getting frustrated trying to find my location 13 miles out.
By mile 17, I was really just hoping I could quit and I gave up all hopes of reaching my PR of 3:55. I started walking the first minute of every mile at that point just to ease the pain on my hip flexors. My watch was 1/10 of a mile off each mile marker and my mind was so confused on my splits. I started tearing up at one point because I felt so failed by my training and my body. I was expecting a 4:30 finish.
Finally at mile marker 23 I looked at my watch and saw that I was at 3:25. The rain was starting at this point but I knew if I just pushed myself I could still make my PR. I ended up finding a group of runners at a pace I could push till the end and ran with them until about mile 25.5 and then dropped them. At that point my ego was so much stronger than my willingness to quit and I hit the gas. Usually, I like to come across the finish with a big smile but I was so over this race I didn’t even care at that point. Last minute, I threw the horns up 🤘🏼
I got my PR with 29 seconds to spare! The finish area was super easy to navigate and I found Pete within 5 minutes. At this point the rain was heavy and I was so over it, I grabbed my gear check and we headed back to the hotel. None of the restaurants in Falmouth were doing it for me so we headed an hour to the outer Cape to have lunch at my favorite place in Orleans. We ate at the Lost Dog Pub and hit up the Ice Cream Cafe and I got to enjoy my favorite part of the Cape for a brief moment.
All said and done, unless they create a marathon going from Orleans to Ptown, I think I’ll stick to running the Cape on vacation! I’m happy with my PR and so grateful that my body allows me to do this sport. I’m so grateful to be able to consistently chase goals and do hard things! Next up, Marine Corps Marathon.
Pre-race dinner: The saltiest pizza ever from Timber Axe Bar & Bowl.
Pre-race breakfast: Half a bagel with cream cheese & Starbucks latte.
Course nutrition: One Huma gel every 4 miles, alternating with a caffeinated. SaltStick tablets every hour.
