Recovery 101

Greetings, wow, two posts in one week. Julia must have some time on her hands. Yup.

I finally gave in yesterday to recovery week. It's not that i fight it, its that i figure if i feel ok, why should I not do some light easy workouts? Well yesterday I think it hit me. I am not sure what hit me, but when i walked into the locker room I had that " Does anyone else think its hot in here?" thought. I hit the outdoor pool and it was lovely, cool, and brisk, i was not hot anymore!

But when i got out i had this wave of nausea. hmm. I dont get nauseated much, and there is usually no reason i cant eat or drink. But yesterday was a totally different story.

I had the chance to meet the lovely Angela at a caribou coffee about 20 min from her new home and 20 min from mine. My mug of cold press ( iced, yum yum) sat untouched. She likely thought i was just too busy talking to drink but the taste of it made my stomach churn. So home i went after a fun hour of talking , to "try" to get some food into me. Nothing sounded good. I made a smoothie that quickly did not settle in well ( I wont go into details) and thought, ok then, today is going to be a rough day. Nixed the run and the strength work for later in the day, and somehow made it to work to teach my classes. And wouldnt you know it was one of the most challenging group of residents i have had. That is all good. But I have to admit when i feel like poop its a challenge when i hear the Rec. Asst say "Harriet wants to come to class!" ( Harriet is blind...and "Florence is coming!" ( Florence is a rather large woman who needs max assist to stand.) that is all on top of many others that are all quite independent. So anyways it takes all my motivation and my skills to manage them all safely when we are standing and doing balance work! Phew. But I made it, and didnt pass out ...

Got home and slept. Not alot but some, and felt a bit better. At the same time I have bilateral "shin splints" to keep it simple. ( KISS!haha) and so i keep thinking that this time is ok, better to be resting up ( would rather not feel like puke) but coach says i am not recovered. And who knows what or why i have this stomach lower GI thing going but i guess i have to let it ride its course. I do find that i feel prettty ok about 48 hours after a race, but sometimes true "smashtime" doesnt set in, for ME at least, till 72 hours later. I do know that inflammation from an insult peaks at 72 hours, so i am guessing that is the same thing for an endurance event. You will feel ok 1-2 days after then on the 3rd day you fall off the wagon.

I am taking a few tangents here but i just think i need to keep realizing that recovery, at least for Me, in a effort that had me cramping at the finish means i need to not "expect" to do much for a full week after that race. The lessons i learn. They keep coming. IF you have good recovery thoughts, let me know! I did have a massage and i had Acupuncture and yes, i did eat my fair share of "crap":) And now that has turned to gingerale and crackers. Maybe I overdid the Dairy Queen!