It's a little past noon on Sunday. A week ago I was about 50 kilometres into the STORMY 50-mile (80km) race, powerwalking up Nine Mile Hill at this stage. Today I have just done my first run since finishing that race, my first 50-mile, in 10hr 15min.
Overall I have felt good this week, certainly better than expected. My legs were stiff and sore on Monday, the day after the race. It was partly muscle soreness with tight quads and calves, topped up with the painful scrapes on my knees from the tumble I had taken about three hours into STORMY.
On Monday I took a hot bath with epsom salts, and later that day walked our dog for about 5km. On Tuesday I went with two friends to Vancouver and essentially spent most of the day on my feet, strolling. My legs were tired that night and I had another hot bath with epsom salts.
The following day, Wednesday and the third day after the race, much of the stiffness and soreness of my legs was gone. I did another 5km walk or so with the dog. On Thursday I walked the dog twice, including on the trail Summer's Eve that is part of the final 5km of STORMY.
With more doggy walks on both Friday and Saturday, and my knee scrapes looking and feeling so much better, I thought I might try a short run today. Running at a very easy pace at a mostly flat surface for about 35 minutes felt good. I'm still going to be careful this week, avoiding any speed work, but will probably run an easy 30 minutes every other day.
Still feeling excited about the great experience that STORMY was, my attention is now turning to Ironman Canada which (my partner) Tim is competing in on August 29. His training has been going well, and he is very much looking forward to racing his 10th Ironman.
Tim is currently reading parts of Lore of Running by Tim Noakes, the book that provided valuable last-minute tips for my STORMY, as he is now focused on the final touches of his mental preparation. A year ago Tim raced Ironman Canada and was superfit. Unfortunately he fell off his bike and bounced off a passing SUV as he misjudged a corner early on in the bike leg.
It was a small lapse in judgment that cost him the high hopes he had for the race last year. Extremely fortunate to escape with 'only' bruises and scrapes he climbed back on his bike and finished the race, he was too sore to race at his full potential given his training. After the race he never once complained about his accident, even though I know how disappointed he was.
He simply shrugged his shoulders, said that life's too short to get upset about things like that and is back this year for another go. Like last year, he has trained hard and consistently and cannot wait to head to the start line.
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