Post-marathon blues

Well it’s been a little over two weeks since the NYC Marathon. Man, I can’t believe it’s only been two weeks, it feels like an eternity. The week after the marathon is always the worst for me. After the marathon high over the next day or so, muscle soreness sets in, and then boom, the post-marathon blues are in full force. What’s worst in the first week is that you’re not ready to start running yet, mostly physically, but you’re itching to find something to do, at least that is how it is for me.

This year, I am suffering from double post-marathon blues. Even though I trained for roughly the same amount of time, I ran two marathons with two different sets of goals and a whole heck of a lot of time was dedicated to these marathons during the training season, more so than any other cycle. Josh usually calls it withdrawal when I’m cranky, but I figured there was a more scientific explanation for my mood swings over the couple of weeks after the marathon. So what do you do when you’re trying to self-diagnose, you Google it! There is a lot written about this topic but the article I found most helpful is this one from competitor.com.

There are so many emotions running through my mind during this period of post-marathon blues:

• —When can I start running again?
• —I’m jealous of everyone else out there running.
• —But it’s so cold outside. I can’t run outside.
• —I need another race. I need to break my PR.
• —What do I do with myself with all this extra time?
• —Rehashing the details of both races over and over, if I had just… I would have run a PR… or if I had done this, I would have broken my time by…
• —Crap, I think I’m eating the same amount of food I was when I was marathon training. I’m going to get fat. And the holidays are coming. I’m really going to get fat. [Weigh myself over and over or stop weighing myself and assume I’m getting fat.]
• —I’m going to lose my fitness. I won’t be able to run another marathon again.

So what have I been doing to conquer these blues?

• —Spending time with friends and family.
• —Eating and drinking whatever they want. I spend so much time during the training season worrying about what I eat and drink and for once, I want to be flexible.

• —Getting more sleep on the weekends! 🙂
• —Running a couple of times a week, so far no distance longer than 5.5 miles and all relatively easy runs.

• —Barre classes at Local Barre when I feel like it, no more having to stick to a schedule around running.
• —Trying new cross training options – I’m in love with all the spin classes at Prime Cycle. I’m hoping to get a handful of them in a week.

• —Working on other personal projects. I signed up for Goodreads this weekend and am so excited to eventually add all of my books especially the wish list ones! I also signed up for Newsblur to track all of my blog reading in one place.
• —Spending more time at work. Okay, you can look at this from a positive or negative perspective, but during the training season, I always have something after work that I need to get to. Finally, I can relax during the last meetings of the day and not rush out.
• —Looking back on pictures from the race. Ahh, reliving the memories! 🙂

• —Setting new running goals. Regardless of whether I am training for a spring marathon, I’d like to join a running club to help get me through the winter months. Also, I am planning on signing up for some shorter races (4-miler this weekend and entered the lottery for the NYC Half).
• —Thinking about which spring marathon to sign up for. I am hoping to announce this within the next couple of weeks.
• —Planning run-unions with my running buddies. A bunch of us are signed up for the Race to Deliver 4-miler in Central Park this Sunday and are planning to meet up for brunch afterwards.

So far I’ve been doing okay. The second week was definitely better than the first week once I got back into an exercise routine (I guess I am addicted to endorphins) but still not feeling 100%. I am looking forward though to Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday of the year) and that same weekend, we have a wedding to go to, so it will be really nice to catch up with more family and friends.

Do you suffer from post-marathon blues as well?

What do you do to conquer your post-marathon blues?