I Wanna Run

This is how I recover from a marathon. Also, I can’t not smile when I’m kangooing. It’s impossible.

The countdown to marathon number 2 for the year continues. As I write this, the challenge of running 42.2km through the streets of Ottawa is slightly more than 15 days away. On one hand this seems like a very short period of time. On the other, 15 days feel almost like an eternity. Weird.

My big challenge now is to figure out how best to train for the Ottawa marathon. Since I ran the Toronto Goodlife Marathon on Sunday, I figured I should take it easy this week to fully recover. Not an easy task for someone who likes to get up and go most of the time.

Can I tell you something though – just between us? I wasn’t completely at rest this week.

You see, I still had my daily walks to and from the office. Those walks were replaced midweek with daily bikes. On Wednesday I joined some friends for some more bouncing fun. And when on campus, despite the fact that I probably should have taken the elevator to really let my legs recover, I opted for the stairs 99% of the time.

I’m such a rebel.

The one thing I didn’t do was run¹, and not running is making me antsy. Part of this is related to feeling sluggish and just wanting to get my feet back out on the pavement to log some more miles². Part of this is related to the fact that I have a marathon approaching and I feel like I need to train more. And part of this is because I miss running.

More “recovery”. This time practicing my “awkward pose” in kangoos. Because why wouldn’t you practice a yoga move while in kangoos?

So this brings me back to my current challenge: how does one properly train for a second marathon when the second marathon is scheduled to take place only 3 weeks after the first?

My thoughts are this: I should be running a longer distance this weekend – perhaps a half marathon, or 25km distance – so that I can get back into marathon form. And I should run an even greater distance next weekend – perhaps a 32km run. But, then the other part of my brain takes over and suggests that I should still be taking it easy this weekend, that I should perhaps go for a shorter run, building to a 25-30km run next weekend. But is that enough? Is it too much? I have no freaking clue. I’ve never done back-to-almost-back marathons before.

Anyway, I have no idea what I’m going to do this weekend. I think I’ll try for a 5k run tomorrow just to see how my legs feel. If that works, then I think I’ll attempt a half marathon on Sunday. Nothing fast – I’m not looking to make a personal best. I just want to shake out my legs, wake them up, and perhaps get rid of both the sluggish and antsy feelings that I currently have.

Most importantly, I just want to get out and run.

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¹ Well, I didn’t run so long as one assumes that kangooing isn’t running, even though it looks like running and feels like running. If we make that assumption, then I didn’t run.

² I am, after all, a mileage whore.

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