Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Laurel Highlands: The Aftermath

Finishing at midnight for a race is kind of odd. I was tired from lack of calories and 18 hours on my feet and after a short stay at the finish line to collect the very cool finisher trophy, change my shirt and drink a few sips of ginger ale, we trundled to the car and back to the hotel.

Finisher trophies, mini replicas of the mile markers along the trail

It was officially my mom's birthday as of 12:01 am and she had even brought a mini crazy cake to celebrate my race and her birthday but sadly I did not have the stomach to take a bite. (Instead, I've eaten the pieces she sent home with us over the past two days, which is just as good ;) ) We said our goodbyes and my parents took off for their hotel and we got clean and into bed. I think Ryan fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow around 2:00 am but as is typical, I spent the next four hours twisting and turning and not sleeping. Sigh. The alarm went off at 6:00 am so that we could get up and get ready to head back home. Yet another sigh. 

Ryan begrudgingly got out of bed and we went down to get some breakfast. I couldn't stomach coffee but I did manage to eat some bacon, eggs and an english muffin so it seemed like things were headed in the right direction. I had some bad chafing, mostly on the tops of my toes and feet and around my ankles, and I was pretty sore of course, but honestly the area that felt worst was my diaphragm area which probably got strained in the midst of all the puking. Bleh. 

Of course, 10 hours in the car didn't help my legs and I most definitely had that ultra shuffle going on when we finally arrived home at 6:15 pm! Thankfully, traffic was pretty good and we were able to split up the drive into 2 or 3 hour stretches and make stops for gas, food, etc. I even managed to have a small Cold Stone ice cream after a small lunch, so definitely a win in that regard!

While we were gone, Sam had a great time with Irene and Dana, complete with fried seafood lunch out at Gurnet's, ice cream at Fielder's Choice and some time spent at LLBean. Sounds good to me!!

LL Bean fun

Yummy lunch at Gurnet's!

Big cone!

After taking some advil for my throbbing rubbed raw toes, I managed to get some sleep on Sunday night and then was incredibly happy that I had taken Monday off! It was such a beautiful morning that I decided it would be good to get some blood flowing so I headed over to the Cathance for a short walk. 

Ribbit

Dead things... seen in the river last year and still there...

Cool shelf fungus

Well camouflaged toad

Bunchberry

I took it nice and easy and while overall I felt tired, my legs didn't feel all that bad. I guess finishing a race by walking for 8+ miles will do that 😁 (1.2 miles walked)

The rest of the day was spent doing a few errands and getting a bit done around the house, mostly laundry and putting stuff away from the trip, but otherwise, I relaxed with my feet up, and it was quite lovely!

Today, I headed back to work and honestly was walking around normally and again, although tired, feeling decent. My feet are a bit puffy from sitting at a desk all day and are pretty scratched up but that's about it. 

I'm taking the week off from running so tonight I asked Sam if it would be OK if I walked on the track during swim tomorrow. She looked at me incredulously and asked, "Walking?" I said, "Yes, I'm taking the week off from running," to which she replied in a whisper as if I'd said something sinister, "Who are you?!?" 😂😆😉 I guess she knows me well!!


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