Starting to Bounce Back

It has been almost 2 weeks since Chicago and I am finally starting to bounce back, both physically and mentally. I ran 5 miles on Thursday and just over 6 yesterday. Both felt good and - yesterday in particular - I was happy to be out there.

Some interesting observations:

* No toenail casualties this time around. This is nothing short of amazing to me given how bad my toes hurt after the race.

* My resting HR is nice and low. That is always one of my favorite things during post-marathon recovery. I still have a high level of fitness. Combined with rest and recovery, my resting HR is in the low 50s.

* Conversely, the scales are tipping upwards. It is amazing how quickly a couple pounds can climb on when you stop putting in the mileage and eat/drink whatever you want. :) I guess it is time to get back at it and start watching my diet more closely again.

I am hoping to log 8-10 miles today. Then tomorrow I am doing a 15K relay. Should be a lot of fun. I am not planning on a PR or fabulous performance, but I do think it will be a great time. The mission for the day is to come up with a plan for the next two weeks before the Tyranena Beer Run. The idea will be to maintain fitness while continuing to rest. This means relatively low mileage with some high quality. Hopefully I can come up with something decent.

The weather is really starting to turn south here. We have had multiple gloomy, rainy, windy, cold days in a row. But as I was running in the light rain yesterday, all of the bright yellow sugar maples, blazing red sumacs and rusty brown oaks were glorious. I need to take it in now before the dark, bare winter rolls in.

Have a great weekend and good luck to all my peeps running races!!