Friday, October 24, 2008

Post Marathon Workout and Goals

I took Sunday, Monday, AND Tuesday off from working out even though I knew I should do some sort of activity. Wednesday I decided to return to the gym. I took it easy and stayed on the eliptical and the bike. Well it turns out...I have somehow further inhibited a post-marathon injury....



Ugly toes. Yes...you may be thinking, how is this an injury?? Well...it is greater than the regular "black toes" that marathoners get. I not only have black toes but my toes are also swollen AND they have this little sac of something right near the quick. And it's not a blister...more like...a red puffy something. I think it was amped up after my little workout because it now hurts to walk. I called the nurseline last night and they told me to go to Urgent Care. I have a hard time believing that ugly toes warranted an urgent care visit so I'm trying to see if it will go away. The nurse's rationale was that it has been 6 days and my toes are far from my heart and thus more susceptible to infection.



So I'm still going to wait.



I have also been mulling over that idea of running Twin Cities next year. I think there is a pretty good chance it will happen. In the mean time, during the winter, I have some goals to accomplish to make the next marathon so much better.

1. Find some more running buddies in my area (join a running club)
2. Lose about 15 lbs. I know I'm not hugely overweight or anything but 15 lbs would get me to more median "normal". The BMI charts say I am high on the "normal" range but I'd like to get more to the middle of the normal range. And yes...I realize that the BMI charts are highly disputed and not really a good way of finding "normal". Anyhow, losing some weight might help the knee problem some as well.
3. Reduce the calories. This has been the hardest thing to do post marathon. It seems as if I'm always hungry and always tired. My body is still used to needing insane amounts of calories to sustain long runs and now it doesn't quite know how to go back. I'm working on telling my stomach to stop growling at me. (Funny story--it did this during a meeting yesterday really loud and my boss glanced over at me...yikes!)

Anywho, Good luck to my fellow blogger Jen this weekend!!! I know you'll have a GREAT marathon!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd listen to the nurse and go to a doc if I were you. She's right, it's been a week it hurts to walk. The sooner you get well the sooner you'll get back on the horse :p

I forgot about BMI and actual weight to keep track of my weight. The only thing I've been paying attention for some time now is body fat %. I think it's the best indicative of where your body really is and how much weight you should really loose. I like it because I feel that BMI is too general and actual weight is not precise enough because you also gain weight as you gain muscles, so your weight goals can change too much. But if you want to get rid of all the fat, just achieve certain body fat % and you're there.

Anonymous said...

Weight & BMI are hard... it doesn't take into account differences in bone structure at all. And Alienontherun is right, muscle gains can cause weight increases. Something that freaked me out at first, but I'm trying to not panic because logically I know this.

Reduce calories in a couple weeks. Right now you can eat whatever... your body needs it! :-)

Oh yeah... see a doctor! That toe thing sounds awful!

Alissa said...

Wow I've never heard of that toe thing. Keep us updated. I want to know what caused it!

Congratulations on running your first Marathon Rachel. I really enjoyed your race report. I know the knee injury kind of held you back during training. I'm willing to bet that if you can get the knee thing to heal up, your next marathon will be a much better experience. Don't get discouraged!