Veterans Marathon. The end.

The pain of the marathon has all but disappeared.

But the pictures will last forever!

I am walking like a normal person, my legs are free from soreness. The chafe marks from my fuel belt that once resembled tummy tuck incisions no longer sting in the shower. The days of 3,000 calories have been replaced with more moderate, mindful eating.

And, the dark cloud hanging over the day, seems to be blowing over. Or, at least I'm no longer acting like a complete and utter sassy pants when I think about how the day played out. (Reading all of your comments on my recap post is a big part of that - THANK YOU! I may or may not have cried while reading them. See above comment about a sassy pants.)

I've even stopped researching spring marathons for a redemption race. Rather, I'm focusing my energy on recovering like a boss.

Sunday: Mostly rest save for raking leaves
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 45-minute walk on the treadmill while watching "The Walking Dead"
Wednesday: 30 minutes on the elliptical + Bodypump tonight (at the new gym)
Thursday (plan): Short run + teach class at the YMCA
Friday (plan): Heated yoga
Saturday (plan): Bodypump + short run
Sunday (plan): Try to rally troops for easy run in the afternoon

I'm loosely following Hal Higdon's zero week plan, coupled with the constraints of Miles' new 5:30 a.m. wakeup and the cold front. I might have picked a crap day to run a marathon but I picked the right week to take off from running!

How do you recover from a race?

Veterans Marathon: Week 1

The time has come. The days of running for fun - or whatever you call it - are done. With 16 weeks until the Veterans Marathon, it is time to start training.

By the way, that's Justin Gillette on his way to win the 2012 Veterans Marathon. We've been tweeting, and he says I can break 4 in November. I pretty much love him.

While I followed "Train Like A Mother" plans for my most recent training cycles - Wisconsin half marathon, Run the Bluegrass half marathon and the Columbus Marathon - I've decided to shake things up a bit. Go crazy. Dare to do something different. For Veterans, I'll be following Hal Higdon's Intermediate I plan.

Bucking tradition, that's me.

While there are a bajillion other plans out there, I decided to go the road tested Hal Higdon because it offered some decent mileage (two 20-milers), little intimidation and a new-to-me way to build endurance - running hard on Saturday and doing a long run on Sunday. His idea is that you put miles on tired legs and are also more likely to take the miles slow.

I was tempted to try a Runner's World plan to break 4 hours, even posting it on Facebook to seek feedback, but in the end, I decided that it was too aggressive and the mileage was too high, especially with my teaching load. However, I will be incorporating some of the things I was attracted to in the plan - hill workouts and tempo runs - into the Higdon schedule.

Oh, and a quick note: Though I call this week 1, I jumped in at week 2 to accommodate Mark's upcoming camping trip and to give myself a "free" week during Hood to Coast festivities. I'll obviously be running during the week and at HTC but I didn't want to worry about long runs and tempos and race pace.

The week:

Monday: Spin class
Tuesday: Piloxing (taught) + BODYPUMP (taught)
Wednesday: 5 miles, hills + 3 miles
Thursday: 3.5 miles + Rip (taught)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 miles, race pace + BODYPUMP (taught)
Sunday: 9 miles