Post-Race Depression (But I'm just "Dimpled")

8:31 AM

First of all, don't let the title scare you. I'm not depressed. I'm not even sad. I'm actually quite happy. It's almost Christmas. I'm about to have a 2 week vacation. I just had a great time and race in Memphis. My family rocks. Lots of reasons to be happy. But I am just a little....what's the word...."nostalgic" maybe? Not sure if that's the right word. Maybe "dimpled" b/c a dimple is a slight depression. My depression is slight. It's small. It's low. It's wee. Ok, way too long of an intro.

The point is, I miss Memphis and the race. I have been preparing for this marathon since the beginning of summer. June. And now it's done. It's a little sad. I had such a great experience. Great trip. Great friends. Great basketball game with great dinner. Great hotel (ok, "Great" is a strong word but it was adequate and memorable). Great weather. And great, great race. Near perfect. And so I can't help but wonder - is that it? Will I ever again have a race that goes so well? Is that the best time I will ever have and it's downhill from here? It's just kindof a nostalgic feeling. Again, not sure if that's the right word but I looked it up and nostalgic means "a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life" and part of me wants to be back there doing it all over again. I'm sure I'll get over it, but just curious if any other runners out there have ever felt this way after a big race.

Ok, on to new things. I'm sure that's what I need to do is focus on a new race. And I have a couple on the horizon. I did decide to run the Zoo 5K on January 23. I'm looking forward to it. It was a fun race when I did it 2 years ago so I'll start preparing for that. I am going to take it easy this week and let my body fully recover from running 26.2 miles. So my mileage will be way down this week but it'll start picking up again.

I'm also registered to run the Country Music Half Marathon in April. I decided after last year not to do the full again. I think that's a marathon where once is enough. It's not the best of courses and my experience wasn't great, mainly b/c of the heat which I know is not the race's fault. But I decided I would go back to the half b/c I wanted to make a goal of improving my half time of 1:34:44. Granted, that will be tough to beat, but I'll try. I'll talk more about that race as it approaches in April.

As far as the future after that...who knows? I would love to run the Chicago marathon next fall. That is definitely a goal at some point in the future. I just have to see about funding and timing. But I've heard nothing but good about that race. I also am still planning to do the Goofy challenge in 2011. I will most likely register for that race in about a month. Again, funding and timing will be an issue that I'm still working out, but I'm very hopeful.

One new feature I'm adding to this blog. It's "What's on my IPOD?" My Ipod and music is vital to my running. I really enjoy listening to music, podcasts, and other things so I thought I'd share what's motivating me each week. It might be a podcast, a particular music artist, or just a specific song that gave me a running boost. I'll try to update it each week.

Ok, that's it. I ran my first 3 miles last night since the marathon. It was pouring rain and very windy so it was tough. It felt good, but I was completely drenched when I got home. I'll try to run again tonight. Thanks for all the positive comments from my race-post. I appreciate them all.

Keep runnin',
Albert