Motivation and Recovery

Jeanette Wang has a weekly column in The Sunday Times this run up to the marathon. 2 weeks ago she wrote about recovery and this week about motivation.

Me too think I shall write about the same topics:)

Recovery - what do I do to recover after a long run? Most important of all and this is something a lot of runners neglect - do proper cool down stretches especially for the lower body. I find that doing this will ease a lot of soreness and aches the next 2 days. Then a routine which I have established: 1) take a cold shower. After that, as soon as practical, 2) ice various parts of the legs, especially the knees while 3) keeping the legs upright/in an elevated position (higher than the body). This will drain the lactic acid that has build up in the legs to the rest of the body and subsequently replaced the blood in the legs with fresh blood from the rest of the body. This by the way is not my own theory but advice taken from Chi Running by Danny Dreyer. The simultaneous icing reduces any swelling (if any) and speeds up the muscle healing process.

Motivation - indeed what craziness is it that made me sign up for the full? I love my sleep and it is crazy having to get up at ungodly hours and then to spend long long hours torturing myself in the hot sun. 3 years ago, after limping to the finish line and needing a friend to drive me home, I swear that I will not go through the whole thing again. Yet 6 months later, when registration opened, I promptly signed up. I supposed my motivation this year is to prove that I can still do it. More importantly, I have an unfulfilled desire - to do a proper marathon - not one where I have to walk a quarter of the way to the finish line. Will this be enough to sustain me to the end and if so, I promise and I swear this will be my last full marathon.