Now that I no longer have a marathon looming on the horizon, I feel like I need to take a step back and look at where I should can go from here. I’ve dedicated 8-9 months of this year to training for this huge goal–to run my first marathon. Thankfully (and perhaps luckily), my hard work paid off and I was able to run a fantastic time at Chicago. I didn’t expect it to happen, but I guess a lot of good tends to come from keeping a level head and being smart about setting goals.

Even before I had run the marathon, I went into planning mode. I’m always in planning mode, but especially when it comes to races and putting goals on the calendar. [Side note: Manny says he admires me because I (and I quote) “get shit done”. Yes, it’s true.] So I have three events on my calendar in the next month or so. I wouldn’t necessarily call them races because I’m not looking to PR or run a crazy time. I just want to have fun after dedicating a lot of time to speed and pain this year.

• This weekend!!!: Back on My Feet 42k Relay Race. I ran the Chicago Marathon along with BOMF’s FundRacing team and love the mission of this organization. The relay is in Indianapolis on Sunday and I’m happy I was able to get a fun group of runners (ahem…marathoners to run it with me). We’ve deemed ourselves Team Faster Than Turtles and might even dress up haha. Every runner will do 3 loops of 2.2 miles and we have 4 runners on the team. I don’t know what kind of speed is in my legs right now considering I’ve only run once since the big 26.2, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fun morning.
• Hot Chocolate 15k: November 5th. My older sister, Brittany, signed up for this race months ago. You can get anyone in the Poore family to run a race when chocolate is involved and I’m happy that my mom will be coming up to Chi to run the 5k as well! This was one of the first races I ran in Chicago and it will be interesting to go back and experience it again on a downtown route (as opposed to lakeshore route) this year. I’m not looking to run it fast–but I might run a decent pace in order to get to the fondue and hot chocolate at the finish line.
• Drumstick Dash: Thanksgiving Morning. Another Indy tradition. I ran this with my family last Thanksgiving and can’t wait to see what color the shirts will be this year. Last year’s were a long sleeve highlighter green dry-fit shirt. Love those funky colors for autumn runs 🙂 Again, just looking forward to having some fun with the fam!

Before the marathon, I confessed to Coach that I was nervous about getting the post-marathon blues and dealing with low energy. He told me I definitely wouldn’t have that problem considering the races I’d already put on the calendar—and he was right. Even though I’ve been in lazy mode for the past two weeks (I’ve only run once!….insane.) I know that my body needed to recover.

I’ve been rolling around on Mr. Foam Roller a couple nights a week and have been sleeping like a baby every night. I think the cold Chicago air has something to do with it, but I’m a happy girl when I can come home from work, put on my PJs, cook dinner, and watch T.V. for a few hours. That makes me sound like a total sloth, but I promise it won’t last long.

…Because I bought a Groupon for Bikram yoga last week!!! As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’ve gotten into hot yoga lately and I couldn’t pass up a good deal for a studio near my office. Cheap, convenient, and good for me. I hope I can make the commitment to go at least once a week and continue to go throughout the winter. Hot yoga is healing for me and it’s the best way to end a long, crazy work week.

I still haven’t decided if I am going to run a spring marathon or not. At this point, I’m on the fence because I don’t know if I can make a strong commitment through the winter to stick to an intense training plan. Running a couple more half marathons next year seems more appealing to me right now. But that all could change in a few weeks.

When’s your next race? How long do you usually wait to run your next race post-marathon? I’m curious to hear if any of you have dealt with post-marathon blues!

-J