As of tomorrow morning I will be officially 2 weeks post-Boston Marathon.

I’ve learned a lot about marathon recovery from making mistakes in the past, but things have turned out to be a little bit different this time around as I should have expected them to. Just as things are different when training for a postpartum marathon the recovery process is different as well.

Overall my body was sore for about 2-3 days but it was mostly in my quads. I don’t really attribute this to postpartum but just to the Boston course itself. I had a few other aches off and on but the biggest obstacle this time around was the lack of sleep I’ve been getting.

The past week I’ve only been sleeping 3-4 hours per night due to teething (or sleep regression) and we still aren’t out of it. I know this is all just part of it thanks to so many other Mamas that have reached out to me about it, but regardless when you aren’t sleeping your recovery process can obviously be quite different.

I took the entire first week post-Boston off. I spent the time visiting with family and just doing things more relaxed and laid back since I didn’t really have much else going on. Lots of snuggle time with my sweet boy and since he’s started teething this couldn’t have come at a better time.

When I take a week off I take the week of from everything. I don’t cross training or strength train, the most I do is some walking. Easton and I went for a few walks together but other than that I didn’t do a whole lot.

The second week I slowly start bringing back in running, but slow and steady and without any real plan. I knew with the lack of sleep I needed to go off how my body felt.

 

Here is a look at my second week post-marathon:

Monday – Off

I took Monday off since I promised one week of no running. This was the last day of the first week since Boston was on a Monday. I was really grateful for having this day off since I got 2 hours of sleep Sunday night. I even called and asked my Mom to come up to let me sleep a bit. I am so thankful she is close right now!

 

Tuesday – 30 minutes

My first official post-Boston run unfortunately had to be on the treadmill due to several days of pretty hard rain. I didn’t care though my legs were more than ready to run on Tuesday!

I took it nice and slow and withheld every time I wanted to push the pace at all. It was more about just getting my legs moving again.

 

Wednesday – 40 minutes

Wednesday was the first day of sun we had all week and I was so anxious to get back outside. The trail I normally run on had flooded from the rain so I had to improvise with another trail which was unfortunately super hilly.

We had a nice run though and opted to walk the big hills so I didn’t work too hard. It wasn’t as easy as the run felt on Tuesday but I was just so happy to be back outside.

 

Thursday – Off

I had made plans earlier in the week for Thursday so I opted to take Thursday off and give my legs a little bit of a break. The fun part about the month or so following a marathon is that I have no real plan so I can do what I want as I feel like it without much planning.

I did get in some strength training though.

 

Friday – Off

The original plan was that I would do a short run on Friday, but after 4 nights of very little sleep by the time I reached Friday my body was beyond tired. I knew I could easily run a few miles but at this point only 10 days out from my marathon it just wasn’t worth it.

We went out and had some fun and ran errands for most of the day!

 

Saturday – 7 miles

Saturday I still didn’t get much sleep but I was so determined to get in a run. I started on the treadmill and did a 20 minute warm up. Right around that time E woke up from his nap so I went and got him and brought him downstairs with me. I then wanted to get in a short workout to get the legs moving a bit more so did 8 x 200 meters with full recovery. I stopped after 4 to calm E down a bit and then finished it out.

I didn’t end up doing the cool down on the treadmill because E had enough of being near the treadmill. We went to pick up Wes from his run and he suggested I finish out my run outside while he drove E back home. I jumped at the opportunity to run alone outside and had him drop me off 2 miles from the house. It was a HOT day but I loved the freedom of being outside on my own.

7 miles total for the day and the longest run since the marathon.

 

Sunday – 4/5 miles

The plan for Sunday is 4 or 5 super easy miles with the stroller. I’m hoping my trail is cleared off so E and I can enjoy some time together.

 

I’ve actually really enjoyed this down time after Boston. I plan to go into the next 2-3 weeks with no real plan and base most of it off of how my body feels. This will be even more important if my sleep doesn’t improve, but lets hope it does!

 

How did your running go this week?