Marathon racing, for me, is a lot like a roller coaster ride. The high excitement of signing up for a race is like being at the top of the big hill that starts every roller coaster. This hill creates the momentum and excitement that will be needed to take riders up and over all of the big hills, curves, and loops along the journey back to the station. At the end of the ride, everyone is smiling and instantly wants to get back in line and do it again.
With a marathon, though, there is no getting back in line to race again the next day. While some of my running friends have amazing abilities to recover and race again within a couple weeks, my body just can't take it. I tried jumping back into training for the Disney Marathon right after the Twin Cities Marathon and it didn't work for me. Knowing that my body is going to need a break, I am anticipating Post Race Depression (PRD and yes, I made this up so don't try to Google it).
In an effort to avoid the post race let down, I signed up for my first triathlon. I'll be doing the Buffalo Sprint Triathlon on June 7th. It will give me something new and different to look forward to right after the race. I'm figuring that the marathon training will take care of the running, and that I can do the training that I need for the swim and bike while I taper and recover from the marathon. The swim is .25 miles, the bike is 13 miles, and the run is 3 miles.
Since the race is June 7th, I declared yesterday, April 7th, as my first official day of triathlon training. Being a female, I kicked off my training season by going shopping! I decided I better get my wet suit situation figured out since the water will still be very cold on June 7th. Luckily, Gear West is only a couple miles from my house. Everything in Gear West just looks like so much darn fun!
I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in a wet suit, so I decided to rent one. For $40, I can use one of theirs and see how I like it. I've done some other pre-season shopping over the last couple months. My husband, Mike, had aero bars put on my road bike for Valentine's Day (very romantic!). I bought some top of the line bike shorts which I love, and some tri shorts which I haven't tried out yet. I have some nifty goggles and a sweet road bike from last season.
Hopefully I'll think this triathlon thing is a lot of fun because I signed up to do an Olympic distance on June 28. I'm thinking that both of those races will be enough to keep me motivated and that I'll avoid PRD. It's going to be hard to stay depressed while I'm busy planning and doing two new activities, and of course, there is always the cool new gear to cheer me up!
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8 comments:
Congrats on signing up for the tri, and first training day of shopping sounds PERFECT! LOL Looking forward to following your training and being inspired. It may be my next goal once my first marathon is out of the way! I'm excited for you!
Looking forward to hearing all about this!
I'm finding a lot of similarities to Mike... I got julie a time trial helmet for Christmas a few years ago. She got some Hammer Gels for our anniversary one year and she got mountain bike shoes this Christmas. At least Mike's confined this behavior to one Hallmark holiday. You better hope it doesn't go any further.
I should point out, these "gifts" usually come after I get myself something similar...
Good luck training for this! Hope you have fun with the new activities.
PRD - that's great!
I know you will love the sprint tri - I did that one last year and it was run really well. I agree that having something in the calendar is a preventive tool for avoiding PRD. (which I have never had, but that is perhaps because my calendar ALWAYS has something on it!)
Also smart idea to rent a wetsuit... but $40 sounds like a lot!
Are you running Saturday? Guy and I are starting from my house at 7, and going for a couple of loops - do you want to join us for at least one?
My friend AmyBee in Minneapolis has done the Buffalo triathlon. She's done lots of tri's. Stop by her blog and pick her brain.
I love that you bought new clothes! That something I do. :-)
We have similar plans. Do you mind sharing some info on your bike. I don't have a racing bike, but I want to buy one and not break the bank. Just curious.
I understand the "PRD" thing. While trying to remain focused on the main event at hand, I do find myself looking for what is next. It is always fun to contemplate those new adventures!
Post marathon depression is very common. I've heard it compared to postpartum depression: several months of careful preparation, some hours of excruciating pain and then, suddenly, everything's different and you don't have a clear goal to push you any more.
I always have to have a race on the calendar to look forward to. Rock on!
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