The day after

Yup, the picture to my right is pretty much how my quads felt on Monday.  I always thought that marathoners were exaggerating this somewhat, or that you only experienced this on hilly courses, or if you overstrided.  Nope.  Apparently it's universal.

By Monday night, the soreness had subsided, but I was left in the odd position of having legs that were incapable of bending.  I could sit.  Or I could stand.  But transitioning between the two states was....challenging. 

Men clearly have it easier when recovering from a marathon.  Why?  Because they can rehydrate intensively without fear of having to sit to pee.

Some other observations from the past few days.

• I now understand the appeal of wearing your medal for the first few days.  It's the equivalent of a handicapped tag.  Without my medal around my neck, I find I've become one of "those people" - those who announce they've just run a marathon within 3 minutes of introduction.  I'm not doing it to brag, but just to explain why I'm walking slower than a 90 year old, clutching desperately to the rail when I mount or descend stairs, or ordering TWO entrees at lunch.
• I have spent way too much time reading other race reports about the same race I just ran.  My favorite is this one - like anyone else, I like it when someone much faster than I confirms that the wind kinda sucked (sustained of 10-20 MPH, with higher gusts, according to the Running Weatherman).  
• They really should have reserved parking spaces for people who hang marathon medals from the past 3 days on their rear view mirrors.  I was much more mobile when I had my broken foot.

•  I am truly disappointed that not one person has responded to my Shamrock Marathon race report with the comment "Sham WOW."
• If I'm going to run more marathons, I need to move to a place that's designed with handrails and elevators everywhere.
• For the second year in a row, I've made the same mistake.  That mistake is 1) running a race on St. Patricks Day that leaves me in a deliriously happy daze, but also crippled; 2) sleeping over at my boyfriend's that night; and then 3) shambling through the pharmacy early the next morning to pick up fluids and my birth control meds, requesting my prescription in a raspy voice.  I need a t-shirt that says "Honestly, I went to bed at nine last night."
• Don't try to go to work the day after a marathon. 
• Don't schedule a rock concert for the day after a marathon. 
  
  I actually stayed seated at a KMFDM show.  The shame.
• They gave me a really nice thing at the end of Shamrock - a finisher's blanket.  Really cool.  The downside is that I've now devolved to a 4 year old who drags her blanket with her everywhere. 
• When I think about it, this marathoning stuff is really easy.  Spend a week doing nothing but sitting and eating, run a few hours while people hand you drinks and sugary stuff, then spend another week doing nothing but sitting and eating.  Not bad at all.