Lessons learned, post marathon

So, I was pretty excited and proud of myself after having run that crazy long distance of 26.2 miles. I thought I had conquered the world, which of course is not true. The funny thing about running a race, or any doing anything competitively, I suppose, is you are surrounded by people who are doing and have done exactly what you just did, AND they probably are doing or did it better. So, in a way that's good, because it's motivating and you can set new standards and expectations on yourself and continue to improve. But it's bad because you can't just say, "Well, I did what I said I would do. Cool. I'm good." It's bad because now you have set the bar higher in your life, and you have to keep working. No one warned me of that.
So, I got all pumped and motivated post race to go CRAZY with getting up in the mornings and going running, and going to classes 4 days a week at the gym that included yoga and weight training. I decided to cut back a ton on the bad things in my diet, and add a variety of healthful foods. And I was going to clock at least 30 miles a week. I was ready to become, well, awesome. 

Day 1 of being awesome: Monday post race, I had rested well since Wednesday, so I got up early in the morning, was super productive, went to work, then ran 5 miles in less than 45 min, then did yoga. BOO-yah. Awesome.

Day 2 of being awesome: Tuesday the plan was to get up at 5:00am and go to a class for strength training. Forgot (perhaps on purpose) to set my alarm. No matter, I can still run my 5 miles and be awesome. After work, I ran my 5 miles, and was pretty awesome.

Day 3 of being awesome: Well this day I was supposed to go to work, run 5 miles, then do yoga. I decided to take a rest day. My shins hurt a bit. I took my Friday rest day on Wednesday instead. Don't worry. I'll make up for it later. I'm still awesome.

Day 4 of being awesome. Missed the workout session at the gym at 5:00am again. It was a rough day. I ran 3 miles in 78 degree weather, and it felt like 10. Miles, not degrees. The awesomeness is spreading a bit thin at this point.

Day 5 of being awesome: It's Friday. I'm not doing squat. Brad, take me on a date! (It was awesome, but I am not being super awesome).

Day 6 of being awesome: Goal at the beginning of the week was to run 5 miles Monday through Thursday, rest Friday, then run 10 on Saturday. Awesome right? Well, I ran 8 miles, of terrific hills, but again, I am 9 miles short this week. Not so awesome, but acceptably so. Next week will be different.

Day 7 of being awesome: Sunday doesn't require awesomeness, but I will say this: I did not eat very healthfully. So. Off to a good start.

Days 8-12 of being awesome: Did yoga once.

The lessons I learned by not running or working out for nearly a week are these: I feel AWESOME. Haha, just kidding. But really, I did take the week off, and started out feeling a leetle bit guilty, but eventually just told myself to take a real break. Just for a week.
At the end of this week, I have decided, I miss running. I miss work. I miss pushing myself. I miss taking care of my body in the way I know works for me. I don't feel super awesome, at least, not in the way I do when I set a goal and accomplish it. I started to actually have less energy, less motivation, less patience with myself and others.
I realized I like trying to improve, and setting goals, and doing difficult things.
I realized I must have, somewhere within those weeks and weeks of training, begun to like running. I became a freak.

And that, is AWESOME.