Notes on IM Recovery

Recovering after an IM is WAAAAAAYYYYY easier the fitter you are. The very first IM I ever did, I felt so nauseous and terrible for hours afterward. I could barely walk, and I remember I had to take the medal off my neck as it was pulling down my head....

This year after IMCDA, my muscles were sore, but I felt soooo much better. For the first time I ate (and wanted to eat!) two pieces of the finish line pizza. Hahahahaha!!! No nausea.

I mowed through that pizza -- I even got a pizza sauce stain
on the finisher's medal ribbon. LOL!!

Every single muscle in my body hurt though -- that hasn't changed. When I took a shower, even rubbing soap on my arms -- just touching my arms -- every little muscle was sore. Hahahahahaha!!!

Another first this year, was not having the roof of my mouth feel raw like a skinned rabbit (sorry Susi, but you love me still right? Hee-hee!) It always happened the day after an IM -- the roof of my mouth was so tender and raw, I could barely eat anything -- anything would irritate it. This year -- nada. Don't know if my uber coach and her nutrition plan for me had anything to do with it (YES!). :) :)

The day after IMCDA this year, I wanted red meat...BAD. I went to IHOP and ordered a steak and cheese omlette, then had a burger for lunch, then, when I got home, I made beef fajitas.

YES!! I am so glad I live in Alberta!! Hahahahaha!!

My legs still swell up considerably the day after an IM....Like HUGE. Driving home the day after probably didn't help matters -- my legs and ankles were so swollen and huge; my ankles actually wrinkled where they bend just from pressing on the gas pedal. So gross.

When I sat down at the restaurant to eat my burger, I kept poking my ankles and my legs and marveling at how swollen they were.

My tongue was white and corpse-looking the day after IMCDA. Oh man, I kept looking at it in the mirror and then brushed it with toothpaste.



For the first time, I haven't been laid out for the next few weeks after an IM in a comatose state of pain and exhaustion....True the first few days after IMCDA I felt like the biggest bag of a$$ EVER -- a feeling of utter crappiness and exhaustion....A kind of exhaustion where you can only sleep so much and the rest of time you just lay around feeling like crap.

I called my Mom and would tell her how crappy I feel. Then I would call Mike and say "I feel like crap." Then I would lie there in front of my computer watching TV episodes/movies and think of how crappy I felt. LOL!!!

I sprouted a number of zits on my chin the next few days after IMCDA too -- I think it must be all the Carbo Pro/gels/Gatorade = SUGAR just coming out of my body.


Ironman is such a shock to the body-- it takes a few days for my body to reset itself as it were.

This year is the first time I've been able to work out after an IM as well. I am in recovery mode, and my coach has given me some general guidelines to follow for the next couple of weeks.

Have you ever noticed that after a race you feel like you've made a step up in your fitness? I've felt like that for Olympic and Half Iron distances....this is the first time I've felt it after an Ironman though. Mainly because this year, one Ironman race doesn't signal the end of my *season*. :) :) :)

Yesterday, I took my bike out into the wind for about an hour spin. I wasn't expecting anything since it was so windy and I am in recovery mode. My plan was to bike to this turn off that when it is windy (like it was yesterday) takes me 28-30 min. to get to. When the wind isn't blowing, I can get there anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes.

Imagine my surprise when I glanced at my watch just out of curiosity and saw that I had made it there in 24 minutes. WHOA. I had to go further then I planned...and as it turned out, I still didn't go far enough, because when I made it home my watch read 53 minutes...

I'm really excited to be able to use an IRONMAN race as a stepping stone to more fitness. My God, how things have changed in the last 6 years....LMAO!!!!