วิ่งไม่หยุด: After the 42 km race.. recovery...

Sunday, December 21, 2008

After the 42 km race.. recovery...

Activities/Actions:
Cool down.... rest after the race... ING Taipei International Marathon!

Stat & Course condition:

Easy Walk: walk to SOGO

Date: 12/21/2008
Start Time: 12:01:00
End Time: 12:55:00
Time Taken: 00:54:00
Route: Taipei City Hall 2 SOGO
Total Distance: 1.58 mi.
Burned: 117 (kcal)
Laps: 1
Pace: 34:10 (avg)
Speed: 1.76 (mi/hr) (avg)

Easy Walk: walk to bikeshop

Date: 12/21/2008
Start Time: 20:00:00
End Time: 20:50:00
Time Taken: 00:50:00
Route: 2 Giant Bike Store
Total Distance: 1.21 mi.
Burned: 108 (kcal)
Laps: 1
Pace: 41:19 (avg)
Speed: 1.45 (mi/hr) (avg)

Regular Walk: back from bikeshop

Date: 12/21/2008
Start Time: 21:19:00
End Time: 22:06:00
Time Taken: 00:47:00
Route: 2 Giant Bike Store
Total Distance: 1.21 mi.
Burned: 102 (kcal)
Laps: 1
Pace: 38:49 (avg)
Speed: 1.54 (mi/hr) (avg)

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)
Physically 3
Mentally 4
About my nutrition 5
About my sleep 5

Note and reflections:

After the race
I was so grateful and happy to see my friends right at the finish line! Wayne was waiting right at the finish line, Yu-Hsiang, James and Paul were photographing in the finish line area, and at the base, Xiao Hao, A-Po, Lu Dan and Yan-Ru were savored their victory in the strong sunshine! Dumpling had left early to pick up his bag at Taipei Main Station. We congratulated one another. Yu-Hsiang said that he made his best personal record for the half at 2 hours and 19 minutes, similar to James, Paul and Dumpling. For their first half marathon, Wayne reached the finish line just before the two hours, followed by A-Po, both leading the first place Marathon finisher! Lu Dan and Yan-Ru finished their 9K together just after an hour! Lu-Dan said that next time she will join the half marathon because 9 K was a piece of cake for her. Thank everyone for making this race such a fun and memorable running for us! Especially, thank you for greeting me at the finish line for my first Marathon!

Later Yu-Hsiang, Paul and James left for a shower, while Wayne and A-Po helped me with taking water and lunch box and returning my chip. They said that the half finishers only got a small box packed with juice and bread, while the 9K finishers got the same type of brunch box but did not get a medal and towel. At our base, we shared our stories while I was having my lunch box in a dancing movement under the burning sun. Dancing was not due to my high but because my legs had to be kept moving. Xiao Hao, A-Po, Lu-Dan and Yan-Ru left just before noon, while Wayne was waiting for Pei-Ling with me. I hope that we will have a gathering again soon.

Walk, eat, walk, nap, walk and rest...
Pei-Ling showed up around 12:30p to congratulate Wayne and me. We decided to walk together due West on RenAi Rd., where Wayne would go to his office (for work and perhaps a special massage) but Pei-Ling and I would go to SOGO. At one point of the walk, I sit down (and stretch the legs) to answer Meng-shin congratulation call. Even though I felt a bit pain during the walk, the pain would have been worse if I would stand/sit still. Walking cools down and relieves the tense muscles. I could see veins vividly popping under the skin of my calves. Pei-Ling asked whether I was OK after seeing, compared to Wayne, how I was walking. After departing from Wayne, Pei-Ling and I stopped to get a 1.5L bottle of SuPau Sport Drink, and I kept drinking it to replace what I had lost for the past five hours. At MRT extrance at SOGO Fuxing, I rested my legs and did self-massage with a handy massager Pei-Ling brought for Wayne and I.

I changed my clothes around 1:30p before Kai-Yei showed up for lunch. We decided to go to have our big fest at Dream Pirate, a Japanese place. I was enjoying the meal but eating at a slow pace because my throat did not want to open widely. Sitting was good, but I had a little hard time to stand up after a long duration of sitting. I even took a short nap after the meal. Thanks to both Pei-Ling and Kai-Yei for coming out to share with me "the savory victory!"

After lunch, we took a bus back around 4p. I was be able to get up and down the bus alright. I walked from Kunyang to home and took a long nap (2 hours). After the nap, my legs were so stiff and hurtful at the first movement but were lessened after a few slow movement. Later, I walked my bike to a bike shop to get it cleaned [วิ่งไม่หยุด: the bike in a bath] and had a bowl of Thai Style noodle for dinner. The bikeshop owner said that it would take only a day to finish the cleaning, instead of three days as he mentioned two weeks ago. Talking to my sister during walk back, I was complimented by her that I was so tough to finish the Marathon. Rain started falling down around 8:20p, so I walked in the rain. Luckily, this morning race was dry and sunny!

The bottom line: Seeing your friends' face (or just even their voice) at the finish line was priceless, a good meal after the race--especially with friends--was re-energizing, and long distance walking after the race was a-must cool-down!

Photos:

All are credited to Pei-Ling (otherwise noted)!