How to trick your legs into thinking they've run a marathon

My legs are currently very sore.  In fact, it feels like I ran a marathon about 4 days ago.  Which is funny, because the last time I ran a marathon was actually about 5 weeks ago.  I'm experiencing a kind of pain that I only associate with post-marathon recovery and have never felt at any other time.

So today's post is a step by step guide for how to trick your muscles into thinking that you did run a marathon, when in fact you did not.

Step 1 (Monday):  Take a long, leisurely 30 mile bike ride to Alki.

My brother Ian and his friend Lowell came to visit this week, fresh off the plane from Nepal.  The one thing that Ian told me he wanted to do while in Seattle was ride around Seattle on a bike.  And seeing as I've been such a bike-riding fiend lately, I whole-heartedly wanted to make this happen.  So I called around to all my bike riding friends, got my hands on Erica's beautiful blue butterfly bike and MacKenzie's hybrid "extra" bike.  I also borrowed a helmet from MacKenzie and a helmet from Ironman Joe.  And just as I was going to pick up the helmet from Joe, we suddenly realized that with Erica's bike that had clip-in pedals, we were going to need an extra pair of clip in shoes.  So we borrowed a pair of Joe's very large clip in shoes as well.

Now picture this: Ian on Erica's too small blue butterfly bike, wearing MacKenzie's blue helmet, and Joe's shoes that were 2 sizes too big.  Unfortunately, I do not have a good picture of this image, but luckily Ian is one to roll with the punches, and he proudly rode the entire 7 hours it took us to make it out to Alki and back.

We took a detour to the Ballard Locks on the way out to
Alki, which was great because there were TONS of fish
running upstream.  I've never seen the fish ladder so full.

I thought this ride was great.  We stopped for food, coffee, and even a little trip to Sierra's who happened to be just getting home as we were relaxing and eating.  They boys, who hadn't been on bikes in quite a while, were struggling a little on the way back (especially Lowell who got stuck with the hybrid and no clip-ins, which makes a huge difference), so we rode much slower than I'm used to riding with my other biking friends.  By the time we got home around 8:00, I was feeling great and happy to have been on the bike for so long.  The boys had some sore seats, but other than that I'm pretty sure they enjoyed the day as well.

Step 2 (Wednesday): Try to ride a bike, fail miserably, and go for a run instead.

Yes, I realize I skipped Tuesday, but nothing super athletic happened that day.  Unless you consider that I made Ian come volunteer at summer school in the morning.  He may have considered helping to wrangle 43 kindergartners and 1st graders an athletic feat.  Who knows?  We also visited the downtown public library, which Ian and Lowell found exciting, being the architects that they are.

Seattle Public Library--apparently an amazing architectural
accomplishment that many architecture students dream of
seeing.  I thought it was pretty cool.

But by Wednesday, I was itching to get out in the gorgeous sun that had suddenly arrived in Seattle, so when MacKenzie asked if I wanted to go for a 4 hour bike ride, I said sure.  We had planned on a 9:00 start time, and the first set-back happened just before then.  MacKenzie sent me a text informing me that she had a flat and needed to change a tire.  Fine, no biggie.  I pulled my bike out of my storage and happened to have Erica's pump that she'd let me borrow with her bike, so I decided to quick check my tire pressure.  After filling up the first tire, I released the pump and suddenly the entire tire deflated.  Apparently the valve just decided to completely give out.

This put me in a bit of a predicament, being the uber prepared bicyclist that I am.  I had no spare tube or tools for changing my tire, and it happened to be 4th of July (you know, when all the stores are closed), so I couldn't do much about it.  I called Ironman Jason to see if he was home and I could wrangle him to help, but no luck.  So instead I threw my bike into my car and drove up to MacKenzie's, because she actually had 2 spare tubes and could help me change my tire if I forgot any steps.

I got to MacKenzie's, changed my tire with minimal help (yay first tire change, go me!), and then we were ready to go.  We get all prepared, gloves on, helmets on, water bottles ready, and then MacKenzie takes one look at her bike and realizes that the tire she had just changed on her bike had suddenly popped.  Yep, that's right.  3 flat tires in about an hour.  So we decided to listen to whatever fate was trying to tell us and went for a 6 mile run instead.

We drove out to Marymoor Park because after the first 2 tire changes, we had decided to alter our route plan and stop at Blazing Bagels.  When the 3rd tire popped, we were a little bummed we wouldn't be getting bagels, so we decided to drive out to the park, run there, and then stop at Blazing Bagels after.  So worth it. Those bagels are amazing.

The run was good, and it was nice to mix up the typical route a bit.  I'm getting just a little sick of Green Lake.  We took it easy, not pushing too hard, not running too far.  All in all, not bad after our flat tire disaster.

Step 3 (Thursday): Hike Mailbox Peak.

If you've never heard of Mailbox Peak, here's the Washington Trails Association description.  The website says, and I quote "Wimpy hikers, turn the page.  This trail offers nothing for you but pain and heartbreak."  That sounds hopeful, right?  Luckily I'm a marathoner and a bicyclist, which makes me an unwimpy hiker.  The trail is a 6 mile out and back.  The first 3 miles takes you up 4100 feet of elevation to the summit where there's a cute little mailbox filled with letters and trinkets at the top.

Baby baby mailbox inside Baby mailbox inside
Mama mailbox.  We left a note on one of the
notebooks, archiving our hike.

The view from the top is absolutely gorgeous.

360 degree views of the surrounding mountains.

Snow!  And trees!  And blue sky!

We made it all the way to the top in 2 hours and 40 minutes.  And to be honest, I felt great.  My brother admitted later that he was very surprised that MacKenzie and I (you know, girls) made it all the way up without a complaint.  Him and his friend had come from treks in Nepal through the Himalayas and were impressed that we mere marathoners could keep up.

Making friends with the mailbox.  Those smiles were not
forced at all.  We were actually happy here.

Going back down the 4100 feet was a little bit different.  It took us about an hour and half, but as I had forseen on the the way up, the way down was way harder on the body.  By the bottom, my knees wanted to kill me and my quads had pretty much nothing left.

Nonetheless, I still felt pretty great and quite proud of myself.  I think I may have tricked myself into thinking that this was a pretty easy hike, simply because I did not get out of breath.  In running and biking and swimming, when you're working hard, your breathing increases and your heart rate goes up.  This doesn't happen when hiking.  Things move more slowly, but you're working just as hard.  Apparently.

Step 4 (Friday): Go on a 57 mile bike ride.

I felt pretty good all of Thursday night, but when I woke up Friday morning, my legs were SORE.  My quads didn't want to walk down stairs and my calves were super stiff.  So of course, the most sensible thing for me to do was to go for a long, hard bike ride.

This was no ride like the one out to Alki.  MacKenzie, Jason, and another of MacKenzie's friends that is in training for an Ironman were ready to push hard on this ride.  So yes, little me who's not done a ton of riding went for a nice long ride with 3 other people who are about a month and a half out from completing an Ironman.  That means they are pretty much at the peak of their training.  I am at the peak of nothing right now.  I'm coming down from the recent full and half marathons and crossing my fingers I'll make it through STP next weekend.

The ride didn't start out too bad.  We cruised through Madison, crossed the 90 bridge, crossed over Mercer Island, and headed south along Lake Washington to Renton.  My legs were stiff, but I sometimes find that when I'm already sore, I can push through pain a little more easily.  Because it already hurts, and will hurt no matter what, so may as well keep pushing.  We did an out and back along the Cedar River Trail in Renton, which was fun, and MacKenzie and her friend were doing speed training, so I tried my best to keep up.

Then we headed back north along the west side of Lake Washington, and this is the point where I completely bonked.  This was the first ride I had ever done without stopping for a meal mid-ride.  I had some food on me, but definitely did not do a good job of eating it in the first half of the ride.  As we came up the hill towards Seward Park, my legs had very little left in them.  We bumped into one of MacKenzie's Cycle U coaches and he talked me up the hill, reminded me to downshift and make it easier on myself.  We passed through Seward Park and I tried to eat as much as I could.

As we were coming up through Leschi, MacKenzie hit crack in the road and got yet another flat tire.  Her 3rd for the week.  I have to admit I was kind of excited to have a mini break during the tire change and continued to cram my face with GU chomps, Honey Stingers, and Clif Bars.  But the Cycle U coach changed the tire in no time, so were back and riding fairly quickly.

I think all the food kicked in by the time we hit the big hills up into the Arboretum, because I felt a little better on those.  Nonetheless, I made it through, made it home, and crashed.  I was happy that Ian and Lowell were content to make dinner and relax for the evening.

Step 5: Don't take an ice bath.

I'm pretty sure that had I taken an ice bath either Thursday or Friday evening, my legs would not have felt crippled when I woke up Saturday morning.  But it didn't even cross my mind to do so, and therefore Saturday morning rolled around, I stepped out of bed, and my legs suddenly thought they had run a marathon.  My quads were completely stiff and suddenly couldn't tackle those 3 little stairs in front my apartment again.  I tried to take Lucy for a walk that morning and the downhills were excruciating.  I went to the Sounders game Saturday night and walking up the stairs in the stadium was only made a little less painful after a few beers.

Sunday wasn't much better.  My legs felt like day 2 post marathon, which is always the worst.  I didn't really do much the whole day besides watch a bunch of old Project Runway episodes and nurse the headache I had.

And then today, not only did I wake up feeling still sore (although slightly better), I had a sore throat too.  Boo.  Still, I attempted a run this morning.  I actually tried to run down the huge hill to Greenlake and gave up on that after the first block.  Even walking down it was still painful.  But I did make it the 3 miles around the lake, albeit slowly.  Then I came home and foam rolled (OUCH!), and I'm thinking things are starting to loosen up again.

Now, my only hope is that things are completely back to normal by the time I hop on a bike this coming Saturday to ride 200 miles down to Portland.  Oh, and I'm also hoping I haven't overdone it and injured myself in some sneaky way.  Another crazy, exercised filled summer week in the books?  Check.

I'm going to treat my legs very kindly over the next few days with easy bike rides, easy runs, and maybe even a low-impact swim.  Then I'll cross my fingers and hope that my legs can carry me all the way to Portland this weekend.  Wish me luck.