Weekend Wrap-up part 2: 25k/50k + celebrating + relaxing!

When we went to bed Saturday night, I was hurting. I had a tendon in my left leg that was really bothering me and while I’ve still had slight hamstring pain, it got aggravated during the 15k on Saturday, so it was really bothering me Saturday night. I was a little worried about both things. I knew I was going to have to push through some pain on Sunday during the run, but the new tendon pain was stopping me from lifting my leg up in the air…which I was going to HAVE to do on a hilly race course. We iced it, Jake massaged it, and we put some Icy Hot on it. I went to bed praying it would feel better in the morning. I wasn’t as worried about my hamstring, just because I’ve been running with that pain for a few months. Plus, the hamstring pain isn’t constant, it comes and goes. But the tendon pain definitely had me a little worried.

We got up Sunday morning again at 4 AM, and I had almost NO tendon pain! I was so relieved. We were both really sore, though. My quads were hurting so badly that it hurt to touch them. That was going to be fun to run on…

​We both had the same breakfasts – a plain bagel with PB and honey for me and oatmeal with PB and honey for Jake. After we ate and cleaned up, we hit the road!

We had a bunch of friends running the races Sunday morning, so that was super fun. We found everyone and got some pre-race pictures taken. I have been taping my hamstring for the last two weeks when I run, so I did that for both days. On Sunday, I also taped the tendon that had been bothering me the night before, just in case.

Jake and Josh both ran the 50k. We had all done some of our longer runs together, so it was fun to have a training group for Dogwood and then get to cheer everyone on during the race.

Jordan and I did the 25k. It was her first time running at Dogwood and she did a great job!

When the race started, my legs felt like I had already ran 6 miles of hard trail. I’ve never raced on tired legs before, so this whole experience was new to me. It’s weird to start a race already feeling fatigued. Here’s one of the thousand climbs. I tried to eat/drink whenever I was walking up a climb, just so I wouldn’t slow down on any flats.

I had to push through pain for most of this race. The climbs were crazy and with my quads feeling fatigued before the race even started, they were even harder. I let myself walk every single climb (unless it was tiny) and made myself run on everything else. This got to be hard towards the end when I wanted to walk on a paved part of the course, but I didn’t stop running. I think that helped. It hurt to run, but it also hurt to walk. So I knew I was going to hurt either way, but that running would get me to the finish line faster. I finished the 25k in 2:46:44, which was about a 50 minute improvement from the last time I did this race in 2012. I finished it then in 3:36:14. So, that improvement made me happy. I wish I would’ve been able to push a little harder on this run, but I just didn’t have anything left in my tank. Back-to-back races are definitely challenging. I’d like to do another one, now that I know what to expect. I’d also love to do just the 25k again to see if I can improve that time.

I didn’t feel like eating anything when I finished, but beer sounded good. I sipped on this for a little bit, then finally started to get an appetite.

I chowed down on some pasta and chicken. This tasted SO good.

I also had a bag of chips. The salt was just what I needed.

Jake’s parents came down to watch the finish, so I got to hang out with them while we waited for Jake. We had about 3 hours before he would be finishing. This is the bridge that we finish on. Right past it, to the left of this picture, is the finish line. It’s a really pretty finish.

A lot of people sat in this water after their runs. That was the last thing I wanted to do…we did that in Colorado over the summer and it hurt SO bad. I know it helps and you eventually go numb, but that initial stinging when you first get in the water is brutal.

Jake finished the 50k in 5:27:49. He had some really terrible cramping in his hamstrings and calves, so he said he was pretty miserable and had to push through some bad pain. He couldn’t stop running when he finished because the cramping was so bad, so he power walked around the parking lot for awhile. He eventually got the cramping to stop and was able to stretch a little. Then he decided he needed a beer, too.

First male overall in the challenge!! I could not be more proud of him. He was totally blown away by winning this. He absolutely killed it.

As we were driving home, we both did our own little recap of our races. I know I say this a lot, but I just love that we get to do one of our favorite things together. We also started dreaming about dinner that night. We both wanted Mexican, so we invited our parents to join us. When we pulled into our driveway, we went to get out of the car and were so stiff, it took awhile. While attempting to get out of the car, we looked at each other and at the exact same time said something about getting an Uber to dinner. That made us crack up, which made getting out of the car even more difficult. Maybe we were a little delusional. My parents ended up picking us up since we were on the way for them, so they were our Uber for the evening.

Here’s Jake with his 1st place medal and plaque for the 15k and his first place overall male medal and plaque in the challenge. Straight stud status!

Both of us with our sweet stuff!

YESSSSSSS. We went to Maria’s for dinner and it was everything we had hoped it would be. I don’t know why I had two baskets of chips in front of me, but I didn’t hate it.

I was craving fajitas, so that’s exactly what I got! They were amazing.

Jake got this deliciousness. It was SO good. We loved getting to celebrate surviving the weekend with our families.

When I take pictures, I usually take 2. Jake knows this. I wanted one of us at dinner, but forgot to get it, so we took one when we got home. When I went to take the second one, Jake tooted. I’ll let you guess which camera click happened to capture that special moment…

Then we crawled into bed and watched some Netflix before passing out at 8PM. We both slept SO well. I was having trouble walking normally, so I was really worried about how terrible I’d feel Monday morning. Jake was pretty sore, too, but he seemed to be walking better than I was. Not fair.

When I woke up Monday, I felt really good! I couldn’t believe it. My legs were sore, but only my quads. Everything else felt great. I was pumped. Jake wasn’t so lucky. He was really, really sore. I made us an egg, veggies, and chicken sausage scramble with toast.

Excuse our trash, Jake was getting ready to take it out when breakfast was ready, but here’s the first place overall male eating some toast! (I said that to him yesterday while he was eating…he LOVED it). ; )

I knocked out a bunch of work on the computer and did laundry, then ran to the grocery store. I saw these in the produce section…has anyone ever cooked with these?! I had never heard of Turban Squash…

Oh my gosh. Yes. I love goat cheese. Blueberry vanilla goat cheese? Sign me up! We also love this turkey breast…one guess why…

I decided to make a wrap with the yummy new stuff I had just gotten from the store. These tortillas are the best. We get them from Mama Jean’s.

Look at that beautiful goat cheese. Mmmm. This wrap was amazing.

I’ve been craving orange juice lately. It just tastes so good.

After I ate lunch, I knocked out some meal prep. We are having burrito bowls this week for lunch. These have ground turkey, quinoa, brown rice, corn, black beans, garbanzo beans, tomato, and jalapeños in them.

I portioned Jake’s out like this and then will send a tortilla with him. He has to eat his lunches cold, so I try to send things that will still taste good if they aren’t warmed up. I hope he likes this!

Jake came home from work with this! Two new wines and a new whiskey we haven’t tried.

For dinner, we had THIS cod recipe, squash, and garlic cheesy bread. It was delicious.

Sriracha is finally back in my life – thank goodness!

After dinner, I tried to foam roll, but my quads were still SO sore. I couldn’t make myself do it. This counts, right?

We opened a bottle of wine and played Catch Phrase for about 2 and a half hours. Check out my Instagram story (@chelseakdorman) to see Jake’s reaction to one of my guesses – HA! It was super fun.

I’m hoping to get a run in tomorrow, so this was my last morning of sleeping in. I was craving oatmeal, so I made my egg and oatmeal concoction. Jake just wanted two eggs and a toast.

Today, I’m hoping to finish up my slides for the presentation I’m giving at a big literacy conference in two weeks. I’m also planning to go to yoga and do a little arm workout later. This week is kind of a recovery week, so we are taking it easy. I’m also taking a little hiatus from running – I’ll probably only run 3 days a week for a little bit. I want this hamstring to heal completely before I start training for my marathon in January. I HATE taking time off from running, but Jake and I are going to try to swim and ride more, so that should help. I’m also going to really focus on strength training and yoga for the next few months. I think that’ll really help me heal, and also positively effect my running. Fingers crossed!

Happy Tuesday!