THE RUNNER BEANS

Running

Active Travel

Nutrition

Family

Marathon Recovery

Nov 17, 2016 | Running | 5 comments

I got away lightly this time around. No black toenails, no chafing and only one gross blister – I’ll spare you the photo. Sadly my coach Mary wasn’t so lucky! Plus I’ve been wearing my compression gear from SKINS non-stop to ensure my muscles recovered in time for two more races before I went home.

I spent the week between the New York City marathon and the Rock N Roll Las Vegas weekend resting, recovering and catching up with friends old and new. It was awesome.

New York City Marathon

Monday 

Zoe and I spent Monday wedding dress shopping with one of her friends, sightseeing at the top of One World Trade and attempting to get one of the incredible Black Cat milkshakes, only to discover a very long queue.

I then dragged my huge suitcase from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn to Ashley’s house, it was so great to see her and catch up. It’s been over a year since I last saw her, just before the Chicago marathon!

Tuesday 

I woke up early, enjoyed some coffee while I did some work, while Ashley and Bo went to a workout class. We went for a walk and got another coffee, before getting down to more work. I’d booked myself in to a Chinese massage place in Brooklyn, and it was amazing (although a little weird when the guy put his fingers in my ears- is that normal?) Everything felt tight, even areas I hadn’t considered such as my arms and face!

Wednesday 

With the election night results coming in thick and fast on Tuesday evening, I did not get a lot of sleep. Brutal with a 5am alarm and a 6hr flight to Las Vegas, luckily I got a lot of work done on the flight and snoozed for a bit before meeting up with Jess (a blogging friend from london who moved to San Francisco a few months ago), picking up our hire car and driving the four hours to the Grand Canyon.

I’m not sure either of us were prepared for the distance, certainly we didn’t have the right snacks for the journey, so it was a very welcome sign to see In and Out burger nearly two hours in to our journey.

We arrived just in time to watch the sun set over the South Rim. It was breathtaking.

Grand Canyon sunset south rim

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0207.JPG

Thursday 

An early start to do some uni work, a rather large hotel breakfast and we were back on the road to Grand Canyon National Park to hike the Bright Angel Trail.

Grand Canyon

It’s one of the most popular trails at the South Rim, and perfect for all fitness levels. We didn’t have much time so just walked to the first turnaround point, about 1.5 miles in and helpfully called ‘Mile and a Half Resthouse’, before heading back. There are options to continue onwards to ‘Three Mile Resthouse’ and ‘Indian Garden’, plus we also bumped into a lot of people just finishing their four day ‘Rim to Rim’ hike – now firmly on my bucket list. Check out Jess’s blog post about our trip.

dsc00050-2

Grand Canyon

Unfortunately the four hour drive lay ahead of us, however our confidence in our SUV was growing, and we although there were a few dodgy manoeuvres, we made it safely to Las Vegas and our home for four nights; The Venetian.

Exhausted, we showered and ate a delicious light dinner at one of the many restaurants in the hotel before going to see ‘Baz’, a show at The Palazzo theatre. It was a fun musical combining some of Baz Luhrman’s best films; Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby.

SKINS compression leggings

Wearing my compression outfit from SKINS – I wore my leggings on the flight, as well as during our down time in our room. I’ve posted about loving these leggings before, but I finally got the medium top to wear with them. I have to admit, I still felt a little like a sausage (thank goodness they’re black)

The leggings help muscles recover after strenuous activity (and help prevent DVT on the plane) by improving blood circulation. They are designed specifically for recovery (rather than exercise), and reduce tenderness and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) by delivering more oxygen to your resting muscles.

Friday 

A far more relaxing day, starting with some work at a hotel cafe (love that there is wifi everywhere in Vegas), an Acai bowl for breakfast from Juice Farm at The Venetian, as well as lots of coffee.

acai bowl The Venetian

Our morning involved an appointment at Canyon Ranch Spa and a pedicure for me, and manicure for Jess. I explained to my therapist about my recent mileage, and she did an amazing job avoiding my blister, getting rid of callouses, buffering the dead skin and moisturising with a hot oil wrap. Oh and I chose a sparkly gold polish called ‘No Way Rose’ that I got to keep.

We had driven past some outlets on our way to ‘The Strip’ and decided to stop by for a spot of shopping…several shopping bags later, we emerged with presents for ourselves, partners and family. And a few Kate Spade handbags that were 70% off…

We had just enough time to shower and change in our room before heading to see Britney Spears!! We are classic kids of the 90’s and sang along to all of her classic hits.

Britney Spears Las Vegas

Coming soon.. our Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K race recap! 

5 Comments

  1. Sandra Laflamme

    So much fun rolled into your weeks recovering from NYC. what a blast to be doing all of that traveling with a close friend! I can’t wait to read about your Las Vegas racing!

    Reply
  2. Jas

    This looks so fun Charlie!

    Reply
  3. Pippa @ Pip in Motion

    You’re making me wanna go hiking now!! I’ve never been to North America and I want to so bad now!

    Reply
  4. wheresbernadette

    Love reading your blog! I’m running the London Marathon next year and it will be my first marathon distance. I’ve completed my first half and have started training. I’ve been reading your posts to get some tips on how to tackle it. Hopefully it’ll be the first of many! Do you have any training tips and fundraising tips?

    Keep on inspiring!!

    Bernadette
    https://wheresbernadette.wordpress.com/2016/11/19/i-am-running-the-london-marathon-2017/

    Reply
  5. wheresbernadette

    Hi Charlie! I love reading your blog. I am running the London marathon next year and have just completed my first half at the Eden Project in Cornwall (it’s a great course if you are ever down here!). Your posts have helped me to tackle some of the training so far!
    Do you have any tips for running your first marathon and fundraising?

    Keep on inspiring!!

    Bernadette

    https://wheresbernadette.wordpress.com/2016/11/19/i-am-running-the-london-marathon-2017/

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *