Recovery

Recovery has been interesting. I knew I'd be sore and I planned for that. I knew I'd be hungry and I planned for that. And I knew I'd be tired and planned for that too!

But my body thrown me a few surprises along the way.

I ate when I crossed the finish line, had an iced chocolate (milk, whipped cream, crushed ice and chocolate sauce - YUM) and an apple, a museli bar, some lollies, lots and lots of water. But could only eat two bites of a burger at that point. I was still feeling strong an hour after the whole thing was over, but I was feeling COLD! I knew I'd be cold as my body temperature started to settle back into resting mode, but I was really cold, and on a 23 degree sunshiney day I was in the warmest jumper Rob could find me! Heaven!

Got home and had a shower, and then had a few choc chip cookies and banana bread and a lot more water, and then laid down for awhile, thinking I'd probably sleep through dinner, but I didn't. I rested, I dozed, but couldn't sleep well. My war wounds were starting to ache, my body was starting to 'thrum' so I got up and Mat and I went for a very short walk to get my muscles moving.

I started peeing ALOT, but was still dehydrated, a bit headachey, so took some Tylenol, drank and drank and drank, and then at dinner ate my burger. It was PERFECT! Just what I needed! I even put pickled beetroot on it, and I liked it!! I stayed awake for longer than I thought, Rob went to bed with the kids at 8ish, and I was in bed by 9ish. No one stayed up late, not even Mat and Darin, who always stay up late talking! It had been a big day for everyone!

It took me a long time to settle into sleep. I was restless, I kept running over and over the movie of the day in my mind. This is what surprised me most. I thought I would crash and burn, and I didn't. I finally settled into a nice sleep, but was awake at 1am to go to the toilet. I couldn't fall back asleep, so got up and went to check the horses (Kat, Rob's horse, was making a terrible racket), laid back down, thinking "what is WRONG with me!?" and it finally dawned on me...

I was HUNGRY!

So at 2am I ate some biscuits, and a sausage (I know, how gross) and went back to bed. This time I slept wonderfully until 5am. And then I was HUNGRY again!

I have been hungry for small amounts of food every few hours for the last two days. Last night (Sunday) I slept through the night, but ate right till bedtime, and ate the moment I woke up. In fact, it was my stomach that woke me up! I thought I would be ravenous and want to eat large amounts of food in a sitting, but in fact I can't eat that much. I have been eating smaller portions than I usually eat, but much more frequently.

I also haven't been sleeping as much as I thought I would. Instead of long deep sleeps, I have been having these lie-downs, for anywhere between 20 and 60 minutes, I just rest, and sometimes sleep. I thought I would konk out and need to sleep for 10-15 hours, but even last night I only got about 7 hours. I am just happy to lie down whenever my body asks and let it rest.

Today I have a massage planned, and am so looking forward to that, and also Body Balance tonight. I took the night off, and wasn't going to do the class at all, but I realised that I would really benefit from the class and decided to come along, but have Kirsty do most of the teaching. I am so grateful that Kirsty is taking the 'hard' tracks. Standing Strength, Balance, Abs, Back, and a few others (she is doing most of the class, in fact) because I tried to so some Warrior 1s and 2s yesterday and let's just say they are not up to standard! I may need to rest frequently or 'cheat' in my form a little to get through those tracks. But I am really looking forward to the stretching and loosening up.

Time to feed the horses, dog, cat, do a few dishes, laundry, and plan my day. I also have a few other posts I want to work on and will be sharing much more soon! I am especially looking forward to writing the "If I had to do it again" post!