Work? Me? I Don’t Think So!

You know what? You should automatically get a week off work after a marathon. It’s not is if you’d able to concentrate on work anyway, so why even pretend? I have a warning to all potential first-time marathoners out there. Some people say a marathon is a life-changing experience. Trust me, it isn’t. One or two days after you cross the line you’re back in the office, and your working day is as mundane as ever.

The last paragraph sounds much more negative than intended. As a matter of fact I’m still floating high above the ground on my 3:28-induced high, enjoying the view, and have absolutely no intentions of rejoining the Real World anytime soon. It’s just that I’m slightly distracted. I keep checking every five minutes if there are any photos posted yet (nope ... wait, let me check again … nope, still no joy) and even though some managers around here might expect the “Unprocessed Batch Report” or the “Merchant Overview Report” to be updated soon, they’ll have to be patient this week.

As for all your comments – wow! I’m overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who have been here offering their congratulations and support. Thanks go out to every single one of you. I had no idea there are so many of you out there following my adventures. It looks like you all liked the report (or, if you didn’t, you kept quiet about it). I felt it was too long and thought about publishing it in 2 stages, but decided against it (cutting in down in size was out of the question!), and, what the heck, I enjoy reading other people’s reports, so maybe some of you like reading mine.

I haven’t been running, and I won’t be doing any for a while longer. After my previous marathons I usually decided to rest for one or two weeks before starting again, and invariably it ended being one week. This time I’m committed on resting for two full weeks, no excuses, and then I’ll start again, but gradually. I deserve a bit of a break after 24 weeks of solid marathon training. I’m actually recovering pretty well, 3 days after the event I can get in and out of a chair without groaning audibly, and the only bits that are still hurting are my right quads and a massive blood blister on my left instep, and both of them are getting better by the hour. The worst bit was travelling from Dublin to Kerry by train on Tuesday. I had to cross from one platform to another in Mallow via a footbridge, and climbing down the stairs with a suitcase in hand was a challenge. It was easy to spot two other guys who had done the marathon as well, they had the same funny walk as me, and we got chatting for a bit.

Niamh and the kids are still in Nana’s and Gaga’s house in Dublin, and I will go back there on Friday. I have no idea how Niamh managed to talk me into all that travelling just after completing a marathon (Monday marathon, Tuesday train to Kerry, Friday train to Dublin, Sunday car to Kerry), but apparently I agreed at some stage (maybe I just didn’t protest loudly enough).

I’m just rambling now, so I better stop. I’ve got a few more thoughts on the marathon and my next plans, but that will have to wait for the next post. And I’ll post photos as soon as I can get my hands on them. Let me check that website again … no, still nothing. Sorry.