24km

Yesterday evening my knees were killing me and I was dreading the moment when I would have to come down the stairs this morning. To my surprise, it was not as bad as I had feared. In fact it was even slightly better than yesterday so I think I can safely say that I survived my 24km run without injuries! 
Now... back to yesterday. I managed to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 7am even though the night had been the roughest in a long time: both kids sleepless and a feverish feeling in my throat, which all together meant very little sleep. This was breakfast, together with a cup of coffee:

It was again cold and overcast, and forecast to stay so for the whole morning so no new t-shirt... long sleeves and gloves once more. I had a difficult run since the beginning, probably because of the lack of sleep (I was desperate for energy) and for sure because of the strong wind, but my mind was in a good state. For the first time I was talking out loud to myself during the last 3-4 kilometers, I really needed somebody to cheer me on and as there was no crowd around me... I did it myself. Luckily this won't be a problem in Stockholm!
I had a moment of rejoice at 21.1km, and the final 2km were the fastest of all. 


No complaints from my joints nor from my muscles while I was running. 
There are many theories and many different programs when it comes to marathon training, but everybody seems to agree on a few things about recovery from long runs:

1. keep walking for 10 minutes after the finish line
2. drink
3. eat something soon (a banana and/or easy to digest carbs, like a recovery bar)
4. do not get a massage for at least 2-3 hours (so why all the massage tents at marathons?)
5. take a cold bath, or pour cold water on your legs
6. don't sit or lie down for the rest of the day, as tempting as it may be
7. have a good night's sleep

I did all of these (I unfortunately had no choice on #4 and had #7 courtesy of my kids), at some point in the afternoon I also went biking for 15 minutes because I really felt the need to keep my knees in movement. They got progressively stiffer (particularly the right one) as time went by, and I was really afraid I would not be able to get out of bed this morning but here I am, feeling sore but better than yesterday! This afternoon I have the check up and second session of bone-cracking with the doctor, with this level of soreness if there's anything potentially wrong with my right knee he will surely be able to detect it.  


I can't believe I only have two more long runs (28km and 32km) before tapering down!


10K race next Sunday, still have to decide what to do.