Post-Ironman Survey of Damage

This post is going to be exceedingly short because a) it's late, b) I'm a tired girl, and c) there's actually very little to report.

"Take us out, Kelly!"

I feel awesome.

I could have ran yesterday night if I wasn't so damn busy at work. I will run tomorrow because I'm getting all sorts of bent out of shape without a little bit of dopamine release in my life.

When I finished Ironman Wisconsin, I was tired (but not exhausted) and sore (but not in pain). Getting up the stairs of our apartment was a struggle, and getting into bed was really hard. I had to work Monday night and shoving my fat little swollen feet into heels was most unpleasant, but I survived. I have a bit of pain behind my knees. It feels a bit like I'm hyperextending them when I stand, then like stretched tight rubber bands when I try to bend them all the way.

I also have a slight amount of sunburn around my bike jersey where it shifted while riding. And the chafing is actually quite minimal. No blisters, and my toenails all appear to be intact.

This counts as jewelry, right?

My mother even told me I looked better at the Ironman than I did after my first marathon. Sunday night I was able to hobble around on my own, hold down food and felt in high enough spirits to laugh and have conversations. I cried happy tears, not ohmygodithurtssomuch tears.

Emotionally, I'm a little mixed up. I'm so overwhelmed that I was able to do this. I'm also over the moon at the outpouring of support I've experienced in the past two weeks. I still pull the medal out of my purse and marvel that I earned it, and used my Ironman backpack as my carry on for this business trip. I haven't cut the security bracelet off yet, either - I still look at it to remind myself this all happened. I'm overjoyed I accomplished this, but feeling a little bit lost, too. Post-race blues are real.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to take a nap, lounge on the couch, get a sports massage and spend the day at a Korean spa, but alas, life awaits. And I'm ready to tackle it.