Triathlete Chronicles: Post Ironman blues and pick me ups

It's been around a month since Challenge Roth, during which time I cycled up a few cols while on holidays, then came home and sat around watching the Olympics.

I had jetlag (maybe) and the post-Ironman blues (probably).

No-one tells you about the post-Ironman blues before you get them. Well, actually, I'm lucky. My good friend Andy did tell me. But that's a whole other story, the short version is, if you ever do an iron-distance race (or a marathon, ultra marathon, or some other race that you dedicate your life to for the better part of a year), make sure you've got something to look forward to afterwards, because it can be quite a come down.

There are a few reasons for the post-Ironman blues.

Firstly, physical rehabilitation. This stuff is hard on your body. After an iron-distance race, you could have any or all of the following physical ailments:

sunburn
post-sunburn skin peel
chafing
muscle soreness
joint soreness
blisters
blue / black / missing toenails
general tiredness
extreme hunger (well, it's genuine for the first few days at least).
...have I missed any? Probably.

And then there's the psychological side. You suddenly have all this extra time on your hands that you used to spend training, so you stay up late watching crap on TV.

The best way to avoid this is to make other plans. Make them early. Not while you're sitting on the couch in the PJs. It's too late then.

I did this before Challenge Roth. So on Sunday I ran the 10k at the Brisbane Running Festival. I entered months ago as a bit of post-Roth motivation and showed up to the start line on Sunday without any real expectation.

Can I just say, man it feels great to run in this kind of event. It was awesome to run though the streets of Brisbane - yes, on the streets - rather than paths and footpaths. It just makes it feel like a proper event and not just a Sunday run.