Twitchy Twitchy

5 days post-marathon and I'm noticing some interesting things.

1) Nobody seems to give a shit that I finished the marathon. Not that I really expected them to, but the book says I have a right to crow about this for a little while - and that implies people are going to listen with wide-open eyes. I'm learning that the best reaction, though, is when they get that far-away look in their eyes that says "wow, i didn't really know you. if you can run a marathon, what else can you do? like...mass murdering?" This is very much fun. I never knew that chunking out a TwentySix would inspire fear, rather than admiration. And that's almost as good.

BUT - Like Jonathan Segal says: You can only bask in the glory of past achievements for so long. Like bathwater, if you lay in them too long, you'll start to shrivel up.

2) I have a discolored toe. More precisely, I apparently have a large pocket of blood underneath my left second toe-nail. How did this happen? When did this happen? During the marathon? After? Much after? I mean...who notices their toes? And it's been cold here in NY, so I haven't exactly been walking around barefoot. It doesn't hurt, so I'm not going to mess with it.

3) Legs are finally back to being able to ascend and descend stairs without me leaning on the handrail for support. Ankles only minor twinging. The soles of my feet get cranky if I'm on my feet for more than fifteen minutes. My left knee, however, is very much unhappy. Continued rest is my plan.

4) I'm looking forward to the next one. Not because I enjoy pain and trauma, of course, but because I really enjoyed conquering the course. If the next marathon had, say, bear traps and tiger pits, that'd be good, too.

5) I really enjoyed the family bonding experience, too. That part may stay with me a lot longer than the marathon itself.