How NOT to recover after a long run

Greg and I went out for dinner Friday night to celebrate our 7 year anniversary which will be Monday. We had hoped for a movie too, but this was the opening day for The Dark Knight which basically sold out all theaters in the whole Chicagoland area for the day. It was a chaotic mess one block around any theater. So, we made the best out of having a great free babysitter and hit a restaurant without kids. By the time we decided on a restaurant, finally seated and ate it was late and we headed back home with our stomachs packed with food and drink. I went to bed around midnight.

I actually fell asleep and didn't worry about my Saturday "Long Run" because it was a measly 7 mile run. That was my shortest long run since I began training. Now all long runs will be over 10 miles except for the week before the race when I will put in 8 miles. It was really not a bad run but I had to do it on the darn treadmill again. I woke up at 5:30 to rain and went back to sleep. I woke up at 7:00 and still rain. I put on the weather and saw that it "may" be letting up in an hour. I fell back to sleep for another hour. Finally at 9:00, I made my way to the 28th floor gym. It was humid and hot up there. I jumped on the treadmill and ran. I finished 7 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes (10 minute mile). It was not a fun run at all. I was bored and found myself fixated on the red LED numbers of miles and time slowly moving on the display panel. Even my music wasn't helping as I would glare at the digital read outs. The windows were so hazed up and rain just ran off each pane that I couldn't even stare into the neighbor building to get my mind off of the sticky heat. When I hit 5 miles I had taken off my shirt and was running in my saturated sports bra. I didn't care who came up to see me at that point. My legs felt a little tight and a few spots of straining or twinging that I knew it would be a good day to ice them.

I got downstairs and immediately stretched and iced my legs elevated while I flipped through the channels. I was still sticky and wet from my run and knew a shower would feel good. However, with Greg home, I thought, a bath would feel even better. So, I set off for my nice peaceful bath. I ran the water to a nice warm temperature and settled in. Between 5-10 minutes, Julian was the first to come in. He laughed at me since I take up the whole darn tub and that is the tub that he bathes in. He asked me if he could pour the water on my hair and wash my hair in the tub like I do to him. I told him that when it was time for that I would let him. He then left and I am guessing he then conspired with Marissa.

Next, Marissa was in the bathroom. She looked extremely concerned and left. Next she came in with a red walrus bath toy that she over hand threw at me. I told her "thank you" and she smiled and left. She then came back with a Discovery Toys Sub, three piece tub accessory that sits across both sides of the tub, Diego, a foam camel and a purple elephant strainer. She then starts to take off her clothes. I actually found it cute and funny. I haven't taken a bath with my kids for months, maybe even a year and now Marissa is excited to take a bath with me. So, I let her join me. She played for about 5 minutes and was enjoying her time playing on her end of the tub, as I was now sitting upright and smashed to the left of the tub. I tried to relax. It wasn't easy as she thought splashing me was fun. I splashed her back and she told me NO. I tried to shave my legs but it was too cramped. So, I attempted to relax. Next thing I hear is a grunt from my sweet daughter. And then, I witness the nuggets. I jumped out of the tub as fast as humanly possible. How could my daughter sabotage my relaxing bath like this. Heck, she had no real idea what was happening either. When she saw how fast I exited the tub she turned around to be horrified by her own creation and tried to leap out of the tub too. I sat her on the potty while I drained the tub, took out the toys and disinfected them in the sink, cleaned out the tub, scrubbed the tub, rinsed the tub, cleaned the sink, all the while Marissa was telling me about Dora and Boots on her potty ring in her limited English of "Doorahhhhh, Booooooots, Mom~ Mah". I then ran the shower and put her in with me to wash her down. She HATES showers. She may hate showers as much as I hate soaking in poop baths. I finally got her washed down and sent out of the tub and I finished washing myself in the shower. I am not positive but I believe I had sweated through my bath and my shower. Could my attempt at a relaxing bath to help soothe my achy muscles be more of a work out then my 7 miles an hour before? Quite possibly...

Mental note, "Don't leave the bathroom door unlocked when trying to take a peaceful relaxing hot bath." Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.