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One of the hardest parts of the race for me was the immediate aftermath.  My left leg was just killing me afterwards, and the mile walk back to the hotel was long and cold.  It was mid 40s and partly sunny, but I was dressed for running, not walking, and I was covered with a cold sweat.  By the time I got back to the hotel, I was frozen, and it took me over an hour to fully warm up, even after a hot shower.  That night, I could barely hobble around the hotel room without my leg giving me a lot of pain, and I descoped plans to go anywhere further than the bathroom.

But the next morning, my hip felt, well, pretty much normal.  My knee (which I think started hurting due to favoring the leg due to my hip issue) was still hurting, but less.  Now, less than 48 hours after the race, I still have significant muscle soreness, but my hip and knee are at least 90% back to normal.  (They don’t hurt walking around, but I wouldn’t run on them yet.)  It’s just amazing to me how much abuse you can subject your body to, and how quickly it can recover.  In terms of muscle soreness, it’s really not any worse than after my last half marathon, probably because I ran more slowly, even though I ran farther.

Now we wait to see if I contracted Omicron on the trip or not.  I would feel bad if I got it on this little boondoggle and infected my entire family.  I took a test after I got home – negative.  Which doesn’t mean all that much, but is encouraging.  I feel worn down and had a splitting headache, so I was getting paranoid, but that’s actually very typical for me after flying.  Flying always makes me feel like crap!