On the 22 April I took on my first ever marathon, the London Marathon. As a total marathon newbie I just didn’t know what to expect. I enjoyed the training, however challenging I found it at times and counted down the days until April 22nd with excitement. But what I hadn’t fully considered was what happens on April 23rd and how to recover from a marathon.
I’m not only a marathoner, I’m also a record breaker, for I ran the hottest London marathon on record, pounding the pavements in the 24 degree heat. The heat was exhausting. By mile 8 everything hurt and by mile ten I knew I had a mammoth task ahead of me. Glaring sun, constant thirst and cramping muscles I battled my way to the finish, fighting for every step. It wasn’t until I crossed the line and began what felt like another marathon to the bag drop (I’m being dramatic it was about 400m but I was tired, emotional and hungry) that I realised just how much everything ached.
I work very close to the London Marathon finish line. In fact you can see my office from the Mall. As I shuffled along a thought popped into my head- how on earth am I going to cope at work this week? I was lucky enough to have Monday off, but I work in events and Tuesday meant a full day dashing round running a conference. My poor poor feet.
I had perhaps under estimated just how exhausted I would feel. I delved into my bag for my compression socks, however two things quickly became apparent. Firstly my feet had swelled in the heat, this combined with my extremely clammy skin meant and sheer exhaustion meant I couldn’t get my compression socks on, I simply didn’t have the energy. Secondly, I was concerned about a couple of my toenails which felt rather fragile and sore. We are going on holiday later this week and I desperately wanted all 10 toenails to go with me. So instead, I went straight for my OOFOS flip flops. This was their first extensive test. At first I was simply too tired to notice any difference, but as I began to come round I instantly realised walking felt somewhat easier, my feet were less sore and my toenails may actually be salvageable. I thought to myself- oo I like these.
Monday came and the majority of my body felt like it had been repeatedly hit by a cricket bat. Stairs were a no go and getting up off the sofa required a great deal of effort. But strangely enough the only parts of me that felt somewhat human were my feet and calves. This is a real first for me, usually after races my calves are agony. The only thing I had done different recovery wise was extensively using my OOFOS flip flops.
Tuesday came and I went back to work. The thought of putting shoes on my sore toenails made me shudder so I opted to wear my OOFOS flip flops to the office. At times on the tube I did feel like I was taking my life in my hands having exposed feet, fearing they may be trodden on, but thankfully I made it to work in one piece for 8 hours of standing and rushing round, hardly ideal after a marathon, but its my job. Funnily enough my feet and calves still felt ok, no aches and pains at all. Again I can only attribute this to my flip flops.
So three days after the London Marathon I am happy to report that I am recovering well, all my toe nails are still intact and I feel well rested. The vast improvements in the recovery of my calves and feet (noticed not only by me, but by my sports masseuse) has been a very pleasant surprise and one I can only attribute to using my OOFOS flip flops after the marathon. I know my body, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that these flip flops have directly aided my recovery. When I first heard about OOFOS I was curious and perhaps a little unsure of just how beneficial these would be. However after my experience I am a true convert and will be using these after every race. I am so pleased that I’m even taking them on holiday! I cannot thank OOFOS enough for creating such a wonderful shoe!
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