Colby, congrats on your half mary!!! Sounds like it was a great effort, and you should be extremely proud of yourself!!!!

You are right on about recovery. It's hard to know what to do. Nobody seems to address that. I actually found some info on Hal Higdon's website and utilized it after my last mary (www.halhigdon.com). It said what to do in the 4 weeks post mary. As long as you ease back into it as your body allows, you'll return to running in no time, and your body will be fully ready.
I ran a half mary in late April, and although I ran much slower than normal, it was a very tough race. I was more sore after that half than the last full I ran. I decided it was because my avg HR was 90% of max. Some days are just bad runs...

My race is Sept. 23rd. I'm getting excited, and yet also nervous. I realize it's still 14 weeks away, but it's closing in.... I rode half the course (it's a 2 loop 56 mile course) on Saturday and felt more at ease. I guess that's a benefit of doing a race literally in my backyard. I'll know every bump, hill, and twist of that course.