A bump in the road

After a lot of thought, prayer, and careful deliberation, along with some advice from others, I have decided to not run the marathon on Sunday (my last post went over an injury I have been dealing with)  It has been a tough week, of course I feel extremely disappointed after training and working really hard for the past 5 months, but I know that this is not the end, it's just a little bump in the road towards completing my first marathon.  The following are factors that I took into consideration in deciding what I should do:

• Do I want to risk an even worse injury that could result in a really long recovery period, surgery or anything like that...
• What if I get out there and have to stop in the middle of the race (that would be heart-breaking for me)...
• Am I mentally prepared to go into my first marathon with uncertainty and physical pain right from the start...

My answer to all of these questions were no, and today I was fortunate enough to chat with a physical therapist and explain my symptoms and situation and he gave me the following advice:

"That is a tough one.  Resting right up until race day is fine from a fitness perspective, it will have no negative impact on your performance.  However, the mental mind game that you may have to endure regarding the "can I make it" question can be really really tough.  Also, running 26.2 miles does not usually help any LE injury.  HOWEVER, many times, the pain kind of disappears by about mile 4 of the marathon, and you end up being fine, but that is a big test of faith, and then by the time you get to the finish line, you have forgotten all about it (probably because other things are hurting)  I have seen many runners hobbling the week before a marathon, only to be fine on race day.  I have also seen the opposite, which leads to a drop out at mile (X).  Considering this is your first marathon, I would error on the side of caution and pick another race later.  I worry that you don't have the experience of a few marathons under your belt to know what your leg can handle and what it can't, because some interesting things happen to your legs after mile 20.  I would defer, it hurts me to say that, but we should make the smart decision here.  There is always another marathon....." -Craig Soulders, PT

Last night at dinner, my uncle prayed that I would have clarity and know what decision I should make, and today I can say that I am definitely at peace with my decision, and feel like it is right, but let's face it, it still sucks!!

I continue to be thankful for this experience and I have learned sooooo much that will help me as I continue on this path, I know I will be stronger and even more prepared when the time is right.  I appreciate every one's support and encouragement during the past months, I will be looking forward to choosing a different course in the near future.

goodbyebabylong.tumblr.com

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

At a Stand Still...

Yesterday I had a 5 mile run and from the very first step my left leg was in a lot of pain.  I was hoping that as I ran on and got warmed up the pain would start to feel better as it usually does, but it continued to hurt, I even stopped to walk a couple of times.  I am really concerned that it's not just soreness but that I may have injured something.  I have been icing the two areas that hurt and started taking ibuprofen for inflammation hoping that these two things will help.  I rode a stationary bike this morning for about 30 minutes and it didn't hurt at all during, but afterwards it was still really sore.  I will see how the weekend goes and then possibly go in to talk with a sports doctor to see if it's something I can run through or if I should skip the marathon.

Trying to think about why I might have injured myself and I am thinking that it was because after my 18 mile run which was the farthest I have gone, I didn't allow enough recovery time and my fist run back included 4 miles of hard running, and a couple of days later another run that included speed work, both of which could have caused a slight tear to get bigger, or could have caused a strain.  This whole process continues to be a learning experience.  I am trying not to jump to any conclusions yet as to whether or not I will make it to the marathon.  It is extremely frustrating to think that I may have just trained for the last 5 months and then not be able to run the race.  Time will tell, I will continue to ice and rest and hope for the best, and if this race does not work out I know that it's all just part of the master plan and I will plan on completing one later on in the year.

Preparing for Race Day

So this is it, 11 days until my marathon!  I cannot believe it!  I started training on January 13th but it really does not seem like it has been that long, although I do feel kind of like I used to when I was in school and mentally checking out before it was actually the end.  Sometimes my body seems to be screaming at me to stop.  It has always gotten a long break after my 13.1 mile races, but it has had to push through much more than that over the past months.  As i write this my left leg is elevated with several different pains and sensations that I have been dealing with for the past couple of weeks stemming from my 18 mile mother's day run.  The run itself felt great.  I refueled at 10 miles and was still feeling strong and excited to complete the last 8 which I took mile by mile, step by step.  The last two miles I was so excited that I was almost done, it gave me an extra burst of energy for the end, and when I finished I was sooooo happy!  For the first time in a long time I truly believed that I would be able to complete the whole marathon without a problem.  I completed a good stretch and an ice bath after the run hoping to have a good recovery.  It was later in that day that my legs started to feel a little achy, but I expected it after such a long distance; however I did not expect that those aches would be continuous.  It was probably around mile 15ish that I started getting this weird feeling in the inside of my left arch, at first I thought it was the tongue of my shoe sliding or pulling to the other side, but then I realized that it was something in my arch pulling.  It didn't hurt but just felt odd, and definitely not normal.  It went away after the run and I didn't think much of it until it happened again during my next run.

The next run after 18 miles and a recovery day was really difficult.  I did not realize just how sore my legs were until I started running.  Specifically, my left outer back leg above the knee.  It started to feel better during the run, but has remained with me and it is still sore to walk on.  Additionally the arch of my left foot continues to feel not right.  It's not in pain, but it just feels abnormal.  On a happy note, my toenails have remained pretty unaffected by the running which is an improvement from before when two of my toenails were ready to fall off... (excited they have improved enough to go get a french-tip pedicure after the race!)  I have implemented some foam roller routines to try and help relieve the soreness and I found this page to be really helpful:

FitSugar.com

So enough complaining for one post!  On a different note, I am now in the tapering portion of my training which is awesome because it means less miles, and less intensity in order to allow my legs some recovery time before the marathon.  I was scheduled for 20 miles this past Sunday, but after reading several articles,  I came to the conclusion that the last long run should really be 3-4 weeks prior to the marathon.  This information combined with the fact that my left leg was still really sore on Sunday led me to the decision to do a 10 mile run instead.  I figure it is better to be safe than sorry and injure myself when I'm so close to race day.  The following are links to the articles I read on tapering and preparing for race day that I found to be pretty helpful.

The Marathon Long Run

It's Taper Time

When Should You Run Your Last Long Run?

These next 11 days will be really important to my training, I will want to do enough to stay ready, but not too much to be too worn out for the marathon.  Additionally I will need to really dial in my nutrition and calorie intake, to make sure I am fueling my body with the right nutrients that my body will need to sustain me for the 26.2 miles.  I will continue to do some more research on the best foods for me to be eating during my last week of training and come back to share my findings.  I'm really starting to get butterflies as I type "last week of training"!  LastlyI want to share the video of the course I will be running, it's a pretty cool fast moving view and really gave me some better insight into just how long 26.2 miles is!   It's fun to watch.  I'll be back soon to share my finals thoughts before I set out next Sunday morning to conquer my first marathon!