26 Or Bust!

Saturday’s run was cut short to only 10 miles instead of the prescribed 14. There was no sharp pain in my foot, but it did become a little sore as the run progressed. My gut reaction was to end the session with the rest of the team at 10 miles in hopes of not aggravating the tendonitis too much.

The most frustrating part was that other than my foot being sore, I was having a really good run. One of my teammates that I haven’t really met yet was also recovering from an injury and we found a pace that was perfect for both of us. We chatted our way around the park and the time went by quickly. I didn’t even mind the thought of running another five miles alone

Sunday found me at the gym on the bike for an hour and in the weight room for about 20 minutes. The upside was watching a pretty good Chris Cooper/Ryan Phillippe movie. The downside was, of course, that I wasn’t running.

Today, my foot has been a little sore making me leery of running much this week before Saturday’s group training session. I plan to hit the gym Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, but plan on challenging bike workouts with minimal running. The time off my foot will, hopefully, help bring down any inflammation and have me in good shape to add on a few miles this weekend.

Feeling this injury start to resurface is certainly not what I hoped for and is disappointing. It very well may mean never catching up to the team in mileage and being unprepared for the marathon. My main goal now is to keep the tendonitis in check so that I can run most of the marathon and walk the rest without pain. I set out to complete this marathon and I still plan to, no matter how long it takes.

Saturday’s run was hard and a little disheartening. Before my injury, 11 miles was easy. Saturday, 14 made me feel like a truck ran over me. It was discouraging. Last night’s training however brought some hope that I will be able to get myself back in shape and running well again in time for the marathon.

Pacing was the focus of the night as we covered a four mile course. The goal was to keep each mile pace within a 10 – 15 second window. I ran with a girl I met on Saturday’s run who turned out to be a bit faster than me, but at a pace I could keep up with. We didn’t quite hit the goal of the run, but instead managed a negative split, which is the second half of your run being faster than the first. I was a little shocked when I looked at our split times of 9:19, 9:24, 8:50, and 8:39. The impressive part was that the last mile of the course was the hardest with a fairly long, steep hill. I didn’t feel like I was going faster that last leg of the run, but instead contributed my higher effort and heavier breathing to the hill.

To finish the workout and find I ran it better than I expected was a huge boost to my morale. I felt again as I had earlier in the season, that I was undertaking a challenge I could manage. On Saturday, I wasn’t so sure about myself or my decision to run this marathon. Today, the enthusiasm is back and I’m looking forward to this weekend’s long run. At least mentally, I’ll be ready for it.

Last Saturday was the first run that made me sincerely wonder what in the world I got myself into when I signed up to run a marathon.

You can safely add 10% to your mileage each week. Having covered 11 the week before, I should have added 1.1 miles to Saturday’s run. However, knowing I’m well behind the team in mileage and being a stubborn person, I made up my mind to add more. From the first steps I took, I was ready to stop, yet I went on to run just two blocks shy of 14 miles. That’s right. I didn’t just add two miles to my run, but instead nearly three. I can honestly say that I felt every single step I took and that I’m still sore, paying the price of my stupidity.

We ran from Union Street near Sixth Avenue in Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn bridge, across Manhattan to the West Side Highway and up to 34th Street and then turned, following the same route back to our starting point. Most people ran farther on to 54th Street or 72nd Street, doing 16 or more miles.

The view from the bridge was incredible, though the crowds on the way back were a bit frustrating. Along the West Side Highway it was windy keeping us cool. Other than the bridge the course was flat. The makings of a good run. Unfortunately, I was too tired to enjoy it and it took all my willpower to keep from stopping dead in my tracks. Honestly, had I not been signed on to Team in Training and had I not already raised over $3,000, I would never have kept going.

I reached 4th Avenue with two and a half blocks left to go, but I looked ahead and it was all uphill. I stopped cold. I had already run almost a mile further than I planned and knew I was past my limit for the day. Just walking those last two blocks was shear torture. On the phone with David afterwards, as I marched to get myself the most guilt-free bagel sandwich of my life, all I could do was laugh at the pain. I was actually giddy with exhaustion.

Sunday found me running errands and cooking instead of running as I needed a day to recover. Last night however, I hit the road after work and squeezed in 4.8 miles. Today I feel better than I did yesterday. My foot is a little tender, but not sore and I’ll be sure to ice it after practice tonight.

I plan to get one or two more runs/gym workouts in this week. Hopefully, it helps me be stronger and more prepared for this Saturday’s long run. With any luck, it’ll be easier than last week and I won’t spend the whole time wondering if I really did lose my mind committing to this.

This past Saturday was my first long run since my injury (peroneal tendonitis) at the beginning of February. What a comeback it was with a steady rain and a little lightning thrown in at the end. Despite the less than favorable weather, it felt great to be running again. Even as I tired near the end, I felt a runner’s high simply from knowing I was training again.

Although I’m behind in mileage, I took it easy with 11 miles to match my long distances of a month ago. The goal each week will be to add on two miles instead of only one. Hopefully, like this week, my foot will be fine and I’ll be able to quickly catch up to the team. It’s a slower start than I’d like, but I know I need to pace myself as there are six weeks until the race. That should be plenty of time to finish training, but only if I’m careful and avoid aggravating the tendonitis.

Slow progress or not, it’s good to be back.

After exactly a month of rest, relaxation, riding the stationery bike more than I’ve ever wanted and tearing up when I saw others able to run, I’m finally back to training. Last night was my triumphant return to the team, though I didn’t time it well as it was the night of Test #2, our second timed mile tests. The first test was in mid-January and my mile times were faster than I expected at 8:01 and 8:10. Since then, Tuesday trainings were dedicated to hill workouts to make us stronger, smarter about pacing and therefore faster. In theory Test #2 times should be faster than the first go round, though for me they were understandably not.

As my first run since getting my new orthotics last week, my coach advised I just run the course at a slow leisurely pace and definitely not push it. With no interest in aggravating the tendonitis, I took heed and ran the 3 mile course nice and slow. I’m happy to report all went well and I’m looking forward to another short run tomorrow morning. Saturday will be my first long run and I plan to take that slow as well. Listening to my body, my foot especially, will be key and let me know when it’s time to call it quits that day. Hopefully, I can run 11 miles, as that’s where I was in training when injury intervened.

If all goes well, I’ll try to add about two miles each week to catch up to the group. In the event of pain, I’ll take it easy, even walk if need be. At the end of the day, I’m not running this marathon to win (I’m at least 5 minutes per mile too slow to even be a contender). All I’ve ever wanted out of this is to say I crossed the finish line and support a good cause along the way. Should that mean walking part of the way and taking 6 hours, so be it. On April 26th, come hell or high water, I’m going 26.2 miles…or bust.