Three consecutive weeks after we ran the Saskatoon Police Services Half Marathon in April, my friend Sarah posted runs of 16 miles, 18 miles & 20 miles. I 'liked' the first one, made a 'comment' on the second one and finally after she posted that she'd blasted through 20 miles, I sent her an email. I asked her if she had a marathon in her sights. I suggested that she register to run the beautiful flat course of the Queen City Marathon before it sold out (it was June 3rd and the half marathon had sold out in April and the marathon was already 75% full). Her response? If I upped my registration from the half marathon to the full, she would register too!
To blame Sarah isn't entirely fair. The seed had already been planted a long time ago, but she definitely gave me the little push I needed.
There were many reasons that I thought that it sounded like a good idea:
- I LOVE Regina! I have always thought that the QCM course would be perfect for a first marathon attempt. Mostly because, as I said, it's FLAT!
- The timing would work out beautifully. I would have the whole summer to dedicate to training. Also, I was having a difficult time finding a half marathon for October that I wouldn't have to travel to. This way, I figure surely to goodness we could count the full as two halves. Also, it would give me a nice break to recover after the marathon before I needed to be ready for an event.
- The thought of training for the extra distance of the full marathon gave me butterflies, but the good ones! I realized that I hadn't really followed a training plan in quite a while. I mean, I always have a plan, but I had been running to maintain my ability to run the half marathon, but not really driving myself beyond that. It was probably time that I take my own advice and have faith in my abilities and push myself to the next level.
- Many of my family members are going to be there running in the half marathon and as part of two relay teams. What better time to do it than when I have the support of my family, in my hometown, during this wonderful year of running!
However, there were a couple reasons that really caused me to hesitate:
- I had NEVER ran further than the 13.1 miles of the half marathon. I had no idea how my body would react to the extra distance. The last thing I wanted to do would be jeopardize my ability to complete my twelve half marathon this year by hurting myself.
- I had registered for the half marathon months ago with my husband, sister-in-law and her husband. I didn't want to do anything that would take away from their experience running their first (my husband's second) half marathons.
- 42.2 kms IS A LONG WAY!!
So, at first I replied to Sarah. I convinced her that she should still register, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn't join her. I gave her my reasons why I couldn't and blah, blah, blah, blah....that night I lay awake and couldn't sleep. I WANTED it.
The next morning, a friend of mine posted this picture on facebook:
So, I wrote an email to the race director explaining my situation and asked if there was any way that I could be granted some leniency. I held my breath as I hit send....wouldn't you know it, he replied that, yes, they would be more than happy to give me until the end of August to upgrade my registration if my training was going well!!!
OKAY, SO THAT WAS THE FIRST STEP....NOW WHAT!?!
Ha, ha! I was excited!
The second thing I did was discuss the training requirements with my husband. Unlike the prep for my half marathons, I wouldn't be able to fit in my long runs without his help. They are too far to do on the treadmill and even if I could mentally handle it, it wouldn't be fair to the boys. He was TOTALLY on board! He could see how excited I was at this prospect and as always he has supported me 100%.
Together, Sarah and I each put together our training plans and decided that to do a proper job of this we would have to also do the required Maintenance. We had faith that if we put in the work, our plans would get us across the finish line. Actually, Sarah had WAY more faith in me than I did....until I ran my first LONG run!
The weekend after running at the Mogathon, I got up early Sunday morning and hit the road. I welcomed the overcast weather that was unusual for Canada Day. It meant that I was able to make my way around and around Warman without the fear of overheating. I was aiming to go 16 miles, but kept going to 18 because things were going so well! I felt great when I got home in just under three hours and fifteen minutes!
Two weeks later, the Sunday before my half marathon in Edmonton, I did my first 20 mile run! Again, the weather was overcast and perfect for running. The clouds opened up and I ran the last 10km in a beautiful rain. I was a soggy but extremely happy mamma when I finished....and I felt strong and confident that I could have kept going for the additional 10km that the full marathon would require!
The last thing I needed to do was call my sister-in-law and make sure that I wouldn't be making her feel bad if I switched distances. Lynn didn't hesitate for a second when I asked her what she thought! She supported me 100% if I wanted to run the full marathon.
So, things were looking pretty good.
Then early in August, I tweaked my hip during a soccer game. I didn't think much of it, but I had also been pushing myself pretty hard with some speed work and interval runs during those couple of weeks between my July and August events. After the River Run Classic, my left hip was VERY mad at me so, I didn't run at all until the following Friday. I iced, stretched, rested and foam rolled my hip in preparation for my long run. That Sunday, I was hesitant as I set out on my scheduled 20 mile run; but, with the full marathon only three weeks away, I had to get in my last long run before I started to taper.
I was shocked when the discomfort in my hip wasn't what affected my ability to run that morning. My opposite knee had been tender after the River Run, but after icing and resting it for a couple days, it had felt recovered. It wasn't. Five miles into my run, I realized that if I kept going, I would do more harm than good. I stopped and walked a mile home. I have NEVER had to do that.
In the two weeks since then, I have been for physiotherapy, I have had two painful but very effective deep tissue massages, I've been to my doctor and she did X-rays to be sure I didn't have a fracture, I've rested, iced, stretched, foam rolled, done yoga, drank water.....if I thought it would make a difference, I would stand on my head! Yesterday morning I was feeling good. I hopped on the treadmill ready for a slow run. But, it soon became obvious that despite my best efforts, I am not going to be able to complete the full marathon. In fact, I'll be lucky if I can make my way through the half.
Part way through the morning, my doctor's office called with the results of my X-rays. My knee is fine, but my hip has arthritis. I don't know much about arthritis and I sure wasn't expecting that. I'm sure I'll get it sorted out, it just comes as a shock.
To say that I'm disappointed, is a bit of an understatement. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I see now that I got greedy and pushed myself too hard to reach a time goal that I'm just not ready for. I wish that I had stuck to the cautious and conservative plan that I had mapped out for myself in June....but I didn't.
So, the saying was right. I couldn't see that this is where the staircase would lead me, but I am definitely thankful that I took the first step. Now I know that I am capable of pushing myself beyond the 13 mile distance and I am confident that I will complete a full marathon...one day. I just blew it for this go around.
No comments:
Post a Comment