Sunday, June 17, 2012

Five and a Half Months of Training Down the Drain



I won’t be running the Mayor’s Marathon in Alaska next week. That’s the bad news. After five and a half months of training, I have three over-use injuries. 

Count ‘em; three
Plantar Facitis 
Patellar Tendonitis
Achilles Tendonitis



On top of that, my ankle I sprained at the beginning of the season is hurting again.  Not cool. 

I’ve spent the last several weeks trying to cut back and recover. But so far, each time I try running again, my body complains loudly. And it’s obvious if I run the marathon I risk not finishing or if I do finish, I think my injuries will be much worse. I do not want to spend the next six months off running to recover from multiple injuries. So after lots of consideration and consternation, I decided it was not wise to run the full marathon. That sucks!


However, our team manager told me I can still switch to the half marathon. Thank God! That means I can still earn a medal without tearing up my body... as much. Theoretically speaking I should be able to finish a half and the recovery period should be much shorter even going in with injuries. That is if I take it easy and not push it during the race. 


That’s hard. You get wrapped up in the excitement and energy of the race. I always find myself trying for a PR (personal record) in a race no matter what I tell myself at the beginning. 

But Alaska will be different. Really it will. My plan is to take in as much of the crowd and sights as I can. The race sight said there is a lot of wildlife to be seen on the route. Like bald eagles and moose. I think the bald eagles will leave me alone and I can probably out-run a moose. (I’ve never seen a moose run). But if I see a grizzly I’m going to have to play dead. I couldn’t out-run one of those! 


So I plan to stop and take a lot of pictures and just make it fun. 


I have never had to step down from a marathon and it sucks to have worked for so long only not to be able to run the race. But I have to think long term. I have to keep the bigger picture in mind. I always say, “The point is not to kill yourself. The point is to live to run another day.” 

Besides, the goal of my running is to raise funds for cancer research. The length of my race doesn’t change that. After race weekend I’ll fill you in on how  much we raised! Thank you all. Please send me good thoughts for a good race for all the runners this Saturday! 


PS. If you’d like to help me fund cancer research you can still make a donation by clicking the “Donate Now” button. Every little bit makes a big difference!

2 comments:

REM Runner said...

Hi Jill, I'm so sorry to hear this but I think you're making a good decision. You're amazing and any way you can keep putting one foot in front of the other is the right way. I know this is frustrating but you will get to a full marathon in time, I know it! Cheers, Julie

Jill said...

Thanks Julie! Definitely a disappointment. But all athletes have to take their lumps once in a while. I'll keep you posted. :)