This year has been a roller coaster in terms of training. Two major injuries, a few minor injuries, finishing my PhD, starting my postdoc...
Honestly, training has been more of a train wreck. The kind you see coming and just can't help but watch...
After the Fontana 5k Dam, training was going well and I had my sights set on a healthy ramping up of mileage for the Savannah Rock N Roll Half Marathon Nov 5th.
About 2 months out from the half marathon, I started to get extreme pain in both of my big toes and then realized that after losing my toenails post Marathon last year, the new nails grew in more curved and were starting to become ingrown. Major pouty face. After a few visits to the sports medicine podiatrist, I had slivers of both nails removed so that shouldn't happen again. I had to take a few weeks off prior to the toe surgery and a few weeks off afterwards leaving a GAPING hole in my half marathon training. Major pouty face again.
I was left with two options - scrap the race that we had already invested vacation days into, travel expenses and race fees...or...very gently and rapidly ramp up my mileage knowing that it may cause problems, especially with my hip flexor.
We all know I went with option 2.
I kept weekday mileage constant with 3x 2-4 miles and then had four weekends to get long runs up to half marathon: 5 miles - 7 miles - 9 miles - then 11 miles with no taper and the half marathon being the longest long run in quite some time. The first three weeks went beautifully. The 9 mile run was amazing. Then the last week came. I set out for my 11 mile run in the neighborhood with a 2 loop course so I could switch out the clutches (temps were abnormally high for October and on a side note - have continued to be so until the other day finally!). I started off easy warming up all the muscles but my right hip flexor (major injury #1 of the year) was tight. I stopped and stretched. Jogged a little. Stopped and stretched. Jogged some more. Come on! Seriously? The hip flexor was tight and only getting tighter it seemed. By 3 miles I was walking ... walking home...I continued to try a walk/jog-like motion until I got home. On top of that I was having major stomach cramps and bubble guts...definitely needed to head home...11 miles sliced to 4.5 miles the week before the half!
Fast forward a few days of Chris and I on the couch...turns out that stomach cramping on the run was that we both had some sort of food poisoning all week leading up to the Savannah half. No. Fun. I've had worse food poisoning, mind you, but it still meant only getting in 2 miles the week before the race due to the need to stay in close proximity to bathrooms...Oh yeah and I also had a wicked case of upper / lower respiratory track infection with asthma and a cough that prohibited me from sleeping FOR TWO WEEKS.
Race day came and I was feeling anxious considering the way training went. I set out with a few small goals:
- Run 10 miles - that would make it longer than any training run I had done
- Keep the pace easy and honest - I hadn't put the training in to be able to push it and I was still a bit under the weather
- See what you can do. I kept a mantra in my mind the whole weekend and continued to repeat it in my mind while running: "If you just give yourself a chance and get out the door, your mind and body will surprise you most of the time." -Jenny Simpson. It was a quote tweeted by Runners World in the days leading up to the race and I kept it on a desktop post-it.
- Finish under 2:15 if at all possible...given injuries, food poisoning, bad training, asthma/cough....
I started the race a few corrals back from what I was assigned so that I could keep with Goal #2 and kept company with a group of well paced runners from my corral. The race had more than 23,000 participants so there was never a lonely moment. The whole race I was having stomach cramps and at 5 miles stopped for 30 sec at an aid station to shoot a gel and crunch down 2 pepto bismol tablets I had stuffed in my race pouch. Best Idea of the Day. Still had a good bit of cramping but ending up making it through the finish line. Checking my watch every so often, the pace was easy and honest and EVEN! I wasn't sure if I have done that in a longer race yet so I was pretty happy mid race. We came through downtown just after that and there were (finally) spectators on the course. I picked up the pace with the festive energy - I was also running beside a guy dressed as the muppet Beaker (I know right?) so lots of cheering when we went by. After that mile passed I slowed a bit to make the two miles even out and catch my breath a bit. Asthma blows by the way...really blows...I had too much fun during that mile. I also passed our friends G&M that came out to cheer - they were our gracious hosts for the weekend and I dearly enjoyed visiting them. G&M went to high school with us and we only get to see them about once every year or two. I passed mile 10 and realized that 1) I could run the entire race w/o stopping - still had plenty in the tank and 2) I was on pace to get around 2:15! My initial goal this summer was for a 2:00 half marathon, but goals definitely have to be adjusted given certain circumstances.
In the days leading up to the race I was really considering the Tobacco Road Marathon (March 2012) and kept thinking about this in a positive light during the Savannah half...Things are finally going good...I can't wait to run another full marathon..yada yada yada.
CRASH & BURN. Around mile, eh, 10.5, I was cardiovascularly feeling great, the asthma was staying in check, the stomach cramps weren't unbearable...things were going well...but my left foot started hurting a smidge. Just on the outside of the midfoot. "Hmm..." I thought "must be the crowned roads and my foot getting tired...nothing major." I kept running and was actually feeling good enough, aside from the minor foot pain, to take off and really push this last 5K. This race was all kinds of whack and I must confess that anytime I tried to pick up the pace, the dreaded "oh crap I have to crap" feeling came. Knowing what the last week had been like I really didnt want to be that runner that PR'd with poopy pants. So I just kept the pace even and with a half mile left pushed it, plowing past people to finish in 2:14:46! Yay!! My first official half marathon done. Medal, check...now where are the porta potties??!?!?!
Whew!
I hobbled over to our pre-determined meeting place and G&M found me with Chris sitting on the grass in the park. I realized after stopping at the finish line that my foot, in fact, was pretty badly hurt and that my mind-over-matter Goal #3 apparently worked wonders because it didnt hurt nearly that much while running. But now, I could-not-walk. No weight on that foot. Zip, zero, zilch. G&M live in downtown Savannah and I assured them that I could hobble home and ice there - no need to check out the medical tent. I threw on a compression sock and limped under the spanish moss. It was a beautiful day and the weather had been wonderful for a race!
Fast forward a week or more of severe hobbling, rest/ice/compression/elevation/massive motrin doses...the xray came back negative for a stress fracture which means that I most likely tore the peroneal tendon that attached right at the end of the 5th metatarsal ( or "outside of the midfoot"). Not surprising given how I ramped my mileage up and I confessed as much to the head of Sports Med when I met with him...Thankfully he didn't shake his head chanting "Bad runner, bad runner"...yeah yeah - I know I shouldn't have...bad runner indeed.
So here I am almost a month later with only 2 runs logged, but with many more planned. What have I learned?
- Do the time & do the training...I work best with a structured training schedule and weekly plan
- Don't race when you haven't had more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep in more than 2 weeks...seriously...
- Somehow I always manage to get asthma only on race weekends...I need to recognize the symptoms quicker and stay on top of it
- A marathon in not in the cards for the spring...or an ultra marathon (See Lesson #1) - I have had several major injuries this year and need to be healthy and strong before we throw that into the mix.
- I now have done an official half marathon distance and have a time to beat - so how about getting some PRs?
My new race calendar is without a full marathon....I'm now planning on doing several smaller distances including the Tobacco Road half marathon in March, the New River half marathon in May, and the Biltmore 15k in May (it's returning!!). Some speed work and mileage through the summer and then maybe we can talk about a full and/or ultra....Also, our puppy Oliver will be able to start running in the next month or two (he's huge already but still has some running to do) so I'm excited about having a running partner. It's been awesome taking him on walks while my foot is recovering. In the meantime, I've got a 3 month plan to get me to a happy, healthy half marathon and have started logging small runs & returning back to the basics...
