I made a tough decision today: I am not going to race in next saturday's
cherry tree half marathon.
this spring racing season took an unexpected shape. I planned on a small half marathon with t in georgia in january, and the cox half marathon here in providence in early may. but then, t was deployed unexpectedly. I was distracted and emotional from the uncertainty surrounding his trip. and without anyone to train with, the wind kind of fell out of my sails. finals period took over all my free time for the first two weeks of december, then the holidays came and went. I was still running sporadically, but I wasn't taking my training seriously. I ran in the race, but I dropped out after seven miles with ITB-related bursitis - a sharp, clicking hip pain. I had never not finished a race. it crushed me. I had gone out too fast, and was too undertrained.
for my birthday, my dad gave me an invitational entry to the boston marathon. one of his former business partners sits on the board of the BAA, and when he asked my dad if he knew anyone interested in racing, he jumped on the chance for me. I was ecstatic but hesitant. I never wanted to run boston as a charity runner; I wanted to
earn my spot. I wanted to BQ. but this wasn't, technically, a charity spot; I now had a piece of paper in my hands that guaranteed me entry into one of the most venerated clubs in athletics.
I wrestled with the decision until late january (I had until feb 1 to register), when I finally caved in and decided to take the opportunity. I felt that if I didn't do it now, I might
never get in. two weeks later, the new
qualifying standards came out. I was glad I had registered.
a few weeks later, I was struggling with mother nature to make marathon training happen. we had historic snowfall in providence this winter. broad streets were squeezed by ever-burgeoning snowbanks to narrow one-lane deathtraps. the roads were pockmarked with dangerous potholes carved by the snowplows. favorite running trails, ordinarily packed down and useable during the winter, were lost beneath the white. I had reached the limits of my patience with the treadmill. I went out on sunday for my usual LR, this time a 14-miler, determined not to cut it short and head for the gym as I had done so many times before. it was surprisingly warm outside, and the snowbanks were melting. the water had nowhere to go. I set out to run on the boulevard near my apartment, but the combination of the snowbanks + river of melting snow forced me to run on the line that separates the car lane from the bike lane, perilously close to traffic. all was going well (I was twelve miles in! almost home!) when a turning car swerved to avoid a massive pothole and came within inches of hitting me. I reacted as quickly as I could, screaming because I was terrified and diving out of the way because I didn't want to get hurt. what goes up must come down: my "leap to safety" ended with me landing on a left leg that was not positioned to absorb the whole of my body weight. it buckled in, bending in a direction knees are not meant to bend. the jackass in the car didn't even ask to see if I was ok. I limped away, too pissed off to cry, with a
grade 2 mcl sprain.
I had to take three weeks off from running, spending friday mornings in physical therapy, missing critical 16- and 18-mile runs, and losing all of my hard-earned speed. I was certain I would not be able to run boston after missing so much peak-cycle training. I registered to run the full cox marathon in may as a back-up plan.
a whopping two weeks after my injury, I finally saw an orthopedic surgeon. he pressed and prodded and bent and (gently) twisted. he x-rayed. he made me walk this way across the room and that way. and then again, without my sneakers. he had me do a couple of burpees, so he could see how I was landing on my knee. at the end of the exam, he told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and to run the damn marathon. he said I could get there if I trained smart, didn't push too hard, and was realistic about time goals. so I did.
brookline, around mile 22. angry flared nostrils = trying not to vomit.
aside from horrific digestive problems during the race, I didn't have any biomechanical issues. my mcl had healed beautifully (it should have. I was more diligent about maintaining my physical therapy regimen and icing than I've ever been with any previous injury.) approaching the finish chute, I decided I didn't care about my ridiculously slow average pace or if I vomited all over the finish line volunteers, I
would finish fast and look good doing it. I turned on the jets, and almost fell flat on my face. my right knee buckled. searing ITB pain.
(are you f*ing kidding me?! we just ran 26.1 miles without ANY pain. right leg, in your whole life, you have never caused me pain. why now?) UGHHHHH. so I reined in the pace and finished just as slowly as I'd gotten there. smiling, because my mama was in the grandstands at the finish line (invitational entry = VIP perks for my fan squad).
crossing the finish line
three days after the marathon, I attempted a short run on the boulevard (on the path, not the road, thankyouverymuch). my IT band was so inflamed that I wound up doing a sort of death-shuffle on the grass. I barely made it a mile before stopping, stretching, and turning around to head home. when I got back I e-mailed the race director for cox and had him drop my registration to the half-marathon.
the
cox half went fine. I'm not unhappy with my performance, despite missing my time goals. but I probably shouldn't have run it. somewhere along the way, I registered for another local half marathon on may 21. what I should have done, once I realized I could run boston, is drop the cox race. that way I could have run the marathon, taken a month to recover the right way and do some meaningful training for the half. I could have raced the half and made a serious PR-busting attempt. instead, I raced on may 1 and this time, I DID do biomechanical damage. my ITB is still giving me trouble, despite all my foam-rolling, stretching, PT exercising, and icing.
repurposed grocery store veggie tray = perfect ice-cup holder
I woke up this morning with distinct and familiar pain: my mcl. not
pain so much as
awareness. I have done too much, and I should not be asking my body to do three races on piecemeal injury-studded training. and so I am making the best decision I've made all racing season: the decision to NOT race.
