I am running the St. George Marathon in less than a week! Wow! My first ever marathon! I am sooooooooo excited! I have only run 26.2 miles once before and that was in 2007 as part of the Challenge Roth* triathlon which is all but a complete blur in my mind at this point...
If you asked me about running a marathon at any point before August of this year, my (honest) reply was always the same: I am not interested in running a marathon. At all. Especially not one on the road. And, most certainly, not one that is mostly downhill.
Looks like I changed my mind!
When a good friend mentioned that his awesome company (Festival Sounds) is sponsoring the marathon and, although the lottery to the race closed ages ago, still has a couple of spots, I couldn't help but jump at the chance! (Almost literally...) Coach M might have been sitting at the same table as me but I wasn't about to ask her for permission. Instead, I yelled: I am in! And that sealed the deal.
Why the change of mind?
- The race is on my birthday weekend! And there are few things I love more than a birthday smashfest! So far my party plan calls for a 3200m swim on Thursday, a 32-mile bike ride on Friday morning before departure, and 32 miles of running on Saturday. Any guesses how old I will be on October 5th?
- The race takes place in one of my favorite places: St. George.
- I get to stay with, hang out with, party with, and run with one of my favorite girls: The one and only Colleen Rue!
- Seeing how this was a rather spontaneous decision that had no effect on my training and recovering plan for before and after Vegas, I didn't have to do any marathon training! Because, to be honest, marathon training scares me... Instead, I've slowly but surely been getting out of shape the last 3 weeks and I don't care one bit. This one is going to be purely for fun and entertainment. I am planning on chatting non-stop from start to finish...
What else was I going to talk about? Ah, yes. The gimpy leg. Not my favorite topic. I guess the short version of the gimpy-leg-story is as follows:
Did speed work on the track in the winter. Hurt/injured/pulled my left glute/hamstring/whatever. Eventually it somehow got better but has been an issue ever since. It's also been getting progressively worse over the last 10 months, especially after Oceanside in March, to the point where I can't even tell you for sure what's hurting. Basically the whole leg. But I wasn't willing to take serious time of during this season, so I've dealt with it the best I could and avoided any fast speed work.
In case you can't tell: I am really good at figuring out this injury. I know exactly what's going on in my body and how to take care of it. Ha! Not! But truth is: This is really the first injury I have had to deal with in a long time. Sure, I've had a niggle here and there but nothing serious in the last, say, 10 years of training and racing.
Well, Vegas came and went, and it was time for an off-season. I am sad I won't be racing this fall at all but - by now - I am already excited and fired up for next year. Hoping I will be pain-free by then... I started going to a great physical therapist in town, Julie Lemoncello, and we are both rather convinced that the main issue is... hold on, let me get the piece of paper where she wrote it down... insertional hamstring tendinopathy. There you have it. Julie has been great to work with and I am trying to be a very good patient. She knows our financial situation and is trying to keep costs as low as possible, so there will be some money left to sign up for races next season. Hopefully...
I guess the question is: Is it smart to be running a marathon right now? Heck, no! Of course not! But, as I mentioned earlier, I won't actually be running. It will be more like a slow jog amidst thousands of my best friends! Plus: You only turn 32 once in your life...
Hope you are enjoying fall as much as I do! Happy training!
* Challenge Roth race report is here.
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