Running Woes

I'm going to air out my running woes. I haven't wanted to post much about it as I have had a plethora of emotions the last few weeks, most of them negative, and I haven't wanted to share those with you. Now I am at a better place to talk about it all so I will indulge myself and cathart (so this was a common word we students used in the social work program- ok, so it is stretching the definition).

Let's start way back on the 30th of September- our Yellowstone Vacation. I had been rigidly following my training program up to this point except for one or two days I "rearranged". We were supposed to run our 18 miler on the 30th which we were planning on doing but we were SO incredibly exhausted from horrible sleep (a whole other vent about Kallie's sleeping non sleeping) and the trip to Yellowstone. There was no way I would be able to run, much less scrape myself out of bed. Hence, first long run missed.

We were going to make it up and run 18 miles the next Saturday and not do the 14 that was scheduled but.... that was the weekend I got sicker than a dog. Sicker than I have been in a long, long time. Sure, I didn't feel well and would have been fine except.... I was supposed to run 18 miles and I couldn't even walk without getting dizzy and weak! Very frustrating when I had a marathon looming just weeks ahead and this was crucial training time. So, another Saturday long run skipped. Note: Koby decided to run the Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon and did awesome! He did 13.1 miles in 1 hour 47 minutes. He place 86 overall and 12 in his age division (which is usually the largest age division). A good race for him.

The week after I was still drained of energy and felt like there was lead in my feet. I tried to get out that Monday but could only run 1/3 a mile and walk the rest of the mile. I went out again that Wednesday and did almost 5 but it took me forever and I did a lot of walking. I went out again the next day and felt a little better and did a few more miles. However, this was the biggest training week and I was supposed to do a 5 miler, 10 miler, and then a 5 miler! I wasn't getting in those miles. My big Saturday mother-of-all-runs (20 miles) was that week too. I did what I could to rest and get myself ready for the run. We woke up at 4AM that Saturday (we were supposed to meet another St George marathoner I met online but she couldn't come) and we headed to Provo canyon. We were going to run up and down it but the winds were horrible so we decided to run from the mouth of the canyon, down to the lake, and back up- 20 miles. It was pitch black and Provo was so quiet. It was really weird, but fun. We ran down the Provo river trail, under the bridges (I kept freaking out thinking there was some homeless man or crazy druggie that was going to get me- good adrenaline rushes to keep me going) and to the lake. I felt pretty good although we were slow due to me and not wanting to push myself too fast and also I couldn't see! I hit mile 12 and felt a pain creep into my knee. By mile 13 I was feeling much more pain- enough that I didn't want to injure myself more. So..... Koby finished his 20 miler while I walked 4 more miles and he picked me up in the car. Very frustrating and discouraging. The week after I took it easy (this is the taper down time when the mileage decreases dramatically over the last 3 weeks). I was angry, nervous, frustrated, hopeless- a million emotions about the marathon. I was angry that I had to get sick when I did, angry that my body wasn't working right, frustrated I hadn't gotten in my crucial long runs, worried I wouldn't have the stamina, and most importantly the confidence, to do the 26.2 miles in just a few weeks. I was worried that my knee wouldn't cooperate (which, by the way, I think is my IT band, a common knee injury in runners). I have been training 3+ months up to this point.

To put a positive note on all this, I was able to run my mileage, for the most part, this last week and my 12 mile run on Saturday was a success- no horrible pain. I think I will make the marathon even if I have to walk some of it. I don't have as much confidence as I did since I haven't run more than 15 miles at one time, but I think and hope my knee will cooperate. I have 1 1/2 weeks left until the big day and I am nervous but excited. I an excited for Koby because he has done so well and I think he will have a great marathon. My goal from the first was to cross the finish line which I plan on doing no matter what. I am so excited to finish the marathon (wahoo!) and being able to focus on other things for awhile.

Let's just hope I can do better than Michael... (you can just watch starting at 3:26- 5:50 for the race)