Twenty-seven days and counting! With the holidays keeping us all busy, it’ll be here in just a blink of an eye. I’ve found myself with quite a hurdle this week, but I’m trying to remind myself to be patient and that I still have plenty of time to work through this.
Up until the last few days, it’s all been feeling pretty good. My runs still feel great, but the wear and tear running can have on your body is starting to become a reality. Although some pain has been popping up here and there, it made itself well known throughout my long run on Saturday. During a shorter run on Friday, I noticed some pain in the ball of my foot was worsening. Although I could run through it, it was far more constant than it had been. When I headed out for my long run on Saturday, there wasn’t a time my right foot hit the ground that a little “ow!” didn’t sound through my head. By the last mile or two that pain was joined by the all too familiar knee pain I’ve struggled with. I was able to finish out 9 miles, but I knew I couldn’t ignore that something’s wrong. I’ve opted to take a few days off and pair that with some advil to see if things get better. I’m still feeling the pain in the ball of my foot as I walk, but it has lessened in the last day. I’ve always hated that never ending stream of comments from non-runners about how they can’t run because it’s so bad for you, and they have bad knees or hips or elbows…there certainly are injury risks that come with running, just like any highly physical activity, but our bodies are amazing and resilient…I have plenty of faith with a little rest I’ll be enjoying some pain-free runs in no time. If nothing else, I’ll be out there wincing my way to the finish line in four weeks…hey, I admit it, I’m stubborn…although I like to think of it as committed and determined. I will dig deep and promise to go to the doctor if my foot doesn’t feel better by the end of the week…although I do believe this to be a common ailment among runners, and nothing more than some inflammation brought on by my increased distance.
The good news last week is I exceeded my distance and long run goal. I also ran more miles than I have in a previous week. I ran for a total of 24 miles, with a long run of nine miles. I’ve also now run more than 250 miles since I started training September 9th. I’ve finished out 252 miles in a little more than 37 hours. I was hopeful to hit 350 miles on race day, but if I’m having to scale my running back for a bit on account of my foot, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I know once I set a goal for myself, I struggle on not doing everything possible to reach it…even if it brings some detrimental side effects…and I want to give myself the best chance to feel good come race day.
Week 14 Summary: Goal 23 miles, 8 mile long run. I exceeded both goals with a total of 24 miles, and a 9 mile long run. I completed my long run in 1:18:22 (8:42 miles). It’s the fastest pace I’ve completed a long run in other than when I ran the 10k at the end of October.
Week 15 Goal: To heal. I’m not going to set a distance or long run goal this week. As soon as my foot feels better, I’ll get out for some running. I’m hopeful that another day or two will bring that, but if it takes a few extra days, I’m doing my best to be sensible. I exceeded my recently adjusted long run goal last week again, so I should still be on track to run 10 miles next week.
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