Feelings the Day Before

Well, this might be weird, but i have already completed the marathon, but before I go into that I want to explain my feelings the day before and what was going on with me, then my next post will be all about the marathon.

(Friday October 29, 2010) - I am excited to get this over with. I wish it was over that way I'd be done. Most weeks feel like they zoom by real fast, but this week has dragged on as if time has started to tick backwards. This is probably due to the fact that I'm sick. This past weekend I've had a sore throat, but nothing too serious. Then Tuesday in the evening I started feeling warm in the head and chilly all over the rest of my body. I tried to ignore the symptoms, but ignoring them doesn't mean they go away. I took some medicine that night, and woke up with the fever gone, but in its place was sinus pressure and a cough. Not exactly what I wanted to deal with the week of the marathon. I shouldn't be too surprised as it seems like everything has been thrown at me to keep me from completing this goal.

Over the next few days the pressure didn't improve and the cough got worse so I had to use Sudafed to relieve the pressure and cough medicine to keep me from coughing up a lung. I'm a little concerned about how I will do tomorrow for the marathon with this. I was expecting all of this to be out of my system by now, but I was mistaken ... again. So we'll see what happens tomorrow morning. I plan on waking up tomorrow at 5am, eating some oatmeal to get something in my belly, go back to bed, get up at 6am, get ready, stretch, help get the girls ready to go and then leave the house at 6:35-6:40. Then I will eat a banana in the car and down a gel 15 minutes before the race.

Something fun we did was drive around the course after picking up my packet of stuff (bib, tracking chip and other stuff) to find the best places for my wife and family to stand and see me and my buddy pass by. It was nice to see the course before the race, but it also showed me how long it is going to take. Yikes. I think we got some good spots so we'll see what happens tomorrow. The next time I type I will be a marathon runner. Gotta Run.

The Last Week

Well, I now have 5 days until I run my very first marathon and I am excited, nervous, and eerily calm as well. I'm not sure how I can be feeling all of these emotions at once, but I am. I am excited to say I ran a marathon, yet I am nervous about how well I will do and if I can finish at all, then again at the same time I feel calm that everything will be fine. Weird, I wonder if every new marathon runner feels this way.

As far as last week, I ran a 6 miler on Monday and my pace was 9:30~ish so, right where I should be. Then I biked Tuesday for an hour just to keep up on exercising. Then I ran another 6 miler on Wednesday, but my pace was 9:15~ish. I didn't realize I was really pushing it, but I felt great, the legs, feet, and lungs were all functioning properly without any hint of pain, or over exertion. Thursday I was suppose to bike, but I didn't and Friday I was way too busy with life to bike either, but I ended up running 10.41 miles on Saturday in the pouring rain. Well, the rain didn't pour the whole time, but it drizzled most of the time. After 10 minutes we were soaked anyway, so it didn't matter how much it rained after that. It turns out our pace ended up being 9:17~ish I believe. I wasn't planning on running it that fast, but it was nice to get out there and run about as fast as we should be for this time in our training. It seems like I didn't take that month off, but inside I know I have and that I would feel so much more comfortable with the upcoming marathon if I had been able to train for that month.

Other than that and the butterflies about the marathon as well as curiosity about the weather (the forecast says it will be a low the night before of 37 and a high of 56 with sunshine). Let's hope the forecast is right and its not snowing. Since this is a race close to Halloween we have the opportunity to dress up in costume for the run. Since I've never run a marathon before, I'm dressing up as a marathon runner who is running a race in late October (I'll be dressing in warmer clothes). Well, I plan on writing one more time before the marathon and then again after with pictures of the event. Wish me and my buddy luck as well as my wife who gets to take care of the kids for 4 hours in the cold while I run my guts out. Gotta run.

One Week of Training Left

Now that I am cleared to run, I felt that with my limited miles that I can run, I should still bike on my off days to keep my body used to some type of exercise everyday as that might help me during the marathon. So after my first run this past week, I planned to take a 3 hour bike ride as I can't run a 20 miler before the marathon. Since it would take me 3 or more hours to run that, I figured biking for 3 hours would be beneficial. My route was very hilly and much more than I bargained for. At my half way mark I turned to head back home, but my legs were not as fresh as they were the first hour and a half. I found it difficult to bike the flat sections much less the uphill parts. I did more walking up those hills than I would like to admit, so I hope it will translate for me as far as running the marathon is concerned.

In the end it took me well over 3 hours to complete my workout. My legs were dead. Even now (Sunday) I still feel the soreness of Wednesday's bike ride. I've decided to interpret that as a good thing. Needless to say my in Thursday run, my legs were not as fresh as they were on Tuesday, but I still ran the 5 miles with a 9:40 minute mile. Anything under 10 minutes for me right now is good (at least I think so). I had a 9:35 minute mile on Tuesday so I'm feeling pretty good about how I'm faring.

Then Saturday was a 21 miler, though I could only run 5 of those miles, it was great to be out there again running with a buddy and feeling pretty good. I was tired at the end of my 5 miles (it was actually 5 and a half miles, but who's counting?), but I think that I'm beginning to think that I'll really will be able to finish this marathon. I might not do it in under 4 hours, but at least I feel like I'll be able to finish. It is very encouraging.

Now I have this week of 2 - 6 mile runs and 1 - 10 mile run. Then I will run 6 miles the following Monday, 4 miles on Tuesday and 3 miles on Wednesday, giving me Thursday and Friday off to rest for my very first marathon. It is going to be great! Gotta run.

Cleared to Run

After weeks of rest and cross training efforts, I called my doctor to set up a follow-up appointment to see how the foot was healing and when I could start running again as the marathon creeps up at the end of the month. The appointment was set up for last Tuesday and I wasn't sure what to expect. Would I need more X-rays or bone scans? Would I be ready to run? Would I need more rest? I wasn't sure what to expect. All I know is my foot has been feeling fine and we even bought new shoes with more cushion so my foot will be better protected when I do start to run.

So I go and sit waiting for the doctor to show up. I don't know why there is never anything good to read in the check-up rooms. Probably so the doctors can torture us patients by not letting us take our minds off of what ails us. Eventually he came in and looked at my foot. Asked me a few questions about any pain and how it feels. After only a few minutes he said that I can start running again. It was like a weight being removed off of my shoulders and I could breathe again. He said I should run 3 times this week of only 5 miles each outing. Then he said I should run 2 times next week for 6 miles each and then a 10 miler on Saturday. I was really happy about being able to run again, but still concerned that the pain would return before the marathon.

The only way to know for sure was to get out there and run. So I laced up my new shoes and got out there for a 5 mile run. I didn't know how my biking and aqua jogging would help me with my endurance while running, well now I know. I started pretty slow, or what I thought was pretty slow. At about a mile I started feeling the burning in my lungs. My legs were not tired, but I haven't had a similar workout as running for a long time. After about 4 miles I started feeling discouraged that I might not have it in me to run the marathon after so many weeks off. Then I remember how I felt watching other people run while I couldn't and all I wanted to do was be out there running again. Well, I am running again and it felt great. So what if my lungs felt like they were going to explode. At least my foot didn't hurt. My legs felt good enough and I have 8 more runs before the marathon. I'm sure my body will remember what running is and adapt accordingly. I'm just glad I'm running again and that my foot is pain free. Now, I really gotta run.

Trying to Stay in Shape

Well, here I am with my boot, crutches, and sunglaasses for my eye. I was a sight for a few weeks. I wasn't that faithful using the crutches (I didn't really have anywhere to go), but I iced the foot 3 times and day (still do) and used the boot when I wasn't icing. I haven't had any pain in many weeks, but my goal is to baby this foot so that I can hopefully still run the marathon.

So, to keep up my endurance, I have been biking everyday and a few times I tried the aqua jogging. First about the jogging in water. The first time I went, I opted to go to the indoor pool in my town for open swim. Not 100% sure how it works, I looked up aqua jogging and found that all you do is strap a float belt around your waist and run in the water as if you would be running on the ground. So I get to the pool at 6am, ask where the belts are, and jump in. It was a little humiliating as there were 3 high school kids swimming laps on the other side of the pool, but what do I care anymore, I'm an old fogie. It wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be, but it was nice to be acting like I was running.

I decided that I would travel a few more miles to a neighboring town that also had an indoor pool, but offered an aqua jog class. I tried that out one morning and when I got there I wasn't sure where I needed to go. I asked a lifeguard who directed me to where I needed to go. Again the pool was separated into halves with the high school girls team swimming laps on the one side and the aqua jog class on the other. I was a little self-conscious bobbing up and down like an apple in front of 3 high school boys, however, that was nothing compared to joining 7 or so older ladies as the whole swim team swims wondering why this guy was in the pool (I was the only male in the whole pool, save for the life guard). I soon got over that as the lady running the class invited me in and that class kicked my butt. It was a lot harder than I thought, when done right. It was a hybrid of aqua jogging and water aerobics, but in any event it was good to do to save my foot and keep up some type of exercise.

Biking took a little more time to get comfortable as my muscles weren't used to the demands of biking, but most especially my rear was not used to that seat. Ouch! However, I did become accustomed to biking and have biked now for many weeks. I have probably averaged biking for an hour and a half each time. I looked up that I should be biking 4 miles for every 1 mile I would run. If that is true I definately have not been doing that, but I have been biking as long as it would take me to run the necessary miles. So it takes me about 55 minutes or so to run 6 miles, then I would bike for about an hour. I threw in some difficult hills to get in the best work out possible, so I can make a smooth transition back to running when the doctor clears me to do so.

That's been my life the past few weeks. Hopefully I'll get cleared to run soon as I'm getting very anxious. Gotta run.

Arr Matey!

I thought a humorous story after all the bad news might be in order to help lighten the mood. Well, I've been hobbling around now for the past few weeks. At first I did it because my foot was killing me, now I do it to keep off of it so it can heal faster. Well, last Wednesday we had an outdoor church activity out in the woods with a bonfire and marshmallows, the works. The girls loved it except for our youngest who had to be held as there was a dog on the loose and she's not too keen on animals. So I ended up holding her the whole time. The other thing about this activity was that it was at dusk which means mosquitoes. About a half an hour into the festivities many of us had already been eaten alive by those little buggers, even though we had put bug spray on. Every now and then I would feel them on my forehead and I'l either brush them off, smack them dead or have someone else do it for me (though the 2 times someone else smacked me in the head, I don't remember seeing any evidence of the mosquitoes after the fact). Anyway, I was holding my youngest and I felt one of those blood suckers on my head and I smacked it. Well, my 2 year old saw me wack myself in the head and thought she'd help so she smacked me too. Only her fingers landed in my right eye. I knew she had scratched my cornea, but I was hoping the pain would go away. It didn't.

So now I'm hobbling along with one eye shut. My wife drove home and I went immediately to the urgent care. I was a parrot short of the best pirate impression that urgent care had ever seen. Turns out she had got me twice. I still blame the mosquitoes. The fun part was the lady who checked me in to the urgent care was the same lady who registered me at the hospital for my foot scan. Yep, I'm falling apart, one body part at a time.

Major Roadblock

In my previous post, I told the story of my 17 mile run. I mentioned a slight pain on the top of my right foot. The pain I thought was more of a nuisance than actually painful. Well, that has changed. Later that day I had a difficult time walking and putting weight on that foot. I ended up hobbling around for the rest of the weekend as putting pressure of the balls of my feet caused the pain at the top of my foot to intensify dramatically. As the next week after the 17 miler was a step back week, I ran about 4 miles on that Tuesday, but took the rest of the week off to rest the foot. This past week I tried to get out Monday to test the foot and see if just running would calm the pain down. Nothing doing. I couldn't get to the end of my street before stopping and realizing the foot was not ready. Creeping up on a full week without running, I was getting worried. My amazing wife suggested that I try biking instead, so I got out on the bike just to see if that would work in place of running. It was nice to get out and "work out" tough I didn't feel that I was really working out. I barely broke a sweat. I must be doing it wrong.

Unable to determine what I should do, my wife and I decided to get it looked at. I went to the doctor and got an X-ray. They really couldn't tell anything so they ordered a bone scan to tell for sure. However, I had to wait 2 days to get in. This was the first time I had heard that I could have a stress fracture in my foot. If this was the case it probably means that I will miss the marathon. Before I got all worked up about missing out on the marathon I decided to wait and see what the bone scan revealed.

The tech was very nice and explained what the bone scan would show if there was something there to see. Well, I did see something, it looked like a little ball the size of a ball bearing right at the top of my foot where the pain is. The tech, unable to diagnose what this means, did say that running 19 miles this weekend is out.

After leaving 3 messages for my original doctor, I finally get a call back telling me it is in fact a stress fracture. This is a huge blow. I had been training and excited for this for 7 months and now I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it. The marathon is 4 Saturday's away (closer to 5 weeks) and I believe my foot will be healed by then especially since my last long run (the 17 miler) was on Sept. 11. So its been 2 weeks since the pain started and 1 week since I've really started to baby the foot. The real concern is keeping in shape or keeping my endurance up without running. Biking will help, but I don't know if the muscles I use while biking will translate to running. The doctor mentioned that I could try aqua jogging. I have never heard of it, but if it will help me keep up my endurance and fitness I'll try it. It was difficult telling my buddy, because it was he that got me into this whole running gig in the first place and now I can't train with him for the long runs and questionable to run in the marathon. I hate to disappoint him and myself however, this is the reality. Living in a smaller town, I don't believe we have any aqua jogging classes I can take here, but my buddy found some in his town. So I'll have to look into this option as the new week opens tomorrow.

So, to continue with training and support my buddy we decided I'll ride a bike as he runs for the next few weeks, which we did yesterday and though it was really different it was still nice to be out there. My buddy doesn't need to worry about the marathon, he'll be great. Me, on the other hand, I've got lots of work ahead of me to keep up my fitness, but I'm still hopeful that I can run the marathon the end of October. I might not run at the pace I want, but I will run this marathon. Well, my normal ending to my posts might not be accurate as I can't run right now, but I still have the desire to run, so I will still say gotta run.