It’s been so long.  I haven’t posted for a myriad of reasons:  guilt, nothing to say, stress, procrastination…  I’m back, though!  Try to contain your excitement 🙂

So, my marathon is 10 days from today – January 19.  I’m feeling worried, scared and excited but most of all, I’m ready to get this over with.  Things have not gone the way I envisioned they’d go.  That’s okay.  I can’t do anything about it, now.  We’ve bought plane tickets, reserved a hotel room and planned to see friends and family after the marathon.  We’ll either be celebrating or they’ll be consoling me. 

Why all the nay-saying?  I am concerned about the fitness of my left knee and my right hip.  I wasn’t sure what was going on with my knee at first, but now I think it’s ITB related.  No bueno.  My last long run was supposed to be 20 miles, but at 19 miles, I texted my family to pick me up.  I was in tears, limping and totally defeated.  Well, maybe not TOTALLY defeated.  I was about 2/3 of a mile from home and I kept my sad, barely moving, kind of a jog/walk combo pace.  I never actually stopped until my daughter came to pick me up.  At that point, I was a block from home but I felt like I STILL needed a ride home.  It felt like I was dragging two dead legs along beneath me.  I was a MESS.

Before I called for ‘help’, I was dry heave crying.  I’d experienced that once or twice when I trained for my first marathon.  It’s weird.  I’m making crying gestures and gasping for breath but no tears ever fall.  Very weird.  I most likely had not had enough fluid.  I took some with me and still had half of it at the ‘end’.  I seriously need someone to yell at me and make me drink.  SMH…

So anyway.  I crapped out on my last long run.  My left knee and my right hip hurt.  I’m nervous.

What am I doing about it?

1.  stretching, using The Stick and doing some 11th hour hip strengthening

2.  taking a NSAID that i got from the doctor

3.  telling myself that I am GOING TO finish this race 

4.  I got some compression capris to test out – maybe they’ll help

I initially didn’t have a time goal but when training was going so great and I was getting faster, I started to think maybe I would finish at a certain time.  If my knee holds up, I could still make that time.  My knee is probably NOT going to hold up.  I’m not being negative.  It hurts during EVERY run so odds are that it won’t hold up.  That’s just the way it is.  The mystery is WHEN it will start to hurt.  If I can get through 13-15 miles without significant pain, I’m good.  I can jog/walk/crawl to the finish in time.  So, send good thoughts and prayers my way.

Until next time.