What am I thinking?!! I can't believe I'm still planning to attempt the St. George marathon in two weeks, but I am. 14 weeks ago I ran the Utah Valley marathon in 4:03, on insufficient training and with some hip pain in the later miles. 12 weeks ago I ran the Gruesome Grizzly 8K. I wasn't especially fast, and the race was small, but I ran fairly well and won the 50+ age division The next Wednesday, June 29, I went to Dr. McLane about the hip pain I've been feeling for about 3 years. The next day, June 30, I had an MRI. The next day, July 1, I reviewed the results with Dr. McLane. They showed a sacral stress fracture and a labral tear in my right hip. She referred me Dr. Aoki at the U of U Orthopedic Center. I couldn't get in to see him for almost 6 weeks, until Aug 10. I didn't run at all from July 1 to August 15. (6 weeks) Dr. Aoki said the labral tear did not appear to be causing me pain and I would probably not benefit from surgery. That left the sacral stress fracture as the cause of my pain. He did order an x-ray guided steroid injection in my hip. As he suspected, it didn't help, confirming that the hip wasn't the source of the pain. He suggested I try running a little to see how it felt. I ran 4-ish easy miles T/Th/Sat for a couple of weeks. 4 weeks ago, on Aug 27, I hiked Mt. Timpanogos with my daughter Emily and Larry and Jolene Marshall. After the round trip hike to the summit, plus a mile to and from where I had to park the car, I had covered about 17 miles and been on my feet about 9.5 hours, and I felt good. This encouraged me to go ahead and run the Red Rock Relay. 1 week ago, I ran the Red Rock Relay. Because we were short 1 runner in our van, I ended up running 5 times for a total of about 19 miles. I passed other runners and was not passed a single time. I felt strong and ran pretty well with no pain. This firmed up my commitment to go ahead and attempt the marathon. The big concern remaining was how my body would respond to the pounding for more than 5 or 6 miles. Since the Utah Valley marathon on June 11, I've only had two double-digit runs, a 10 mile run 2 weeks ago on Sept 3, and today's 13 mile run. Today's run went about as I expected, some good, some bad. Pros:
New shoes felt great.
No blisters, minor chafing that I know how to prevent in the marathon.
Felt good for about 10 miles. Cons:
At 10 miles:
Felt numbness in right foot. I thought the neuroma was gone. It didn't bother me in the UV marathon.
Felt some minor IT band pain by right knee. I've felt this on and off for most of this year.
Felt some right hip pain. Not the "in the back" pain from the sacral stress fracture, but the "in the groin, upper thigh" hip joint kind of pain. Dr. Aoki couldn't reproduce this pain in his examination, nor can I except during a run after about 10 miles. I'm disappointed in the pains I started feeling at 10 miles, but they are old companions. I've felt them off and on for the past 3 years, during which time I've run a half dozen marathons and a 50 mile ultramarathon. I don't think any of these issues is a showstopper for me running the marathon. I reserve the right to change my mind, but my current plan is attempt the marathon, take it easy, and see what happens. My stretch goal is finish anywhere near Lyle or Wayne. My first fallback goal is to break 5 hours. If not that, then just to finish before being pulled from the course. There is also the real possibility of a DNF if an injury flares up too early or is too painful. Adventures come in all shapes and sizes. Not too many years ago I was headed towards the goal of a sub-3 hour marathon. Now I'm just hoping to finish. It's all good. The joy is in the journey, and strength comes from struggle.
| 