Running Chick

I haven't been doing much (any, really) running since the marathon.  I spent the first week limping around the office and taking the elevator to the coffee shop one floor up. I sort of felt guilty about that, but then I decided to say screw it. I just ran a marathon, I earned that 3 second elevator ride.

My legs felt fine by the end of the week, and I was just dealing with some moderate, residual tendonitis pain that left me with a minor limp and a slight aversion to the stairs.  I  assumed this would take another week to disappear, so I wasn't too concerned.  It didn't. So I gave it another week.  I'd decided to take two full weeks off after the marathon for recovery & to help Josh finish up some house-related projects, so I was pretty okay with not running during this period.  The runningchunk.com 5k (RC5K) was that following weekend, and I wanted to be able to participate, so I had a lot invested in getting back on the road the third week.

Didn't happen.  There was just too much achiness going on and I just didn't think it was a good idea to get out, even if it was for a very short run. I had a very lengthy internal debate about what to do about the RC5K. Run/walk? Walk? Run? DNS? There was a big group running it this year, we had 18 signed. The first year there were three of us, the second five, so it really hit the big-time this year.

The morning of the race, I woke up to the same old ache in my leg and I knew I wasn't going to have a great run, so that made me grumpy. I almost bailed, but figured I'd never hear the end of it from Josh and my team /var/run teammates and basically everybody at work, so I downed probably more Advil than I should have, threw on some running clothes and Josh and I headed out to mark the course.  I jogged around a bit just to test things out, and it hurt, but I was there, in running clothes and people were starting to show up, so I decided to run and see how long I could hold on.

I somehow ended up in front with the fast ladies from work. I think that was probably because I knew the course and nobody could understand Josh's directions which contained informative gems such as "..go this way..", "..then that way.." "..don't fall in the ravine..", "..sewage lagoon.." and a lot of hand waving.  I hung with the ladies for maybe just under a mile (I remember seeing .90 on my watch and thinking I should probably stop soon), and then peeled off and watched them zoom away.  I walked for a little bit, until the two dudes carrying 30 lb sandbags in rucksacks caught up with me. I ran with them for a while, then dropped back to run with the wife of one of the rucksack dudes who was carrying a 15 lb sandbag in her rucksack.  She was all GAME FACE ON though, so we didn't stick together for long.  At the half-way point, conveniently just before the big climb, I seriously contemplated taking the shortcut to the finish line (the bar) to mark down people's finishing times, but G and the two rucksack dudes were just ahead of me and I decided to try and finish ahead of them.

My leg felt rather decent once I got on the pavement for the campground loop, so I was able to pass the guys and widen the gap a bit.  Woo, racing!  I finished in 33:02, which was slower than my two previous attempts. Oh well. We had a really fun after-party/awards ceremony at the Lakes Lounge/American Legion where I drank one gross Old Style because that was the rule.  Go check out Amy & Josh's recaps, and for pictures and videos.

Josh had to make a minor repair to my car so after lunch, we headed down to my dad's shop to use the lift. I decided to tag along for a visit & to take Zoe for a walk, since she'd been cooped up in her crate all day on a Saturday. I needed to replace the log book in our geocache hidden at the Oskar Cemetery, so we headed down there, taking the bush trails instead of the road.  It was really pleasant back in the woods, with all the colors & smells of fall. Pretty quiet at the cemetery, too.

Unfortunately, walking on the uneven ground of the trail really aggravated my leg, so I ended up slowly limping back home (much to Zoe's annoyance) and downing Advil for the rest of the weekend.

Finally, I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands, since it really wasn't getting any better leaving it alone. So, for the past several days, I've been really attacking it with my foam roller, tennis ball & massage stick.  I took a video of the manipulations that my PT did when I saw her a couple of days before the marathon, so I've also been doing that.  All these things are quite painful, but I'm starting to see some progress.  My leg doesn't feel quite as stiff as it did last week, and the area which was really tender is getting smaller every day, so that's good news.

Hopefully a few more days of this will do the trick and, assuming I can get to the point where hopping up & down on it doesn't hurt, I'll be able to go for a short run over the weekend.  I really want to run one more race before the end of the year, so my fingers and toes are crossed that this works.

Well, I made it. I'm not exactly thrilled with my performance and I'm still pretty grumpy about it, but it is what it is.

I heard, at various points on the course when people will still being chatty with one another, that once you cross the finish line, you're in "an exclusive club".  I guess I never really thought about it being exclusive, but apparently it is and now I'm in it. Yay.

Once I become less grumpy, I'll write up a race recap. Right now, I'm going to wallow.

Carbs have been loaded.

Veggie bowl from Rodeo Mexican Kitchen the team var/run/ unofficial sponsor, meeting place.

Smoked brisket from Fitzgerald’s by way of the work fall party.  I was in a brisket stupor for the rest of the night.

Bags are packed, with everything but the kitchen sink.

Several more “just in case” items made it into the pile after this photo that I'm pretty certain I won't need but I know if I don't take them I'll be obsessing about them for the entire drive.  I’m now taking three pair of shorts and four tops and a set of cold weather items.

Inspirational and informative reading material has been collected.

I’m still looking for my mantra, maybe I’ll find it in there.

Tendonitis has been (hopefully) massaged into submission thanks to a very painful visit to my PT lady.

Fingers crossed.

I think I’m ready to go. Fox Cities Marathon, here I come.