Seeing as how I am not currently running and my last post was titled "Running with a Lower Body," I suppose this post should be titled "Sitting Around with a Lower Body." But that just seemed too depressing less than a week before my first marathon.
After the disastrous 20-miler-that-was-really-a-17.55miler, I have put in a few more runs without much consequence. By that I mean that I ran through the pain and completed an 8 and a 12 miler. I thought that the leg/ankle injury I had sustained had either stabilized or at least wasn't getting worse. Sadly, on last week's scheduled 5 mile run with Ben, I had to stop at 2.5 and walk home. I can say unequivocally that instead of the pain disappearing after a few miles (common for minor cases of shin splints, I have read) the pain remained the same, if not worsened, (a sign of severe shin splints and lots of other potentially unpleasant injuries).
Since I am only a fake Dr., I made an appointment with the Orthopedist. In light of the pain and all the info I could find on the internet, I decided to skip my remaining runs and to rest, ice, and take anti-inflammatories until the marathon.
My hope: the Dr. will give me some voodoo wonder drug and tell me I am good to run on Sunday.
My fear: the Dr. is going to tell me that if I go ahead with the marathon that I will do irreparable damage to my body that will mean the end of running. That would be a hard pill to swallow.
However, and this may come as a shock to those of you who know me well, I have decided that I would rather be able to run for the next 30 years than finish 26.2 miles and risk a longterm injury. While the thought of 4 months of training all being for nothing is too depressing to really entertain, I realize that I have still benefited greatly from the training.
I'll keep you posted.
After the disastrous 20-miler-that-was-really-a-17.55miler, I have put in a few more runs without much consequence. By that I mean that I ran through the pain and completed an 8 and a 12 miler. I thought that the leg/ankle injury I had sustained had either stabilized or at least wasn't getting worse. Sadly, on last week's scheduled 5 mile run with Ben, I had to stop at 2.5 and walk home. I can say unequivocally that instead of the pain disappearing after a few miles (common for minor cases of shin splints, I have read) the pain remained the same, if not worsened, (a sign of severe shin splints and lots of other potentially unpleasant injuries).
Since I am only a fake Dr., I made an appointment with the Orthopedist. In light of the pain and all the info I could find on the internet, I decided to skip my remaining runs and to rest, ice, and take anti-inflammatories until the marathon.
My hope: the Dr. will give me some voodoo wonder drug and tell me I am good to run on Sunday.
My fear: the Dr. is going to tell me that if I go ahead with the marathon that I will do irreparable damage to my body that will mean the end of running. That would be a hard pill to swallow.
However, and this may come as a shock to those of you who know me well, I have decided that I would rather be able to run for the next 30 years than finish 26.2 miles and risk a longterm injury. While the thought of 4 months of training all being for nothing is too depressing to really entertain, I realize that I have still benefited greatly from the training.
I'll keep you posted.
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3 comments:
I really am rooting for you on that Dr. visit. I hope he lets you run it. Do you think you will at least be able to run/walk it?
hey!
i wasn't aware from our earlier chat that it was your shin. basically, if you have shin splints and you run a marathon you might not do irreversible damage, but you will break your leg. i would sit that out if that is the case. trust me, i know how much that sucks. i dated and was living with somebody who had the exact same thing happen to her after her training long run (24 miles!). she went to the doctor, and he said she couldn't run. the tears flowed.
BUT on the plus side, she rehabbed it in the pool and finished a marathon about 8 months later without any problems whatsoever. in fact, she went on to run very many marathons very (very) quickly.
if you can't run it, stay positive. getting through 14 weeks of training is a marathon in its own right, and worthy of your pride. the race itself can happen later. who knows, maybe the doctor will pull a mr. miyagi and just rub your leg down, healing it for good?
BTW, now that i recall correctly, she was diagnosed with stress fractures in her shin. so it might not be that dire for you! although if it is the case, you will probably have to switch your shoe brand :(
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