It has been a long time since I've sat down to blog anything. So long in fact that I wasn't sure I would remember my username and password here but fortunately, I was able to retrieve it from the back of my mind and here I am...sitting at my laptop typing away my 2010 year. My big (and only) goal for the year was the Chicago Marathon which occurred last weekend (10.10.10). From my initial registration in early February, it's all that I've had on my mind. Turn a corner in my house and there was a copy of the route staring me in the face. Open up the cabinet door to grab a snack and there was the route map asking me if I really wanted to grab an Oreo. No matter where I turned, Chicago was staring me in the face. So knowing there was a hefty registration fee on the line, I decided I'd try to find a way to get to this marathon healthy for a change. Some reading this post might remember that I have a poor history with marathons. Training for Columbus in 2008 I suffered a stress fracture in my Femur and was only able to complete in the 1/2 marathon. Cleveland 2009, had IT Band issues, started suffering at mile 10 but gutted it out to finish in under 4 hours. Then in the fall of 2009, I suffered a hip flexor strain which set me back but on minimal training leading up to it, I completed the Columbus marathon in 3:38. My goal for Chicago was to get there healthy and finish faster than 3:30. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that my training would go so well that I could get a Boston Qualifier which for me would be finishing faster than 3:15. No pressure though, the real goal was just to find a way to get to Chicago healthy.
So mapping out a plan and working with an old friend of mine who helped coach me during my bicycle racing days, the plan was to stretch out my training so that in lieu of a typical 20 week training plan, I would slowly build up over 8 months so my body would have time to adjust to the increased mileage and this would also give me ample opportunity to rest. Going through the spring the training was going great. I was shedding pounds and becoming a stronger runner. I entered the Cleveland 1/2 marathon and ran a PR time of 1:38. Mid-distance runs (5 to 6 miles in length) were becoming easy. I was feeling that running tempo's at 7:30 min/mile were becoming too easy. That was a good feeling.
Unfortunately, that feeling was about to change in mid July. I had just completed a tough hill workout and on my next day's recover run, I noticed some soreness in my shin. Not thinking much of it I continued on my run and chalked up the soreness to a tough workout. That soreness lingered on for the next several weeks so at the end of July I decided to breakdown and go see my sports medicine physician just to see if there was anything serious going on. Sure enough, there was trouble in River City. Doctor said the x-rays didn't show a fracture but there was signs of the bone trying to heal in the area where I was having some pain so that was an indication of some micro-fractures. His recommendation, back off on weekly runs but still try to get my long runs in. Sweet Chicago was still on track! The next big run after this appointment was a 15 miler. I've taken to doing all of my long runs down in the Valley on the Towpath. Although it's an out and back route to get the mileage in, it's always a softer surface than the road, there's plenty of drinking fountains and bathrooms on the route so it's a lot like running unsupported like I would in a long road race. I have to believe that if the bone wasn't fractured before that run, it certainly was afterwards. In hindsight, what I should have done was not to do the long runs but keep up with the small runs and do those on a treadmill. I knew at that moment, that any great time in Chicago was most likely out of the question. My only hope was to get back on the bike, renew my membership and the gym and try to cross train until I could get healed up enough to start running again. It took about 4 weeks before I could really start running again but it was slow tempo, short distances and on a treadmill. Before I knew it, the Akron Marathon was staring me in the face and I had previously registered to run the 1/2 as a test for Chicago. I find it funny that when I registered, I thought it would be a test to see what kind of time I might be able to aim for but this time, I was running it to test my leg and to see if I could even run Chicago at all. The aim was to run slow and try to finish pain free. I finished in 1:48 which wasn't horrible and I only had mile soreness in my leg. I saw that as a win-win situation, I knew I could run Chicago and I thought I could put together a good time.
With only two weeks between Akron and Chicago, the only thing I could do was be optimistic.
Part II of Chicago Marathon coming tomorrow night.
b
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