September 30, 2013

I'm not running Marine Corps

Thursday, after my post, I headed out for a run. I basically left my apartment and went a half mile out and back in each direction so that if my knee started hurting, I wouldn't be too far from home.

I ran 6 miles all at marathon pace. It felt easy, I felt strong. I felt great. My plan was to take Friday off, run 4 easy on Saturday and go for 18 on Sunday.

I took Friday off. Saturday morning, I woke up with horrible knee pain. The Pilot and I headed out to Clarendon for Clarendon Day and weren't even there an hour when I said that I needed to go home because the pain in my knee had gotten to a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Since then, there's the pain has somewhat subsided but is still there.

I'm under-trained for this marathon. I came into it recovering from injury and I guess I'm still injured. I honestly feel that it this point, if I decided to push through and run it, I would either not finish...or finish and jeopardize my chances of ever running another marathon.

I think I've known that this decision was coming for awhile, but it was still hard to come by. I love the Marine Corps Marathon. It was my 2nd marathon and my first PR. It's in my favorite city, which I can now, finally call home. The Start line is just down the street from my apartment and I was really looking forward to running my first at home marathon and having my family and friends cheering me on.

There will be other Marine Corps Marathons, but this isn't one I can just say, I'll run next year. The fact is, The Pilot and I are getting married next September, and running off to sneak in an 18 mile run on my honeymoon is just not something I'm interested in doing.

My marathon PR is 4:01:05. I've been trying to go sub-4 ever since I ran my first marathon in 4:08. Do you have any idea how much it kills to be that close to my goal and to not even be able to try for it?  I bailed on my spring marathon because I needed a break after running 3 marathons last year, so to be unable to try for that sub-4 distance this Fall is heartbreaking.

There will be other marathons, and I'll eventually get that sub-4 but for now, I'm going to focus on recovering and hopefully getting to a 26.2 Start injury-free in 2014. 

12 comments:

  1. I think you're making a smart decision not to run it. Your health is way more important, and if you ran it and injured yourself even more I think you'd be VERY upset!!! Look on the bright side, now you can cheer runners on!! :)

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  2. So sorry to read this :( I hope you recover fast. And you're right, there's other marathons. No sense of making your injury worse.

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  3. I know how much this kind of decision sucks and I'm sorry that it came down to it. I think you made the right choice, though. Flaring knee pain or not, running a marathon undertrained would not be a wise choice if you wanted to have a good time and avoid further injury. You'll get that sub-4 soon enough. :)

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  4. It sounds like you have the right priorities. Such a hard decision, but probably the smart one in the long-run. I recently adjusted my race plans, too (even after telling you how motivating you were to me to stick it out). Get better and you'll come back stronger than ever!!

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  5. I'm sorry lady. Come join me at aid stations around the corner from the apartment. We can cheer together!

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  6. I'm sorry to hear this! I know it must be frustrating to not be able to do this race, I can't even imagine. I hope you're knee heals up and you find yourself running a great race in the future that would have only been made possible by this decision right here.

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  7. Sorry to hear that, but glad you're making the right decision for your body! Maybe the next race will be the sub-4. :)

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  8. That is heartbreaking but probably a good decision. Wish I was in DC to take you out tonight! (Make the other ladies buy you margs/champagne)

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  9. Oh I'm sorry girl! The most important thing is getting that knee better though!

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  10. Bummer but it is a smart decision. It is not fun to run when you are worried about pain or injury. Focus on your wedding and running will still be here waiting for you. I admire you for making a tough choice. Take care of that knee!

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  11. tough decision for sure but you WILL get back there!

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  12. That's tough. It's hard to say no but good for you for knowing when. Do something fun that day so you don't dwell on it.

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