Recovery

Celebrating the Rock 'n' Roll Half

I'm finally ready to admit that it's been a rough fall training/racing season.  I did some awesome training over the summer, even in hilly and hot D.C.  But by the end of September I couldn't run 5 miles without horrible pain in my hamstrings and right knee, landing me in physical therapy.  I went from running my best race ever in August -- 2:06:50 at the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago half marathon -- to a painfully slow 5:28:01 at the Chicago Marathon in October.  I was thrilled to finish my first marathon, but also felt like I should have done so much better.  I was spent after a 2:28 first half, and was walking significant chunks by mile 15.  I'm lining up my spring race schedule, including marathon #2, the SunTrust Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon in D.C., so tonight I decided it was time to go back to the training log to see what happened.

Here's where it all went wrong:

September Training Calendar

Family fun at NU vs. BC

The first Friday in September, I ran 18 miles.  The run was awesome, but I could feel my IT bands tightening up as I went.  At the end of the run I was amazed at how "easily" I had done 18 miles, but also worried about my legs.  By the time my family showed up that night for their weekend visit, I could barely walk.  But that didn't stop me from having a blast at the Northwestern vs. Boston College football game and a great dinner in the North End the next day.

My mom, sister and I were signed up for a 5K on Sunday morning.  I was still limping, so I figured I would go to the race but would take it easy. Then the gun went off, and I took off with one of my good friends.  I ended up finishing with a PR of 27:40.

After the Tavern to Tavern 5K

The next week, I put in my 33 miles, but they were slooooow and not particularly pleasant.  I continued the slog the following week, and finally gave in and started physical therapy, where the PT told me that I have totally wacky mechanics thanks to weak hips, flat feet, and a misaligned right tibia.  I started doing some hip exercises and continued with the foam rolling, but I wasn't ready to cut back my training schedule.  The low point came when I went out to do my warmup before meeting some friends for our weekly three miles.  I dragged myself home after walking the better part of 1.75 miles and had to tell the group that I was in too much pain to run with them.

My BFBF

On Saturday, it was time for the big 20 miler.  I started the run with my boyfriend, and struggled through the first few miles in a lot of pain.  I settled in around mile 6 or 7 and felt great until mile 18, at which point I felt exhausted but not injured.  After that run, the wheels came off.  The rest of that week I  walked with a limp and tried two 5 mile runs that both went horribly -- a painful, choppy stride, lots of walking and general misery.  After that, I took a full week off running and learned to love my BFBF (Blue Foam Best Friend).  Pool running only until the following Saturday, when I did a 1.5 mile warmup and a 1.7 mile intramural race. I held myself back, but not enough.  That night my hamstrings were aching like crazy.  Standing hurt.  Sitting hurt.  Walking hurt.  Basically anything that didn't involve ice and ibuprofen hurt.  So it was back to no running until the Thursday before the Chicago Marathon.  I did an easy two miles and felt OK, but not ready to run 26.2.

A lot of things went wrong on marathon day (you can find my full race recap here).  I never felt injured during the race, just unfocused and unprepared.  I finished with a smile on my face, but the race was painful and slow.

That's me in the bright orange -- walking

Since the marathon, running has been a struggle.  In the three and a half weeks since the race, I've only run seven times for a total of around 18 miles.  I've been focusing on physical therapy, strength training, and cardio crosstraining (swimming, aquajogging, elliptical, spinning).  In the past week, the runs have started to feel better.  I've had a few solid three milers, and today I threw in a mini-fartlek where I hit paces starting with a 7 for the first time in ages.  I feel ready to throw in a "long run" of five or six miles this weekend.

Looking back on it all, I think my big mistake was not listening to my body and resting after the 18 miler.  Maybe taking some time off then would have avoided the disastrous time off in the weeks before the race.  I'm optimistic about my spring races, but I'm also nervous.  I don't want to blow up again, but I want to put in enough miles to go into the race feeling prepared and able to crush my 5 hour goal.

So, fellow runners, any suggestions?  Anyone else have a similar marathon training experience?