Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Week 13

I'm just going to get it out of the way and say this week wasn't quite perfect, but I'm happy with what I got done considering my injury. I made it through everything except my 20 miler. My leg was really hurting Saturday, and while it was really hard for me to give the run up, I knew I needed to focus on getting healthy. I think I've made really good progress this training cycle and want to be able to test myself on Halloween at my 5K, which I can't do if I'm hobbling along.

But the good news is I found a great chiropractor less than 10 minutes from work who was able to fit me in Friday morning. She gave me some physical therapy exercises to do on my own to strengthen my glutes, and then did ART on my quads, hip flexors (major ow!), and IT band. I felt tons of immediate relief afterwards, though I might have undone a lot of the good by doing my 10 mile tempo run after work. However, I am seeing her tomorrow and I'm committing to resting until I heal, even if it means I don't run again until my 5K.

My leg does feel significantly better today though. We did engagement photos today and did a lot of walking off-trail/climbing on rocks/sitting and standing up from the ground, and I had basically no pain the whole time. I also mowed the lawn this morning and was fairly comfortable. I have another ART torture session tomorrow after work, and I might get another one before the weekend if I need it. I'm bummed I once again won't have a full, real taper, but what can you do?

Sunday, October 18
rest

Monday, October 19
5 mi easy (11:36 min/mile)

I thought I was going slower than normal because of my achy leg, but this run was super windy, so it might not have been just my body.

Tuesday, October 20
8 mi easy (11:26 min/mile)

My leg hurt pretty badly for the first four miles, but after that it loosened up and was actually alright.

Wednesday, October 21
4.8 mi hills

My IT band was really cranky during the WU, but after that, it was fine, I assume because I run hills more up on my toes. My legs felt so tired during this workout! I had to bargain with myself that if I finished, I would never have to run hills again. Obviously this is not true, but it worked at the time.

Thursday, October 22
rest

Friday, October 23
1 mi WU, 8 mi @ 9:54 min/mile, 1 mi CD

I went to run on the Towpath after work (it's now seven minutes away from me!), and it was awesome! (Well, other than my leg hurting for the first five miles....) After about three miles, the path heads away from the road and into the woods, with the canal on one side and the Cuyahoga River on the other. It was spectacular with the fall colors, and I saw a lot of wildlife, including an otter, which I thought was super cool!

Saturday, October 24
rest

I skipped my planned 20-miler because my leg was pretty bad. I tried to convince myself I was okay, but I was basically limping around the house, and Michael helped me see running 20 miles on that would not help the situation get any better.

Run Miles: 27.8 mi
Total Time: 5:02

Obviously I'm not thrilled my last week was not "perfect," but I'm at the point where I'm sick and tired of running injured. I wish I had known the injury would persist when it first started so I could've sought out a chiropractor sooner, but I'm glad I'm getting in now three weeks before my marathon, while I still have time to heal and get care. If I can get to a place of no to minimal pain by Saturday morning for my 5K, I will be ecstatic.

Speaking of the 5K, I am super nervous. I have definitely gained a lot of fitness since the start of my training cycle (and before I started, I got a 5K PR), so I know I should be in PR shape, but I'm so nervous for the race. I think part of it is knowing how much racing a 5K hurts, but I'm also putting a lot of pressure on myself to see a big improvement. I guess we'll see how much fitness I've gained!

But now it's taper time!