Chicago Marathon Prep

So I know posting has been sketchy heres a quick run down of the injury progression.

September 3rd 20 mile run ending in pretty bad ITB pain. Took a few days off and felt fine.
September 10th- River Run Half Marathon screwed up right hamstring, took whole week off
September 16th- Trail marathon resulting in really bad ITB pain, moved to hip and knee now
September 22nd- 18 minute run resulting in so much ITB pain I could not run and had to walk back, schedule ART therapy for the next Monday
September 23rd- Youngstown 50K relatively pain free (This is why we love trails kids)
September 24th-October 3rd horrible chest cold starts
Sept 25th first of 6 appointments with the ART doctor
September 30th- Akron Marathon Relay 5K pretty bad pain and still sick as a dog
October 7th- 18 mile trail run, ITB a little tight I think I had a 3 mile run one of the nights that week
October 17th-October 19th 3 runs ranging from 30-40 minutes. ITB sore during the day afterwards
October 21st- 2 mile run no ITB pain, shins on fire the entire run

I basically had a bunch of long easy trail runs and had not run fast for more than 5k since River Run and was not feeling too confident.

Which brings us to marathon day :)

Coming into this marathon I felt completely unprepared. I had not seen the track or slogged through a tempo run in what felt like an age (what was actually about 5 weeks). I also had not run during the week at all during those 5 weeks except for last week and all three of those runs ended in IT pain, not bad pain, but not non-existant like I was hoping for. I continued to do my strength work and stretching though and hoped for the best on Sunday.

19 comments:

Josh Dysart said...

If you ran a 3:40 and felt unprepared, I can't imagine what prepared and perfect running conditions would be like. You'd probably run a 3:40 ... backwards! Hope you had fun at Rock Bottom, and it was great to finally meet you!

Louis said...

You need to post the pic with Kalid!

Neil said...

Gosh, your legs sound like Randy's sinuses!

I hope you get some relief.

Toasty said...

You weren't listening, were you?

Jodi said...

Rehab that knee for JFK! You'll kill that race if you're healthy.

Jodi

Steph said...

Hopefully you'll have a good chunk of time to rest up, recover, and take it easy before JFK.

FYI, our JFK team coordinator sent out a list of FAQ's for this race. I found a LOT of it extremely helpful! If you would like me to forward it your way, please let me know.

We're also forming a cohort of participants who want to run together and share support crew out on the course. You interested??

Congrats on the 3:40!!!!
-Steph

Ben, aka BadBen said...

You were awesomely fast, and congrats on getting yet another qualifying time for Boston!

It sounds like you're ready for JFK. Remember that it (ultra-distance), is all in your head. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, "Running ultras is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."

D said...

Oh, I wish I were as fast as you! My dream is to run Boston but I'm not there yet... I hope your knee feels better.

RunDave said...

I just realised that I hadn't checked your blog for months. It must have dropped off my bloglines somehow. Here I was thinking that you'd stopped blogging. Well done on the weekend and extra well done on getting such a great time with such a nightmare preparation!

Danny said...

wow. that's pretty amazing to run 3:40 after all that. i probably would have just stayed in bed.

Anonymous said...

yeah yeah yeah... but will you be ready for beggars' night?

RunBubbaRun said...

3:40, I think I will take that anyday. Great job getting thru it through all the injuries. Rest up and get ready for the 50 miler. Remember trails are your friend.

Iron Jayhawk said...

i hope you're feeling better!!! :) It was so awesome having you stay with us. ANYTIME you're in Chicago you've got lodging with us (but we'll have an actual bed for you)!!

Black Knight said...

3.40!!! What a wonderful final time despite all the troubles. What will happen when you can race without any problem during the training?

Papa Louie said...

Any date prediction of the ITB being healed?

Janet Edwards said...

You rock chica, 3:40 unprepared and dealing with issues!!!!

Maybe someday.....

Anonymous said...

Yowza... 3:40!

Stay tuned...

sunshine said...

Hey! Sorry to hear you won't be coming to the "D", but I can see how you wouldn't want to be blown away by the crazy gusts of wind. :)

Awesome job in Chicago!

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

You are a real trooper...all that pain and injury would have kept most people from even trying to run the marathon. Great job! Get that thing well - I can't WAIT to see how you do at JFK! I cannot imagine running that far!