Training – Week 14 – Week 12 of Marathon Training – Sunday – 18 Miles of Torture

This was a terrible run. My mental stamina was weak. I was not focused to begin with this morning for this run and I knew that was going to come back to haunt me. I woke up at 4, but decided to sleep a little longer as I did not get home from Fantasy Football Draft until midnight. I woke up again at 5, but thought about sleeping until Ava woke up around 6 or so and then run. Well, Ava did not wake up until 7 so I was behind. To make a long story short I did not leave the house until almost 10:00. I had to force myself out the door at this point to get this run done.

My foot was tender at the start and it just got worse as I ran. I kept thinking to myself, “Why are you running when it hurts so bad?” I am stubborn(perhaps stupid), but I kept running. By mile 7 the pain finally subsided and I felt alright until mile 10 where I had to stop for about 20 seconds for traffic. Stopping caused my foot to flare up something fierce. My pain was on top of my foot(bone that connects to the big toe), ankle bones, and a sharp pain extending from my ankle to my calf. Like before after a few miles the pain was reduced, but once again at mile 14 I had to stop for more traffic and the same thing happened. I was in some serious pain miles 14-16, but after mile 16 my whole body started to shut down and I think the pain of the run just spread to the whole body as I don’t remember feeling pain in my ankle, but just praying to get home.

I was struggling today. I think I pushed too hard to start with. Looking at my times I ran every mile under 9:00. That is a huge accomplishment for me, but mentally I was really struggling. There was no way I would have been able to finish a marathon if today was race day. Add to the mix that it was hot. It was hot for me as I am used to running very early in the morning and not late morning/afternoon. The sun was not working in my favor either.

Looking back at my post when I ran 18 miles on 8.13.11 I have come a long way. On that day I felt good about my run when I ran the 18 miles in 2:47 at a 9:17 mile pace. Today I ran 18 miles in 2:34 for a 8:35 mile pace which is a huge difference. One would think that I would be happy with my run, but I am not because my body is whooped. I really hit a wall. I was proud that I was able to fight through the pain of my foot, but I have to wonder if perhaps that was very stupid on my part. I am going to really take things easy this week and get my foot back to normal(hopefully). I don’t know what I am dealing with. I am thinking something with muscles and tendons because I have days where I feel great(yesterday) and days where it hurts bad(today). I would like to get it feeling normal so that I can run the Clinton Half Marathon and see what I am made of for 13 miles.

Ice buckets and compression socks are in store for the rest of the day. Rest day tomorrow with weights. Maybe an easy run Tuesday or another rest day depending on how I feel. I am scheduled for 40 miles next week with runs of 7,3,7,20, and 3. I will see how the body feels and will probably scale back to get this body healthy.

GETTING IT DONE! has been accomplished as I ran great time wise today. I just wish my body felt better. I cannot wait to see what I can accomplish when I am feeling healthy and mentally strong.

Here are my mile splits
1: 8:51
2: 8:27
3: 8:46
4: 8:44
5: 8:29
6: 8:31
7: 8:36
8: 8:25
9: 8:26
10: 8:24
11: 8:29
12: 8:25
13: 8:28
14: 8:25
15: 8:36
16: 8:38
17: 8:48
18: 8:52

Total 18 miles in 2:34 for 8:35 pace