still here.

still here. not much running, but i've gone a few times and my leg seems to be better.
the plan right now is to continue alternating running and walking until march and then i will start training for a 1/2 in june.
of course, that all depends on how much leg is doing.
if that goes well, i'd like to run another marathon in the fall.

hope to be back soon with regular updates.

and there was rejoicing in the land!

i ran 2 (mostly) pain-free miles today! usually two miles isn't very note-worthy, but i haven't run that far without a lot of pain since october.

i dusted off my garmin (it probably literally needed it!), and set out in 35 degree weather. the cold burned my lungs, but it felt good. my first mile was way too fast, which was not the goal. i wanted to take it really easy on my leg, but i ended up running the first mile in 8:45. i was just too excited to be running, i guess.
after that, i stopped to stretch out my leg. to my surprise, i was able to continue on for another mile. the sun was going down, and i decided i better not try to push it anyway.

YAY! i'm hopeful that i will be running more consistently soon!
thanks so much for all of you that have checked in here and thought of me!

hopefully i will be posting more now.

waiting...

still here, just not a lot to say. i'm still injured. i've tried to run a couple times, and can't seem to get past a mile without pain. sometimes i notice pain in the back of my left leg even when i'm not running. makes me wonder if i have an I T band problem, and something else going on too?
i'm hoping to be able to at least walk on the treadmill this winter. i need to do something.
i miss it so much!

i'd love to run another marathon next year, but i will have to wait and see how recovery goes.
there's a marathon in california i would love to run this spring when i'm there for my sister's wedding, but it's kind of a long shot right now with my leg...

sidelined.

took the week off after running my last marathon. 
i decided to give running a try yesterday. it's been so hard to see people out there running in this beautiful weather, and not be one of them.
i ran 3 miles, kind of. i felt pain after just one mile. i finished my 3 mile loop, but had to stop and stretch several times. today my leg hurts again, just with walking.

i guess i'm still in denial that i am actually injured. i'm the worst sick person too. i don't want to rest. i just want to keep going.

Marathon 7

78 degrees for the high. a lot warmer than my last marathon two weeks ago where we were scraping car windows! most of the morning was in the 50's - perfect.

i started with the 4:50 pace group. i wasn't sure how my I T band was going to be, since i had taken the whole week off from running, but i'm forever an optimist.

i first noticed some pain at mile 3. not a good sign when you're trying to run 26.2! i managed to run through it and stay with the pace group until mile 13. after that, i walked and ran a little. by mile 16, i couldn't run on it anymore at all. my right leg started hurting too because i was using it more due to the pain in my left.
ugh. huge bummer!

around this same time, i saw a guy drop out of the race. a race official on a motorcycle came to get him. i thought really hard about doing the same thing. i kept seeing golf carts too, and i was so tempted to ask for a ride back. so many people around me were walking. i was surprised to see that, since it seems like it usually happens around miles 18-20.

i walked the entire last half of the race. wow. the miles seemed to go forever. thankfully, God sent me a friend. a lady that had a similar injury was walking to the finish too, so we decided to walk together. misery loves company, i guess...

a lady at an aid station gave me some advil, but it didn't really seem to help. i just really wanted to be done.

it was my worst finishing time, but i think it's the marathon that i am most proud of because of what it took to get to the finish line.

update

i ended up seeing a physical therapist (who also happens to be my friend) this week. she showed me a bunch of stretches that should help, used an anti inflammatory gel patch on my hip, and had me run a mile on the treadmill to make sure i wasn't over pronating or anything. she said it looked like i was running fine, but she did discover that my left leg is weaker in general. i guess that's pretty common. it was news to me.

so, this week i walked 3 miles. and ran 2.5 (one at the p.t. appt.). other than that, i have been resting and stretching. as of right now, i am planning to run the marathon this weekend. it's all kind of up in the air as to whether or not i can make it to the finish with my leg. if it is painful, i will try to run and walk. if that hurts too much, i will quit. there are always other races, and since i just ran a marathon, this is just a bonus if it works out. it's actually kind of nice to go into a race with this laid back attitude. no pressure.

as always, my goal will be to enjoy it, be thankful that i am able to run, and pray for people i love during each mile.

off to run #7.
stay tuned...

I T BAND

today was the first run i attempted since the marathon. i wanted to give my leg time to heal.
the bad news is i only got in 1.3 miles before i had to turn around and walk home.
when i got home, i googled I T band. sure enough, that's the exact pain i am having. 

i'm so discouraged. i want to run the marathon so badly this week. i feel great other than this injury, i'm trained, the weather is perfect, and this is one of my favorite races.

planning to take the rest of the week off to see how i feel.

has anyone had experience with this type of injury before? how long was it until you were back to normal?