Nitty Gritty on the Indy

So, last week's half marathon was not the most pleasant of experiences for me. 

 I was sidelined in my training very early on with persistent heel pain.  Podiatry appointments and steroid injections got me to the point where I could run one day a week with minimal hobbling for the other six days so that's what I did.  I "trained" for this race by working out on the eliptical type machines in the gym for around 60-70 minutes a day five days a week and then running one long run on Saturday.  After the nine mile run two weeks ago my heel was painful enough that I determined to skip the final ten mile training run so I would at least be able to walk pain free at the start of the race.

So whereas last time I ran a half marathon I had run approximately 170 miles in the twelve weeks leading up to the race, this time I had run a grand total of 39 miles in preparation.

It wasn't enough.

Ironically, my heel didn't bother me in the slightest either during or after the race.  The trouble was my knees.  They just weren't strong enough to take the pounding.  They started hurting at mile six and by mile eight there was pain at every footfall.  By mile ten my internal monologue had become replete with words I would never utter aloud.  It got so bad that at mile marker 13 I actually almost fell down.  My legs just sort of gave out on me.  The finish line was a stone's throw away and I was one of those pathetic people clinging to my partner to stay upright.  A bit of stretching, shaking them out and encouragement from John and we hobbled on through the finish.  

After collecting our Aquafina, bananas, apples chips and cookies (it's a good thing we don't run for the free food...) it was straight to the medic tent where John got some ice packs on my knee. 

Then the nausea kicked in.  I have no idea why but I was left feeling sick to my stomach for about ten hours after the race.  It made for a miserable ride home to MO.

But all is mended now.  My left knee is completely better and my right knee is making good progress every day.  I never did experience overwhelming muscle fatigue or cardiovascular exhaustion during the race and wasn't particularly sore afterwards so at least that aspect of my training plan proved beneficial.

The picture above is me with my running partners, Kari and Jane.  They trained like animals and totally spanked it.  They finished in under two hours running an average of 9:05 miles which was a full ten minutes faster than our time in Memphis last December.  They rock!!!