Two Weeks Until Chicago
- joelconquer
- Oct 1, 2019
- 4 min read
Yikes!!! Its been almost three months since I posted my last story and two weeks since I starting writing this post. Originally I had been hoping to post once a week but clearly that hasn't happened. The reality is, family, work, training and just general fatigue has made it more challenging for me to find the time needed to write. It bothered me at first but over time I've just learned to care a little less. At the end of the day this is the first time I have written a blog and first time I've trained for a marathon so its a learning experience and honestly with the time I have I'd rather focus my time on family and training.
The last time I posted I had just finished my long run in Ottawa on Canada Day weekend. I think I had mentioned on a few occasions that my heels (achilles) had been sore and while I was continuing to stretch and strengthen my lower body I'm not sure I fully appreciated the toll that running five times a week was taking on my lower body. This became very clear following my run on the morning of July 16 when I experienced some sharp pain in my left foot as I was making the turn towards home. By the time I got back it was definitely sore and stiff but I was hopeful that I had just stepped awkwardly and tweaked something but would be good to go within a day or so.
Unfortunately a couple hours later it was swollen and slightly tender. I freaked out. I immediately thought back to when I had broken a bone in my foot playing ball hockey and started to worry that I had pushed too hard and sustained some sort of fracture or tendon tear which would have probably required at least eight weeks of recovery and likely ended my chance of running the marathon in time I would have been "okay" with.
Thankfully, despite fearing the worst, I made the decision to stop running for a week and then reassess and visit the doctor if needed. Wise words but that didn't stop me, in the meantime, from spending the next few days madly searching the internet for anything that would provide an explanation for what had happened and most importantly how long it would take to heal. Shockingly most of the information I found online was not very definitive and did nothing to reassure me.
In the end, despite my initial fears, I did not need to visit the doctor and through rest and a bigger commitment to stretching and strength training I only had to take about three weeks off from running. It was definitely a learning experience and helped me to adapt my training program to fit my current fitness level. It also showed me how important running had become. While I enjoy a bunch of other sports I'm not sure there is another I enjoy as much as running. Even though I will never be an elite level runner, I have found it suits me incredibly well. As a runner I can be social or do things solo, I am challenged both physically and mental and I get to explore the earth and my thoughts as well. All things that make me really happy.
Fast forward to now. After a few minor ups and downs I reached my peak training distance of 21.3 mi (34.2 km) a week ago, a little short of my planned 22 mi (35.4 km) because my very pregnant wife called and I thought she was going into labour...false alarm. It turned out to be a hot and humid day so was a bit of a struggle by the end but got to a reasonable distance which was something I was worried about achieving before the birth of my second child.
Yesterday I was able to put in a confidence boosting run where everything came together and I was able to cover 16.5 mi (26.5 km) in 136 minutes (8:12/mi and 5:05/km). Definitely felt great to maintain a good speed over that distance and makes me believe I still have a shot to run a 3:30 marathon, something I've been doubting over these past few weeks.
That said our baby with be born this week and that will inevitable cut down on my running and sleep over these final 14 days. Part of me will be a bit disappointed if I don't quite get there but I'm learning to accept that everything will be okay if I don't.
I started running less than three years ago and this is a process. I never expected running a marathon would be easy and to be honest I love the process of training and improving so much that it just gives me things to look forward to.
Hopefully I will get at least one more post in before I leave for Chicago, but we'll see. Either way I definitely look forward to sharing my first marathon experience in a couple of weeks.
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