After nearly a week of knee-rest, I managed just 2 pain-free miles on Saturday. The next 2 miles were decidedly not pain-free, at which point I hobbled home on the arm of my enormously kind hubby who could easily have sprinted off and left me in the cold, but gallantly stuck with me.The Napa marathon is now 13 weeks away. I think at least 3 of those weeks are needed at the end, to 'taper'. In theory, there's still time for me to take a couple of weeks off, and then start building my miles up again. But that assumes that my knee sees the error of its ways and will let me get back to my previous distance and then add another 50%.
In reality, I think I need to face the possibility I won't be able to do the marathon, or will get scooped up by the stragglers' bus after the 6-hour time limit passes. I'm doing all kinds of mental math (six 10-minute miles followed by 5 hours of 15-minute miles would get me to the finish line) and am making crazy plans involving heavier than recommended doses of painkillers.
But if I'm honest with myself, unless I can rely on 2 good knees within a couple of weeks, I think I'm going to have to accept my role may be cheering from the sidelines once again.
Image thanks: Billy Alexander
That's tough, don't really know what to say to you. I guess you have to look after yourself first and just maybe you will have enough time to be able to compete, if not this one maybe the next one, probably not what you want to hear but I wish you a speedy recovery and lot's of luck with it. Kathy.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating!
ReplyDeleteBut there will always be tons of other marathons, and you've only got a couple of knees. I'd prioritize taking care of yourself!
But fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!
I agree with Crabby, I will be hoping for a speedy recovery for you!
ReplyDeleteYeah...you don't want to mess with having permanent damage. Get better, then look to what the next possible marathon may be. If it's Napa- yay! If not, it will still be great. Getting to the start line healthy is sometimes the hardest part of the marathon... don't remember who told me that, but it's so true.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your very kind comments and for reminding me I need to have my eye on the next 26 years, not just 26 miles. Asha, your words are especially wise. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly hopeful that I can resume enough training to be able to do a very slow marathon, at least.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope some of the info I've posted will help you with your knee pain. Speaking as someone who's been dealing with pain in both knees for years: Put knee recovery before completing a marathon. I wish I had slowed down years ago before the damage to my knees was even more difficult to reverse. So make training the muscles around your knee just as important as running.
ReplyDeleteBesides, if you run the marathon but destroy your knees so badly you can't do regular things like grocery shopping (the boat I'm in) you'll probably wish you had given your knee time to heal. I really hope your knee pain heals *and* you get to run the marathon. But above all else I hope your knee pain heals!