MCM: Race Weekend

Evidently marathoners are known for crapping in the pants.  Well, I have thankfully never experienced this unfortunate accident, but with race time less than 48 hours away, I sure do feel like I could crap my pants right now.

1,145 – this is the number of miles I have put on my legs since week one of MCM training.  I honestly wanted more, but I will certainly take it.  My goal was to originally have about a month of running 80-plus miles, but instead I ended up turning that 80 in to 70.  But that’s how training goes – You make plans, and then your body tells you otherwise.

Even though my mileage came in slightly under the mark, I am overall pleased and grateful for the training I have accomplished.  There were certainly tough weeks – Remember Week #4 when I only got in 17 miles because I injured the outside of my right foot?  But there were countless hard runs that I am so glad that I got under my training belt.

With the hours counting down, I am focusing on having a healthy body make it to the starting line.  Unfortunately, a bit of tendonitis has flared up on the inside of my right leg around my ankle.  My plantar fasciitis is also still present in my right heel when I first wake up in the morning.  I am not concerned with the plantar fasciitis, but I am a little stressed and frustrated about the pain around my ankle.  I am questioning whether the injury is a result of running in worn-out shoes and that I maybe should have switched out my running shoes one more time before race day.  However, I’ve been through four pairs of Brooks PureConnects this training period!

Since you can’t put the Genie back in the Bottle, I am forced to just do my best to rest and ice my foot in these last couple of days.  And don’t get me wrong, there is pain there, but it could be a lot worse.  Neither a government shutdown nor a nagging tendon is going to stop this marathon from happening.  I’ve been through too many miles and too many hard weeks of training to turn back now.

I’m going to D.C. to get this thing done.