A First of Many

For those of you who didn't know, I have been training for my very first Half Marathon for the past 12 weeks. The 4th Annual Indianapolis Monumental Marathon/Half Marathon! I had so much support from friends and family, I couldn't have been more excited. I've never been a "runner" but always enjoyed working out. I have to give credit to my love of running to one of my best buds, Tiffany. She did the Seymour Mini last spring and I was so proud of her, I wanted to do it too! So thanks Tiff! :) I always did my runs first thing in the morning. During the heat of the summer months, I went as early as 5:15. Once it started getting cooler, I could sleep in a bit and be on the road running by 6:15. Many of you are probably thinking, "Why in the World would you want to get up that early and run?" With 2 small kiddos, a hubby working full time, and me working part-time (yes, I still admit I'm a part timer!), the earlier the better! During the week, my runs were done solo...me and my iPod were pretty tight! During the long runs (7 miles or more), I had two awesome friends keeping me company!

Sometimes I had to drag their butts out of bed in the AM, but they usually made it! I have to give them credit, they had to drive about 30 minute into town to start the run, so you've gotta hand it to them for showing up! My ultimate goal for my VERY FIRST half marathon was to finish, without walking. Once the training got more intense, I thought my goal would be 2 hours, 10 min or less.

We spent the night Friday night up in Indy and all met before the race for a picture and good luck wishes! Our Seymour Crew was a fun one! We had 2 half marathon walkers, 5 half marathon veterans, and 4 half marathon rookies! What a group!

I must admit, the rush at the beginning was amazing. It was something I will never forget! All of the people up at 7:30 in the morning in 34 degree weather to run anywhere from 13.1 miles to 26.2 miles. Like I said, amazing! Unfortunately, my body had other plans for me. I've been struggling with knee pain for the past month, but it always seemed to get better before I ran again. The week before the race, it was not getting better. I did the RICE treatment (Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation) that was suggested by my aunt, a physical therapist. It seemed to be getting much better towards the end of the week, with no pain at all on Friday or Saturday morning. I was pumped!! The race started and my body felt great, my breathing was right on, and I was so focused. A little past mile 3, my knee started acting up. I shook it off and kept running. It continued to get worse step by step, so I went to the side, stretched a bit and hit the pavement again. Pain. More pain. I finally thought I needed to listen to my body and take a break. I then had to walk a bit, not much, just to loosen the pain. Once I noticed my "run" was more of "limp run" I thought, "Great!" Not really, my exact words aren't appropriate for the blog! :) I limped my way across the finish line, 13.1 miles with a time of 3:06:39. I was bummed. Most of you are probably thinking, "Hey, you finished!" Yeah, I did, so I can say that, but to have such a strong goal in mind and not be able to fulfill it, is hard.

So you might be wondering, "How is your knee today?" Ha, well....long story, short version...I can't walk. I'm on crutches. The PT and Dr at the finish line did a quick exam on me and feel it's a MCL sprain. We're all praying it's not torn. I'll be calling an Ortho Surgeon first thing in the morning to see what he has to say. I told Benji that once I'm released to run and feel comfortable, I WILL go out and run 13.1 miles for the heck of it just to say, "I did it!" Until then,

I'll leave you with what I read (in tears) in my Runner's World magazine when I got home: Tip #8 on their best running tips-"My coach said, 'Have fun! The hard work was the training. The race is the party! Even if today's run was what you would consider a failure, it is a bridge to your next good run." Another runner states, "This thought keeps me from fretting about lack of progress. Any run is cause for joy. There is no such thing as a bad run!"