To Marathon or Not To Marathon....that is the question....

I am faced with a dilemma. I have a foot problem that doesn't look like it's going to go away anytime soon, much to my dismay. So, they call it "Morton's Neuroma" and apparently, it's not all that uncommon - I just wish I wasn't the "common" part of this equation. So, this lovely thing causes a great deal of pain in my toes when I am running longer distances. I have been able to tolerate it up to now, but I had to finally break down and seek medical advice. As of right now, I am getting alcohol injections in my foot, directly into the nerve, to attempt to shrink the neuroma. Unfortunately for me, my pain threshold is rather high, because the size of this sucker indicates that I have had it for a minimum of three years. In the past, every time I have felt this stinging pain in my foot, I go out and buy new shoes. I have a lot of shoes. The pain usually goes away, and I am off and logging my miles. This time, when I bought new shoes, the pain didn't go away. I'm trying everything to get through this issue, through tears and frustration, and hopefully I will. I'm taking MJ's advice, and biking instead during this taper time before the marathon.

On October 12, I will lace up, go to my starting corral (that I earned, by the way...) and do what I can to finish the marathon this year. I am hoping I will get through this, but in the mean time, the question remains, do I marathon this year? or do I call it a season and look ahead to next year.....

A Training Glitch

I don't have a race to write about today, but in a way, it will directly impact any races I do. I have discovered the trials and tribulations of marathon training. The more miles you log, the more aches and pains you get. In the last two weeks, the pain in my left foot has gone from "deal with it" to "unbearable" while I am running. On my 18 mile training run this past weekend, I had on my brand-spankin' new shoes, was totally psyched to get going, and convinced 100% that the shoes I had worn down to nothing were the culprit of my toes burning so bad they feel like they are on fire, around mile 8.

So, there I went through scenic, hilly, Waterfall Glen with my CARA pace group for our Saturday morning long run. I felt a little sluggish at first, just needed to get the old legs warmed up, get the blood flowing, and get going. We hit our 8:30 pace right on, then sped up a bit, then got back on pace. This followed suit for the first several miles, and I was fine with it. I like to vary my speed a bit on my training runs, just to get my legs used to the tempo changes. Around mile 6, I started to feel the slightest hint of a pain in my left toes. I disregarded it because it was minor, but, it didn't go away. We stopped at our water stop, and my toes immediately felt better. Good news. Once back on the trail, about 1/2 mile in, there were the toes again. This time, they were in full force inflammation. I decided that I needed to be tough and learn to "run through" this pain. By the last two miles of this run, yes, 16-18, I was in a tremendous amount of pain. I couldn't wait to get back to the trail head because I knew we had a physical therapist on site that day. Once we stopped at 18, my legs almost instantly cramped up, my toes were killing me, and all I could think about was....GEEZ! How am I going to make it to 26.2 with everything falling apart at 18!

Once back at the trail head, I talked to the physical therapist, and he immediately knew what the problem most likely was - Morton's Neuroma. A tightening of the nerves in the metatarsal arch. It causes pain up into the toes, and can require surgery to correct. He gave me some pointers, and this week, I am going to concentrate on keeping my feet healthy. I ran my 5 mile training run today, had some discomfort, but finally went out and bought the metatarsal inserts for my shoes. Tomorrow will be a big deal. If my toes still hurt, it's off to the podiatrist I go...but one thing is for SURE. I WILL FINISH THIS MARATHON!!! (And do it in under 4 hours......)

A Weekend Of Racing...or Just Running

Ahh.....Labor Day weekend. A wonderful specimen of weather conditions, and an OK weekend of racing, or was I just running?? Saturday morning at 7:00 am, I decided to run (or drive) over to McCullum Park in Downers Grove to run the St. Mary's 5K. This is the second year for this race, and I run it because the two little girls across the street go to this school, and it is the easiest way for me to do something to help their school raise money. So, I filled out my form, wrote my check, and headed over. I arrived in plenty of time, and to my surprise the folks from Runners Grove (my favorite running store) were there. Sat and chatted with them, then went to the race start. I had no intention of running a PR today, as I was still recovering from Accenture the weekend before. I started off fine, just felt so sluggish and tired. This was my first 5K since June! I have been running those crazy endurance races... Anyway, I was well on my way, and felt not too bad through the race. I almost forgot my 5K race strategy that I have used in the past, and even on this particular course. I finished the race at 23:54, not my best, but definitely not my worst. I guess it's time to get back to the speed workouts....might help me improve that time. I really want a 22 something by the end of this running season.

Then, Monday came. I rested by the pool all day on Sunday, but had decided the Thursday before Labor Day weekend to run the Oak Brook Half Marathon. Crazy, I know. But, I needed a 13 mile long run this past weekend, anyway, so why not just run a half? I wasn't going to race, I know I need to save my legs for the marathon, so I was using this run as a training tool. The day was gorgeous, and the run was fun. A little hillier than I expected for Oak Brook, and the paths we ran on were pretty narrow, considering the number of runners. I fell into a great 1/2 marathon pace, and just kept running. I got my nutrition dead on, and was on pace for a 1:45 finish time. Then, around mile 6, my left foot started to really hurt. I tried to ignore it and run through it, because this happens from time to time. By mile 9, though, I had to stop running. I actually considered, for the first time EVER, dropping out of the race. My toes had cramped up so bad, and my foot hurt so bad, I didn't know how I would go 4 more miles. I knew I needed new shoes, but the fact that there is absolutely nothing left in the forefoot of my shoes tells me to get shoes before I run another mile. I did manage to walk for a few minutes to let the throbbing subside, then I began running again. I actually got my pace back to where it was, but the time I lost threw off my finish time a considerable amount. I finished at 1:53:04, not bad considering I stopped and walked, but I will probably get new shoes....this week. I have an 18 mile run this weekend, and I know I can't make it through on what I have. Plus, I'll get those new bad boys nice and broken in before the Chicago Marathon! Now, all I have to do is decide what to buy....go back to Nike or move on......I think I might actually move on.