Twenty-three

I had to get in that last long run. I’ve spent the last few weeks in an involuntary taper (at least from the standpoint of running), and was anxious to get his final piece of my training finished.

It was an interesting dilemma, though. With tendonitis still making the top of my right foot too tender for shoes, going for a run seemed like insanity. If I ran barefoot like a Kenyan, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I needed my shoes!

To prepare for today’s run, I had to do the following:

• Kinesio-tape my lower back
• Kinesio-tape my right hip and IT band
• Kinesio-tape my right foot and ankle to prevent swelling
• Ace bandage my lower right leg, also to prevent swelling
• Creatively lace my right shoe and leave it loose
• Cho-pat strap left knee, to combat minor patellar tendonitis issues

Uh, yeah. Sounds crazy, now that I think about it. But somehow when you’re in the middle of all that, it doesn’t seem so completely nuts. It’s just what you do.

I had wanted to run to University of Houston as my last long run, but when I headed out the door I had no idea how long I would last, due to the issues with my foot. I told Dan I might be gone five minutes or five hours. One thing I did know, though, was that I didn’t want to be 10.5 miles from home in a questionable neighborhood and find I was having problems. So I went to Memorial Park instead, where I would never be more than two miles from home—easy limping distance, should things get ugly.

And as it turned out, all was well. The tape kept my foot from swelling, and the shoe was loose enough that it didn’t give me much trouble. I felt strong throughout the run, and the park was much less crowded than on a typical Saturday morning. Doing six loops was a bit of a mental stretch, but I reversed direction every other loop and had a nutrition schedule for each loop. That helped. It also helped that I hadn’t been to the park in awhile. I think if I had been up there once or twice a week, every week, like in the fall, I would’ve lost my mind. But instead, I just focused on getting the job done, and it wasn’t so bad.

I finished my six loops around the park, did a quick loop around the bayou (small loop), and headed home. I was pretty clear-headed, considering, and my pace was good throughout. I even had a little kick at the end!

So I’m definitely ready for the marathon, and now I just need to aggressively treat my tendonitis, get a couple of massages, and enjoy my taper.

Due to the challenges of the last two months (first my hip, then my foot), I don’t have a goal time for this race. I was quite capable of four hours before all this stuff started happening, but I hit the 18 mile mark today at 3 hours, so I’m guessing I’ll run the marathon in something between 4:15 and 4:30, depending on all the usual unknowables.

But really, I just want to get there healthy and finish. I’ve had something go wrong for this marathon every year, and haven’t made it to the starting line since 2001. I’ve got three weeks to heal my body and keep from getting sick. Three weeks of paranoia. It’s gonna be fun, kids!

Today’s Workout
23 mile run