dwindling hopes of running the marathon

Nanazolie

I'm gutted...

I have trained for a year for this year's marathon, my first after 8 years (I ran 3 in the past). I had planed also to run the half marathon as part of my training.
All summer, I increased my mileage, following the 10% rule. I streched religiously. I swam and cycled as part of cross training. I wore my orthotics and switched to Birkenstocks during the summer.
Yet, I have been plagued with injuries for the last 3 weeks. It started with some niggling knees pains, like clicking noises, a weird feeling once I stopped running. I ran the Great Pink run with no issue, but that same night I had bad pains on the side of my left leg. Since then, my feet have been sore (I suffer with plantar fasciitis, but it's usually under control), the pains in the legs seem to be moving around: shin pains, ankle, knees...

I stopped running for 2 weeks, went back for a 8km run during which I did loads of streching, and my shin hurt very bad for 3 days afterwards. I use a foam roller, strech every day, ice, use a golf ball for my feet. I'm going to the physio again tonight, she'll certainly fix the sore muscles and I'll feel ok for a few days. I'll also have my orthotics reassessed

Needless to say, I'm devastated. Not so much about the marathon itself because there'll be others. But because I had planed to run it for a friend who recently died of cancer. I had started the training while he was still alive so it was pretty important for me to do it. I have also been raising money for the Irish Cancer Society and feel like a cheat. I haven't told people who supported me that I won't be able to run

That's all. Just wanted to share that with others who might understand me, because my husband and friends are not runners and don't see why I take it so much at heart.

az2wp0sye65487

I can relate.

I trained for DCM 2011 and broke my foot about 3 weeks before the big day.

Regarding raising money for the Irish Cancer Society - first of all well done; great cause. Secondly - you're not a cheat. If you're injured, you're injured! It's out of your control. There will be other marathons.

Maybe you can dedicate the next one to your friend. I understand you have personal feelings about it as you say your friend was still alive when you began training. It's obviously tough for you at the moment. But again, some things are just beyond our control and no matter how upset we get it won't change the outcome.

Best thing you can do is concentrate on recovering from your injuries and then set your sights on another marathon.

I don't know too much about what happens with sponsorship if you can't complete the race but it must have happened before. There must be some precedent. I'm sure people who sponsored you will understand and won't be looking to have their donations returned. If you haven't collected the money yet then maybe you can defer collecting it and explain to people that you want to put it towards the next event you complete after you're healed...

Best of luck with recovery.

rom

I know someone who raised money for charity for a parachute jump and just kept the money. Not a nice guy. He is a cheat. You are not. At the end of the day the race is not life or death and you need to take things in perspective. Why not substitute the event with an event you can do like a cycle because you are finding running difficult because of your injuries?

grasscutter

Nanazolie wrote: »

I'm gutted...

I have trained for a year for this year's marathon, my first after 8 years (I ran 3 in the past). I had planed also to run the half marathon as part of my training.
All summer, I increased my mileage, following the 10% rule. I streched religiously. I swam and cycled as part of cross training. I wore my orthotics and switched to Birkenstocks during the summer.
Yet, I have been plagued with injuries for the last 3 weeks. It started with some niggling knees pains, like clicking noises, a weird feeling once I stopped running. I ran the Great Pink run with no issue, but that same night I had bad pains on the side of my left leg. Since then, my feet have been sore (I suffer with plantar fasciitis, but it's usually under control), the pains in the legs seem to be moving around: shin pains, ankle, knees...

I stopped running for 2 weeks, went back for a 8km run during which I did loads of streching, and my shin hurt very bad for 3 days afterwards. I use a foam roller, strech every day, ice, use a golf ball for my feet. I'm going to the physio again tonight, she'll certainly fix the sore muscles and I'll feel ok for a few days. I'll also have my orthotics reassessed

Needless to say, I'm devastated. Not so much about the marathon itself because there'll be others. But because I had planed to run it for a friend who recently died of cancer. I had started the training while he was still alive so it was pretty important for me to do it. I have also been raising money for the Irish Cancer Society and feel like a cheat. I haven't told people who supported me that I won't be able to run

That's all. Just wanted to share that with others who might understand me, because my husband and friends are not runners and don't see why I take it so much at heart.

sorry to hear about your predictement

How many miles do you have on your shoes? If they are getting worn that could be causing problems further up the body.

In relation to the sponsorship, if it looks like you cant run the marathon you could always consider
1 perhaps maybe walking the marathon on the day if that doesnt impact your injury and maybe jog the last mile.. or something
2 perhaps converting your effort over to a sponsored bike ride away from the DCM, again if thats possible without impacting your injury
3 as others have said, postpone it and run the next one for your friend when your fixed.

Rantan

I wouldnt give up just yet...things always get a little crazy when the end is in sight..has the physio diagnosed anything specific?

you still have 5 weeks to the race...a lot can change in that time. ...have you considered trying to walk/run it?

groovyg

Alina Most Xenophobia wrote: »

I can relate.
Best thing you can do is concentrate on recovering from your injuries and then set your sights on another marathon.

+1

There is no point in running a marathon when you are injured as you could make the injury ten times worse. I met a girl last year who raised over 8 grand for Temple Street for the New York marathon and look at what happened there. The circumstances were outside her control and it got cancelled. I think she got to run it in the Phoenix Park in the end but its not exactly the same thing. You are injured so there is not alot you can do about it, other than get yourself sorted and when you are injury free focus on doing another marathon.

Nanazolie

Thanks for your kind words

I know I can't run it, I've been injured before and tried to run on it and ended up fully immobilized for weeks. I might be able to run part of it, or may be even walk the whole way. At the moment, I'm too emotional to take a sound decision. One day I have high hopes because the pains are improving. The next, I think that's it I will never run again. I guess I need to take a step back and see what happens in the next few weeks

Good point about the shoes. I didn't think I had run so much in the last few months, but I calculated I might have done 1000 miles. I check my shoes regularely, and they showed no sign of wear and tear on the sole. Still, I think it's time I get a new pair

grasscutter

Nanazolie wrote: »

Thanks for your kind words

I know I can't run it, I've been injured before and tried to run on it and ended up fully immobilized for weeks. I might be able to run part of it, or may be even walk the whole way. At the moment, I'm too emotional to take a sound decision. One day I have high hopes because the pains are improving. The next, I think that's it I will never run again. I guess I need to take a step back and see what happens in the next few weeks

Good point about the shoes. I didn't think I had run so much in the last few months, but I calculated I might have done 1000 miles. I check my shoes regularely, and they showed no sign of wear and tear on the sole. Still, I think it's time I get a new pair

i think its normally 400->500 miles for shoes so thats an avenue to explore for sure

tunguska

Nanazolie wrote: »

All summer, I increased my mileage, following the 10% rule. I streched religiously. I swam and cycled as part of cross training. I wore my orthotics and switched to Birkenstocks during the summer.
Yet, I have been plagued with injuries for the last 3 weeks. It started with some niggling knees pains, like clicking noises, a weird feeling once I stopped running. I ran the Great Pink run with no issue, but that same night I had bad pains on the side of my left leg. Since then, my feet have been sore (I suffer with plantar fasciitis, but it's usually under control), the pains in the legs seem to be moving around: shin pains, ankle, knees...

Would you consider ditching the orthotics? I was plagued by calve/achilles/plantar problems for over 2 years and I've only finally overcome all the issues by giving up wearing orthotics. Its too much of a coincidence that as soon as I ditched them the problems stopped. I mean you gotta be careful with the transition, take a step back with regards to volume but it could be something worth trying.

Red Belly

Last August I came down with pretty bad shin splints after training towards a sub 4 Dublin. I got a lot of physio, adopted the Galloway run/walk method and trained very conservatively in Set/Oct. I adjusted my goals and managed a 5min PB on the day (still a long way from sub4). I walked for 1 minute in every 6 on the day. Don't rule out still doing it. If you set a realistic goal you might still be able to do it. It sounds like you've done all the training and can now concentrate on just getting yourself right.

Rb