"Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you make the choice to keep looking ahead." -- Kara Goucher
According to my own math, I am 26 days away from my next race -- VA Beach/Shamrock Marathon. However, 18 days ago I "injured" my high hamstring. I use quotations around injured because I have not been to a doctor, but I have taken the advice of many of my running friends/gurus to assess the situation. RICE has become my best friend, I even started to like the 18-mile stationary bike rides -- mostly because I have FINALLY caught up with the current season of Serial and Modern Love podcasts --. But I digress, I am really writing this post because of a story a person I follow on twitter retweeted today. The story -- "How Social Media Killed My Run" -- a little ironic as I will post this blog on both Facebook and Twitter, has at least three really excellent points, but also a lot more than three. Below I will hit on those three and how it hit a little home to my current situation. I also want you to reread the quote on the top of this post -- it was today's quote from my MilePost app (it gives me an encouraging running quote everyday at 6 a.m.). Between the article, Kara's quote and me going to physical therapy tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. for the hamstring, I thought this post would be perfect timing. First "There was the time I pushed myself in mileage and pace too soon after an injury because I saw other injured runners jump right back into training. They returned from injury the same time I did. If they could do it, why couldn’t I?" This quote a direct hit to my current situation. Before Feb. 5, I only did not finish two of the 72 workouts I had logged during my training cycle. Since Feb. 14 (after I pushed through a 9 mile tempo run outside at goal marathon pace) I have been very cautious. I will admit I have been suffering from mild depression in these 18 days that I haven't been able to run. Mainly because my training cycle was going SO well, I was hitting pace times and this is the third time I have tried to qualify for Boston and gosh darn it if I wasn't going to make it. Trying to get fast is not only physically draining but very very mentally draining as well. Second "But bad runs happen to everyone. It’s a normal part of the training cycle. You learn as much from those experiences as the good ones because they force you to dig deep and find mental strength and confidence to persevere." I have had more than my fair share of bad runs both during this training cycle and throughout my running career. I believe running a marathon is about 60% physical and 40% mental, but a bad run is 100% mental. These runs build character; they allow you to break through the wall. Having a bad run on an easy day is nothing, but I've gone through a bad run on a tempo workout and the feeling of accomplishment when I finished was overwhelming. However, even a bad run is better than no run and what I would have given to have had bad runs instead of being on the stationary bike is indescribable. Third "Maybe we all need to share more of the bad along with the good to show the ups and downs and rich texture of what it means to be a runner, not just the perfect image." This sentence, the last one in the article, is what spring boarded me into writing this post. I have shared how hard a run was and still posted a photo after a race, but I have shied away from posting the time it wasn't a PR or more recently if I didn't qualify for Boston -- something I have set as my goal for my last two marathon. Here's the thing, the good the bad and the ugly all qualify as you getting your foot out the door and going on that run. The selfie, post run picture and time might not be the best or a PR, but you are lucky if you get to go on the run. I would like to go back to a point about the depression I felt during these 18 days. I have gone from feeling angry to acceptance back to anger to rationalizing the injury back to anger to completely breaking down and I am currently in a state of acceptance and taking it one day at a time. If all had gone according to plan, which I should know it never does, I would complete 108 running workouts before the race. But that won't be the case. I know at least 73 have been completed to the best of their ability, I have run the marathon distance seven times and I know with 26 days to go, I am hoping to make it to the start line. Getting to the starting line healthy is more than half the battle. I want and have worked hard to try for a Boston qualifying time, but I also know that if I cross the finish line over 3:35 (my BQ time) I will still get the same medal and have another 26.2 under my belt. A week ago I would not have had that perspective, I would have still be upset about my hamstring and potentially seeing all my hard work and dedication go out the window. Now that is not to say my physical therapist and I can get me back in time to go 100% on March 20, but it is to say there is more than meets the runner. So go on and share the bad run, the hard workout and the tireless effort it takes to drag yourself out of bed for that run. And as Kara Goucher has inspired me today, I chose to keep looking forward.
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Megan FloodMegan is 29 and a 14-time marathoner. She is hoping to Boston Qualify one day. She doesn't know exactly how this blogging will go, but she is giving it her best shot! Archives
June 2019
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Marathoning Megan