Race #91
 |
| San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon |
I apologize for my tardiness in writing and posting this blog, but I will admit that it was because of an injury that I sustained during my last half marathon in November. I tweaked my knee and have been struggling with training and some pain in the knee that has a previous injury and has plagued me for years. I was feeling pretty dejected and worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my goal for reaching 100 half marathons by Mikie’s next birthday in September. The goal means that I basically have to run one half marathon a month. Running and training has been what has sustained me during the last 6-7 months since Mikie left me. It has kept me sane, it has kept me from staying in bed all day and keeping the covers pulled over my head, it has kept me from drowning in a sea of grief. So, I went into the race on December 3rd resolute that I would finish the race, even if I had to walk the entire 13.1 miles. It actually went better than I thought it would, although I still have knee pain and am seeing a sports ortho at the beginning of January. So, fingers crossed that I can get some answers and relief so that I can keep marching toward Mikie’s goal! But I knew this would be a tough race because of my injury, The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, it was cold at the beginning, but not so cold that it was miserable. And there was cloud cover for most of the race. My time wasn’t my fastest, but not too bad considering (2:31:48). I managed to run a lot of it and without too much pain, thanks to the BioFreeze stations along the way! I think that was my Mikie angel that sent those to me. And as always, Mikie was running beside me the entire way!
But after the race, as I was feeling sorry for myself, I remembered all of the injuries and obstacles that Mike dealt with in his half marathon journey—two back surgeries, open heart surgery, plus multiple injuries with his feet, quads, tearing his IT band, and the list goes on. So, I realized that although I need to be smart about not pushing it too much, if Mikie were here, he would be telling me, “Suck it up Nancy!” He would tell me to stop feeling sad about it and figure out how to make it work despite an aching knee. So, I decided to listen to my wise and persevering husband who never let an injury stop him! I have scaled back my training (since I am suspecting that part of the issue is overtraining), I bought a Peleton so that I can train without the impact on my knee and I am seeing a sports ortho to hopefully get some answers. So, we shall see.
My next race is the Houston Chevron Half Marathon on January 14th. If you get a chance, send me some good mojo that day, I will probably need it!
