Monday, April 13, 2015

Goodbye 2015 Marathon :(

I hate that I have to write this but Amanda and I decided that it's in both of our best interest if we call it quits for trying for the full marathon in May. She's been battling some serious ankle pain, and I still have my issues with the stabbing ache in my foot so it puts both of us out of the running-- literally.

We both originally thought that the injuries were minor enough to just rest from time to time and keep an eye on them, but it turns out there's a little more to them. I had hoped to push through the rest of training but foot pain is something I have never contended with, and something that I greatly underestimated.

I'm not proud of it but I have pushed through many painful injuries in the past when I probably should not have. Again, I'm not proud but I figured I could do the same with my foot pain. Dumb idea, I know but I really, really, really wanted to run that marathon.

I've dealt with leg muscle pain like in my quad or hamstring, knee pain, an IT band injury, shin splints, as well as stress fractures in both shins. Well, let me tell you that this foot pain has put me out of running more than any of those. Turns out, you can't really run through a pain in your foot. I thought I could push through but that hasn't worked out so far. It's not that it's more of an intense pain than any of the others (IT was definitely the worst, like I would limp during runs) but it has to do with the location of the pain.

In case you didn't know this, but you really need your feet to run. Surprising, right? Anyway, since my foot takes a majority of the pressure and absorbs the impact during the run, any pain there really seems magnified. It was too much to try to push through, and that little voice of reason in the back of my head kept growing louder saying it wasn't a good sign that I had pain to push through in the first place.

It comes down to one simple fact. A choice more like it. Either I can choose to sacrifice this chance to run a marathon or I can choose to sacrifice a lifetime of running. I'm not saying that running this marathon with my foot injury could potentially never let me run again, but it's those kind of choices that can. I wanted to run that marathon, I really did. But it's not worth risking a much worse injury.

I'm a runner to my core. I didn't know it until about five years ago but now that I've found it, I will never let running go. I need to make the best choices for my body, and that marathon isn't it. I'm able to handle shorter mileage runs (under 5 miles) once or twice a week that don't aggravate my foot, and I can do other workouts like HIIT, spinning, and lifting. So for now, I'll focus on those and some day when I'm ready, that marathon will still be waiting. 

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