It's clearly been a long time since I've posted here, and while there are many reasons for that, I won't bore you with them now. Let's just say that getting back on the wagon lasted all of a month before everything started falling apart, the very act of running became highly emotional, and my life became so chaotic that getting a run in at any time was next to impossible. Instead we'll just skip ahead in the narrative to this week and how the start of training has gone, and we'll pass on the months of grief and bad runs that contained various levels of crying (on the rare occasions that they actually happened at all.)
One of my earlier posts listed my training plan, which I charted out in a calendar and color-coded to ensure milestones were reached and success was guaranteed. After life finished laughing at my best laid plans, I decided to put away all training plans and lay on the couch licking my wounds and nurturing my grief. But during that time, ACS contacted me to let me know that I had raised enough money to qualify for free training, and so I signed up for the Chicago Endurance Sports marathon training program. (I had gotten many recommendations from friends who had used this training program, and let me tell you...they were right. There are simply not enough superlatives to describe the coaches, pacing staff, and environment they provide to their team, so I'll save it for another post.)
Upon signing up I received a training schedule for the 20 weeks I'd be in the program, and my first reaction was "I cannot do this." It really hit me then. I had to work on increasing my mileage from my simple 3 miles run for the occasional race to 20 miles before the taper begins, and that's just for the long runs. I went to that first long run feeling like I was way outclassed and doomed to be the worst and slowest one there. And while that first week was a hilarious disaster (fodder for yet another post), I kept to the schedule and even ran while away for a funeral up north. And amazingly enough, I started to feel stronger. I changed my diet, started drinking a lot more water (I mean, a lot more), and even did my time trial at home when I couldn't make it down to speed training.
But this Sunday things started to get hairy. I started Sunday's run feeling good, mentally and physically. But about a mile in I started to feel a sharp pinch in my groin, in an area I told my coach, "I can't point out without being arrested for indecent exposure." After a bit of discussion, followed by some stretching during water breaks, it started to loosen up a bit and the pinching eased off. But by about mile 5 1/2, it started up again with a vengeance, eventually turning into a persistent ache that ice, ibuprofen, and stretching won't alleviate. Thankfully today is a rest day, but standing on my feet all day at the store hasn't done me any favors. So tomorrow I go for a screening at Athletico to see if we can figure out what's going on. My fingers are crossed for a simple strain so I only have to take it slow for a week and then I can get right back at it.
I suppose it was bound to happen that I would get injured at some point given the physical changes that the body goes through during training. And the good thing is it happened early rather than the week or so before the race. But now that I've proven to myself I can run farther than I ever thought I could (last Sunday was 6 miles--my longest run ever), I really just want to get back on the road and get running again.
(Want to donate to ACS on behalf of Team Pancakes? Click here to go to my page and make a donation. For donations over $25, I will add your loved one's name to my race day singlet and will run in their honor. For donations over $100, I will dedicate one of my 26 miles to your loved one and will send you a ribbon with the dedication after the race.)
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