Marathon Training

Saturday was the first day of training for the Richmond Marathon. Here's a few of us at the meeting before the first run (from L to R: Heather, Kat, Niki and Allison).

Since there are a lot of people registered with the training group (I think they said about 1,000) they break everyone into smaller groups. Here's me and Heather and we are team Orange, obviously.

Here's Natalie and I.  We trained together for the Half Marathon last year.

To show you how many people are running on a Saturday (they have another group that runs on Sundays) here's the stadium during the meeting.

After the meeting, they went on the first run, four miles.  Without me.   Yes, I have suffered my first running injury - just five days before the start of training for my first marathon.  Ain't that some luck???

I'm terribly embarrassed at this injury.  It was self-inflicted, in that I thought I would experiment with a new running style when I went for a four mile run on Memorial Day.

Big mistake.

I over-worked or tore up my calf muscles.  I could barely walk on Tuesday and most of Wednesday.  Going up or down the stairs is agony, although it is getting better.  Just not nearly as fast as I would like.  On Friday, I attempted a little jog, just to see how it felt.  Running proved impossible.

It just so happens that I just started a book - Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey.  It was a gift from a friend of mine who saw it and thought of me.  :-)  Anyway, I finally started reading it.  And so far (I'm still in the beginning), it is about how incredible the design of our pain system is.  How it alerts us that something is wrong, and guides us in its repair.  It is actually quite fascinating and educational.

And right now, my calf muscles are telling me Ouch! and I need rest so that I can repair!


I don't think reading this book has much to do with my listening to my body.  My muscles aren't really giving me an option to not listen or to run through the pain.  I hurt.  Bad.  Walking down the stairs is still agony and I have to do it carefully (and preferably without carrying a child) so I don't set the recovery back.  I just hope it heals quickly so I can get caught up.  I will admit that I'm a little worried.  Tomorrow will be one week, and it is only a little bit better.  Resting the muscles is virtually impossible as a mom!!!  And when I can start running again, I'll have to take it easy.  That is NOT how I want to start training!  I have a lot of miles to run between now and November!  Not to mention what this inactivity is doing to my stress management.  It is now VERY clear to me that I need to run.

Talk about bad timing - for so many reasons!

On to other things...I have a killer week ahead.  Brandy is on vacation, we have an appointment in Norfolk with Harlie's plastic surgeon, and her heart cath on Thursday.  I know it might not sound like much, but since I have to go to school with Harlie, I have to have help with Cooper and Murphy.  And as a bonus, my car will be in the shop on Wednesday.  So, I'll get to ride the bus with Harlie to and from school.  That should be interesting.

I'm thinking I'm going to do a lot of blogging this week - as long as I can stay awake at the end of the day!

Well, that's enough of my whining for the moment.

Thanks for reading!
~Christy