As it turns out, the foot pain I was having during the last miles of the marathon…yeah, I broke my foot!
I had some pain entering around mile 20 but just kept pushing it down and considered it mental. My foot was a little swollen at mile 23, but I put my shoe back on and kept going. Very slow, but moving. And not only did I finish, but I ran the last mile and three quarters. At the time, I really thought it was just sore from running. I had no idea the reality! Turns out, I ran at least 5 miles on a BROKEN FOOT! So it was back in the boot within three days…every day. Every minute (except for showering and sleeping) was spent in the damn boot. I came to HATE the boot. Even after my Christmas party when my friends lovingly, and drunkenly, bedazzled it for me. Still. Hated. Boot.
Bedazzled! And if you are wondering what the heck I am wearing…it was an Ugly Sweater party!
I had plans post-race. And a lot of them. I expected to take two weeks or so off from running, but intended to be fully engaged in other workouts and be racing again by the first of the year. Instead, I had a broken foot. No working out, period! This, coupled with some personal things I went through directly following the race, left me somewhat devastated. I couldn’t work out and I didn’t want to do anything. Or, I should say…I didn’t want to do anything but be angry and throw pity parties for myself. I threw lots of these parties (sometimes, still do) and spent a lot of time thinking about what to do next. It was so hard for me to process that the marathon was over. I was burnt out but at the same time I was craving to be on the road again. And I couldn’t. I really think part of the burnout was going from having such a rigid schedule to having almost no schedule at all. What I had was a friggen broken foot!
I was in the boot until the second week of January. But it wasn’t like I could just up and run again. It was a slow, slow, slow process. It was another three weeks in a brace and only sneakers for weeks after that. The first day I wore regular shoes, I was so excited. My first run was a 1/4 mile. To date, I still haven’t had a run over three miles at one time. Most runs are two miles. I coach softball and run 1/4 mile with my girls every day and once a week we do the mile.
As for other workouts, I lift. That is about it. Lifting.
I haven’t been outside on a bike since the disaster at Belmar. I have swam all of three times this year. Spinning? Nope. Pilates? Nope.
It is April!!!! Time to snap back into the program over here!!! I have a 4-mile race planned for the end of this month, but it is highly unlikely I will go through with it. My main focus is on learning to fit in the workouts that I once so easily made happen. In the last four months, that time has all been filled and now I need to re-focus and re-balance. I am going to continue to take it slow. First re-work pilates into the mix and then swimming. If I don’t get on the bike at all this year, I will be okay with that. Seriously.
I do not have any tri’s planned this year. And I only have two half-marathons planned. I think I’ll probably do a few relay tri’s, as the swimmer, because I really do love swimming. The deal is…I really don’t like biking. Never have. I tried…for years, and I still don’t like it. I really want to stick with running this year. My real focus is on staying healthy (emotionally, mentally and physically) and not getting burnt out. I have spent three seasons in a row battling some type of injury. I think that is another reason why breaking my foot set me back so far. As if the burnout from the marathon wasn’t enough, I was injured yet again. I feel like I am always in recovery. I am done with that for right now; I need a year of good running health.
So what have I been doing? Well, that is another post for another day…
Finishing is Winning 