This is it one more day until the marathon. This time tomorrow I will be out on the course. Later this afternoon I'll be at the DFMC pasta party. I created a spectator plan for my parents and picked them up some DFMC cheering pom poms and megaphones at the DFMC check-in Friday so we are all ready to go.
Before I got to this point I've had some anxiety in the final days leading up to the race resulting from the injuries I've suffered over training this year. As marathon weekend grew closer I began to become more concerned about my knee and ankle pains. My anxiety grew in large part due to my DNF in Shifter's 5K due to stabbing pain in my right IT Band. Despite shutting it down completely after the race, my IT Bands on both sides grew tighter, ankle pain started to return along with the inner knee pains that brought me to a PT for the first time at the end of January.
Steph recommended I add ice baths to my ibuprofen regimen. The thought of this was shear insanity but I have used them in the past post marathon to help with soreness so I decided to give it a shot. I stopped at Stop and Shop on the way home Thursday bought a 10lb bag of ice and filled the tub with cold water for a 20 minutes soak. The human body is pretty smart as the mere attempt of getting in an ice bath evokes an instant flight response. . .but in I went.
Next up was an appointment at the PT on Friday morning. My PT sessions had ended due to waiting for an insurance company extension but by Wednesday I couldn't take it any more and made an appointment for Friday morning willing to pay out of pocket for some pre-marathon ultrasound therapy on my knees. I received the ultrasound and some ice, but unfortunately the manual therapy on both of my IT Bands just prior was unbearably painful. Probably a 9 or 10 on a 10 point pain scale. Not what I was bargaining for. My IT bands were tender when I left and I iced them through the morning. They did seem a lot looser so I was optimistic UNTIL . . .I noticed the gigantic bruises that had formed on the outside of each knee in the afternoon. Seriously it looks like I was beaten with a baseball bat on each knee. I showed my mom and the seamstress at my wedding gown fitting yesterday and received two gasps and wince faces in response. This after I broke down in tears Saturday morning due to my anger both at the PT for doing something so severe to me knowing I was running Monday and also at myself for not having the common sense to tell her to stop when it hurt so bad.
Concerned about the bruising I made another Stop and Shop run Friday night for ice for another ice bath. I could barely touch my legs in the vicinity of the bruises and had to be sure not to lay on my side Friday night as I slept. Merely rolling over on them work me up.
After my breakdown Saturday morning I decided to have yet a 3rd ice bath of the weekend. This one sans ice and just cold water . . .it was almost as cold temperature wise as the ice version. Since the marathon is a good part mental I needed to do something to take my mind off thinking I was going to DNF due to the PT's brutality. After the wedding dress fitting Dave recommended an easy spin on the Arc Trainer or Bike at the gym to use my IT bands to keep them lose and prevent them from forming adhesions as they heal from the PT session. I was really nervous about following his advice out of fear of a bad workout would only make my mental state worse, but I trusted his professional judgement and out the door I went with some new music on my iPod. Luckily, Dave's plan worked well. I felt great on a 20 min Arc Trainer session and ran a mile on the treadmill with no pain. The result a boost in confidence that I CAN do this and I WILL. I supplemented my workout with some good stretching and foam. Yay! So back home to my 2nd ice bath of the day with ice this time and off to bed early.
This morning the bruises look a little better, yet I expect still shocking to someone who hasn't seen them. Another cold water only ice bath this morning and off to do a last minute errand for some body glide and sunscreen. One more ice bath with ice this evening and off to Hopkinton tomorrow.
You can monitor my progress online at baa.org My bib number is 22978. The BAA web-site shows splits every 5K and the 1/2 marathon and finish lines. Or you can text RUNNER to 31901. In response to the prompt you can enter my bib number 22978 and you will receive SMS text messages when I cross the start, 10K, 1/2 marathon, 30K and the finish.
And of course there is still still to donate to DFMC. Just click on the link up at the top right of the screen. My total is 6,386 still short of my original $7500 goal. Please help push me over! See you at the finish!
No comments:
Post a Comment