Hey guys,
Sorry I’ve been a bit AWOL the past couple of weeks –> it’s been a pretty big life change! I’ve moved counties, moved home and moved jobs and it’s taken a little while to adjust to it all but so far it’s going really well and I am loving this new adventure!
It’s now just over a week until my Marathon and I’m not in the place I would like to be.
Two weeks ago I did my first proper half marathon of the year –> it was a great course with lots of potential for a PB. So far my hip has held out so I didn’t want to push it so close to the marathon —> I knew this Race wasn’t going to be a PB for me and I didn’t want it to be. This race was proof that I could run 13 miles comfortably.
I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 26 minutes –> an average pace of 11:16 a mile. This pace was comfortable and I didn’t feel like I was tired by the end of the race.
The only thing that was bugging me was my ankle. The entire race was on a camber which means my ankles were at an angle the entire time —> the next day they were killing and I could barely walk on one.
During the week I tried to run a few times but it just wasn’t happening. There was a weird shooting Pain and my legs felt extremely achy and painful. I tried strapping up my legs in the hope that that would help them but a week after my half marathon, my legs still weren’t right and I could manage to run 0.8 miles before the pain became too much to bare.
I am completely devastated –> I’ve trained for the past 5 months, battled shin splints and illnesses so it would be completely heartbreaking to have to pull out of the marathon when it’s so close.
I went to a physio yesterday and she said that my issue was my IT band –> after half an hour of horrendous pain, my legs did start to feel better and although they feel bruised, I feel much more hopeful than I did before. Although the marathon means everything, I know my health is much more important and I need to put that above anything else.
On Sunday I will be running again –> after having a week off it will be the decider run. I have set myself a target of 5 miles –> if I can run 5 miles without any pain, I will do the marathon but if the pain is still there, I will have to call it a day and accept that I’m not in the right place to run. It is a massive decision and one that I know will be extremely hard but I know there will be other opportunities and I know I will eventually run a marathon when my body is ready.
Does anyone have any experience with having IT problems?
Does anyone have any tips / advice please? So far I’ve been advised to put cold packs on it, foam roll and I’ve upped my protein (sorry to all the veggies out there but I am back on the meat, just for the moment)
L x
