Back from SD Marathon

Been a while--final weeks before the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon were pretty strange. The Team in Training 20 mile major training run went fine--I didn't suffer injury and had a decent time. I was feeling pretty good about the race. Two days later I bent to get something out of a bathroom drawer--and my back went out. That took two days off training, but I came back strong after the rest and was feeling pretty good again, BUT two Fridays before the race I missed a step at at a caravan open houses (that I'd seen before, even!!) and hurt my ankle. Didn't realize how bad till I got home and took shoe off--softball sized ankle greeted me. No training for 3 days, then slow progress. Odd injury, so I didn't know how long recovery would take, but I did know when June 5th was---TOO SOON!

Fast forward to race day--taped ankle lightly. Sunrise didn't bode well for my knees ( they like to swell in heat), but I ran easily for 4 miles--gentle downhill in the crowds (over 30,000 runners this year). The second time I walked to drink, my left knee seized up--as it does sometimes. It catches walking, but running isn't as much a problem. At that point I knew it was going to be a long day. The knee stabilized in 3-4 miles, but I had to keep it wet to control swelling. Then the thigh on that side began cramping on longer runs. Surprisingly the sprained ankle that started all the drama wasn't that painful. Gave a twinge once in a while, but didn't slow me down. Rest of marathon was accomplished by pretty rapid running interspersed with walking and massaging thigh, then running again. It felt better to run faster than slowly. I ran out of gel blocks again and found myself eating a blueberry/pomegranate gel---OMG--yuk. But it didn't make me sick, nor did the sponsor drink (has whey protein--I'm lactose intolerant). By the time I approached the finish line I was ready. I knew I'd finish from early on--last year I didn't get confident until mile 22. Time sucked, but lines at porta potties were longer (how do you spell "rationalization"). I really felt I ran faster than 2010.

Long bus ride home--really stiff. The taping of the ankle for the race bruised the foot on the other side--that throbbed all the way home. Already planning how to do things better next time--need better watch, new scales to keep track of lean muscle mass and bicycle for cross training.

I bought new insoles at the Expo--still hunting the silver bullet that will make me younger and immune from injury--yeah, right! Don't smile--I'm still doing marathons at 63!

Took a walk down to Post Office today--a little pain, but felt good to move around. May start running tomorrow. It begins again. Forever Run!!!

Will get back to technology and real estate posts now--finished a couple of books and had a few random thoughts during the trip.

RW