The good news and the bad news...

Well, I drew you in with the positive title.  Really, for me, no positives to be found now.  Warning, I write how I think, not pretty.
I will not be racing at my first Boston Marathon.  I have shed more tears over this than one would think should be rational but those people don't know what I've put in to this.  The runs in the dark alone (the Dane was injured early on), the runs in the rain/wind/cold, the runs dealing with niggles and trying to rationalize if they are truly just niggles or real issues.  I've run only one marathon (stand-alone, non-ironman......totally different) and training for that (short build up, coming off injury) went as well as could be expected.  I had 15 weeks to go from zero to 26.2 for a Boston qualifier and I accomplished that even though I paced horribly (but learned).  I knew with a longer build up, bigger things (read, better times) could happen for me.  I am a relatively decent runner who has been deep into triathlon world for the past 20 years.  This is not a bad thing but I have not had a lot of run miles in my legs.  Feeling that I haven't bashed my legs for the past couple decades, I could expect to build things up and hold some decent marathon training miles.  I did really well for about 12 weeks.  I am 45 after all and quite frankly, shit happens.  That's what happened to me.  I think the fibula thing started me looking after my body a bit.  Saw a chiro and found that I had a lot of things out of whack, my fibula likely being the worst.  In my aggression to maintain hard-earned fitness, I did some stupid shit in the pool and really fucked my left hammy.  Yes, the one I tore back in '09.  Good news is, I didn't do it running. Bad new is, well, it's hurt.  I may be jogging some by Patriots Day but I will not be racing.  I hold back tears typing this but. as in all things, tomorrow is another day.  I will visit Boston and cheer on my Dane as he lives the adventure I have dreamed about since 12/17/11.  Cheer loudly I will!  And, visit pubs along the way I will!  Hey, I'm lucky, I will get all the gory details about the course without actually experiencing it.  I will, one day.  Bet on it.  I'm already planning my next Boston qualifier.....
Cheers

Blindsided

Well, I never thought I'd be in the spot I am 4+ weeks out from Boston marathon.  Injured.  Like, still cannot run.  I never saw this coming.  I am incredibly diligent about doing my "prehab" exercises to prevent injury.  Damn.  The original problem (I now have 2 injuries, awesome) was very vague pain in the left proximal fibula.  Didn't hurt to run, just something I noticed walking around.  Started icing and reduced a few scheduled workouts just prior to Suncoast Classic 10K just to be careful.  I was perfectly ready to pull out of the 10K if I had pain but I didn't...until afterwards.  Well, I haven't really run since.  Had ART session last Friday and we didn't feel it was a stress fracture based on his findings; I was encouraged to run over the weekend and see how it went.  Tried on Saturday, it didn't go well.  And, I found that I (I guess swimming with fins) managed to tweak my left hamstring (the same one I tore in '09).  Damn.  Yup, full meltdown ensued and the pity party went until Sunday.  Decided no running until/unless I have no pain/discomfort/awareness walking for a couple days.  Today was the day to try.  Even went to the gym to get on the dreadmill in case the pain wasn't really gone.   Well, both things hurt at a snail's pace so said a few choice words and hopped off.  I am now hurting again in both areas. Ugh.  Totally suboptimal.  I will see ART guy again and decide if (likely) imaging will be the next step to see if I have a stress fracture as this will require different approach.  It currently isn't very likely that a marathon will be run by me on 4/15 but I'm trying to hold on to what little positivity I have, and believe me, it's dwindling rapidly.   Pity really, because training was going perfectly for a really good marathon.    Well, we'll see how the next couple of weeks progress and go from there.  On a good note, the Dane's heel seems to be improving so he is making a push to get more mileage in now prior to taper.  Wish we could be healthy and training at the same time!  I do make a great cheerleader.

Suncoast Classic 10K and niggles

Well, another great race in the books.  Suncoast Classic 10K was yesterday in St Pete and was yet another great year for this event.  I had a race pencilled into this weekend for my Boston program and wouldn't miss this one for anything!  Weather was sketchy with cold front moving in (hopefully the last one for the "winter"), cool with pissing rain once we got going.  I normally dress well for this but, damn, I got cold during the race with the rain!  Anywho, I had a race plan in place, wanted to go out in 6:20/mile and hold, hoping some competition would push me under that pace for a good overall time.  Well, I did average the pace I wanted but ended up running by my lonesome for about 5.5 miles.  I was cold and a bit mentally spent at the end!  Physically, I felt pretty good but I think it's hard (for me, anyway) to race solo vs being in a dog fight sort of race.  Ended up in 3rd overall (women) which I was pretty happy with.  Decent time but felt with more pressure I could have gone a bit quicker.  Happy nonetheless.  The Dane got to race again too which was positive for him (and won Grand Masters!).
I did skip long run today with weird/concerning pain in my left upper fibula.  I have had a stress reaction on my right fibula in the past so I'm not going to ignore this niggle!  Hopefully, a couple days off (which I don't want to take, ugh), will make this resolve but I will be very attentive to this!  That said, if I had stopped my training for every thing that hurts on a day to day basis at this age, I'd never get out the door!  Practicing my patience ahead of Boston......hear that will come in handy on race day!
ugh, cheers!