Sunday marked the last long run in preparation for CIM. 23.5 long miles in which I began to have serious doubts as to whether or not I would be able to finish the training, let alone set a PR at CIM. I hit "a wall" at about mile 18 and it lasted until about mile 22. I began experiencing pain in my left knee at about the time I hit "the wall" and it would not subside. I fully expected the pain in my right foot to come back but alas no. A felt a twinge now and then but nothing serious. Certainly nothing serious enough to not allow me to make it through CIM with a decent finish anyway. Now I get knee pain....
Aside from the knee pain I felt great. The weather was a little cool but I was still able to run in my usual tank top, there was a slight wind but nothing that impeded speed of any kind and I felt strong and energetic. The course was flat with only slight rolling hills here and there. We were running out in the country (Ripon), among the orchards, the beautiful hills, and wineries and aside from being a little chilly, the day was beautiful. It had rained the entire day and night before and so the sky was a little overcast and the ground very wet. We were thankful it wasn't raining anymore but the ground had a definite excess of water.
The first and last mile were run in the mud which caked to the bottom of our shoes and made the running a little miserable until it eventually came off. The heavy rains from the day before had not only made the ground soggy and muddy but it had also brought out hundreds of frogs that somehow or another got killed out there on the roads. I saw dozens of them lying sprawled out there on the blacktop. I also saw one dead dog (he hadn't been there long), and two dead raccoons. All in all it made for an interesting run. Between the dead dogs, raccoons, frogs and the screaming pain in my knee I was able to convince myself to keep going despite the carcasses that lined the roads.
I was exhausted by the end of the 23. 5 miles and wanted nothing more than to soak in a tub with some Epsom Salts. The knee pain had grown increasingly worse and slowed me down quite a bit. I finished about 10 minutes over my expected finish time so I was disappointed and hard on myself but tried to reason it all out as I do with everything. A soak in the tub did wonders... trust me ....
I took the rest of the day off, enjoyed some good company and food and tried not to beat myself up about my pathetic pacing. Knees hurt most of the night and I had a difficult time sleeping. Legs just had the usual soreness from running 23 miles. Other then that, I felt great.
The next day I felt fine. No knee pain. No soreness. Nothing. I decided to go to Fleet Feet and have them check my shoes. I had put 215 miles on them thus far and did not see any wear on them that really warranted buying new shoes. I knew I could wear them in the marathon and be fine. If I did buy new ones I would have to put a good 20 - 30 miles on them before the race and I wasn't sure if that would happen since we have now begun to taper.
Long story short .... OK .... too late I know .....
I got some inserts. After analyzing my stride (yet again) Fleet Feet's assessment is that I need inserts and not new shoes. So I got the inserts. I will run the next three weeks in them and see if I can adjust to them enough so that I can run the marathon in them. I will eventually go see a Sports Medicine doctor and probably get some inserts that are specifically molded to my feet. For now ..... I have the generic ones. I will do my first run in them tomorrow. Stay tuned ...
I got some new socks too as I was complaining a little bit of pain in my toes. I always wear my Thorlo's and while they are seamless perhaps they have been aggravating my toes a bit. Who knows? So I will try out these new German-made socks and provide feedback at a later date.
For now, this mom, runner, teacher has got to get to bed so I can be productive tomorrow.
Fellow runners, run hard, run strong. I cheer for you when I see you out there.....
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