The Hits Just Keep on Coming

I just can't catch a break!!

I sat out three weeks while waiting for the shin splint to get better. I started back running, albeit slowly, for exactly one week, when I was struck by the flu and then had to sit out yet another week. I ran for 3 days during that one inbetween week and was very discouraged with how much endurance I had lost during that short time. I had just gotten back up to 3 miles continuous running when I came down with the flu. I was so sick the entire week that it was a chore to get out of bed, much less hit the pavement. I managed to get out yesterday and struggled to complete 3 miles, and had to walk a good portion of it. This whole past month has been very frustrating and annoying. I just can't seem to get healthy long enough to find my groove again. I've already had to bail out of 3 races I intended to run-- the Sarasota half marathon, the St. Patty's Day 10K, and now the Iron Girl 10K on April 5th. Unfortunately, because of the time I was out sick, there's no way I can be at 6 miles in two weeks.

I guess the good news in all of this is if there was time to lose to injury and illness, this is it. I would hate for this to have happened during marathon training in the fall when I can't afford to lose 4 weeks of training.

Speaking of the marathon, I'm officially registered! 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon, here I come! The race is already at 50% capacity, and the half marathon is already full. That is how big of a deal Disney Marathon weekend has become. I'm so excited about the prospect and am very glad I have lots of time to get back to where I was before the push to go beyond.

Here's to good health and injury free running!

Down, but not out

Update on the last entry-- the leg problem was tendonitis, not a fracture, which was good news BUT the doc still recommended I stay off of it (no running at all) for at least 3 weeks. So after 3 weeks of elliptical gliding and biking, I finally took my first short run on it yesterday. The run was great, no pain at all, and though I felt sluggish I think I could easily be back to my former glory. I'm going to take it easy though and NOT push it, though I really want nothing more than to go out there and blaze 6-7 miles. I'm going to wait two more days before I run again, and it will be for another 3 miler. This morning I woke up with a little pain/twinge in the leg, but it quickly departed after I was up for awhile.

Now I'm just really worried that when I start upping the mileage again, the pain will come back. I'm trying everything different I can think of doing... running on the pavement instead of the sidewalk, wrapping my leg with an ace bandage, wearing an arch support pad. This has been so frustrating all around! I hope it goes away and stays away!