The Boston Marathon - Part 1: PRE GAME!

April 19.  Arrival to Boston.  We made great time, leaving at 5am and getting to our hotel in Westborough at about 12:45 pm.  Jamie had a nap (he had driven most of the way ) and my very restless kids starting tearing the two bedroom apartment to shreds.  It started with hide and seek and turned into tag, and I decided that we needed to get out of there.  We headed into Boston to pick up our bibs and hit the expo.  My parents were NOT making good time, so we had to take them with us.  Note to self:  two kids under the age of 6 at an expo who have spent the majority of the day strapped into a seat belt watching movies on the iPad is a bad, bad idea.  They decided to run their OWN marathon in the convention center.  We lost them a few times.  They hid behind the expo curtains.  Susanna almost knocked over one of those 50 foot high booth dividers.  Sooo....  we headed back to the hotel and gave up on dinner.  My parents were there when we got back, and hadn't eaten either, so my mom and I headed out on route 9 to try to pick up some food as well as Easter treats.  We ended up getting lost.  Got back to the hotel at 10pm with beer and pizza.  Probably not the BEST carb-loading strategy.  Got the kids to sleep, played Easter bunny and finally got some sleep myself a little after midnight.

April 20.  I had every intention to go to a church for Easter, but that didn't happen.  Instead, we celebrated in our hotel, including a fabulous brunch in the lobby (with a lot of other runners -- about 109 of them, I believe.....) and then headed out to a park so the kids could burn off some energy and hunt down some plastic eggs.  Loved the little New England town we were staying in, and met a family from Hopkinton who was just fabulous.  They had a little girl Susanna's age and we played and chatted for an hour.  They said nothing ever happens in Hopkinton except the marathon!  I got a text from Tuan that said he was at the expo and that he'd decided he would run with me.  I had made plans to run with some of the people from DC Road Runners also hoping for a 3:30ish pace, but hadn't yet met up with them (actually, I had yet to run into ANYONE I knew) so Tuan and I decided we'd stick together and start with the other two if we actually found them.

We got back in the car and headed to Boston so my parents could do some sightseeing and we could pick up Tuan.  We decided to drive the course.  All 26.2 miles.  This is probably not a good idea to do the day before running it.  It was hilly.  It took almost an hour to drive it.  My daughter was complaining about how far it was.  At about halfway, she whined "I HATE BOSTON!  IT IS SOOOOOO FAR AWAY!"  I turned to her and said "Mommy and Daddy have to run there tomorrow."  She looked at me like I was crazy and said "Mommy, why would you do that when you could drive?"  Yeah, that's a very good question, isn't it.  Then we hit the Newton Hills, and I decided there were actually four of them.  This did not look like an easy course.

We had a hard time finding parking and only got a space we had to get out of by 6 (it was 4pm at this point), so we split up and Jamie and I met Tuan and decided we'd walk to the athlete's dinner and stop and check out the finish line area on the way.  We stopped on Boylston and tried the 26.2 Brew, which I REALLY liked and was bummed it was the day before the race because I would have liked to have more than a couple of sips (Jamie drank most of it) and then walked to the athlete dinner to get in line.  Except we couldn't find the end of the line.  We walked around the block... and the next block... and the next block... and the next block... and still hadn't seen the end of the line. I guess if you offer free food to 36,000 .... It was cold.  I was hungry.  My husband was really hungry and really cold and these are the two things that turn him into a gremlin.  I felt very sorry for Tuan because at that point, I think we pretty much almost got divorced right at Boston City Hall (this was, of course, my idea to partake in this dinner... he wanted to just eat at Unos on Boylston.... poor Tuan!) so we went down to the train station and discovered that there wasn't another train going back to Ashland for like two hours.  Soooo..... we called my Mom and she agreed to pick us up at Boston College, which was still like 20 miles from our hotel.  We got on the train and met a family who had gone to the pre-pasta dinner.  They had waited in line for an hour.  They said the food was quite good (salad, rolls, pasta, 26.2 brew.... all free...) and were carrying the dessert goodie bags containing Lindt Easter Bunnies and Toblerone bars....I was really, really, really hungry now.

At BC, we found a little pizza shop that served pasta.  It was greasy and not very good, but it was food.  We finally got picked up at 9pm, and were back to the hotel by 9:30.  I spent some time getting my race outfit ready, started getting really nervous, freaked out a little more, and finally got to sleep.

The Verdict....

....is IT Band Tendonitis.  I landed right where it connects to my knee during my fall, and it is apparently just a little angry.

I can live with that.  Normally that would not be super news, but I think I can keep it under control until the race.  At least I hope I can.

My immediate future looks like I'll be wearing an IT Compression Strap on all my runs, taking NSAIDs afterwards, and resting the day after long runs (and I only have one more long run) to give the IT time to calm down.  Also, the doctor prescribed massage.  Can't complain about being ordered to get multiple massages in the next few weeks!

Here is my IT strap.  Stunning!

I was pretty excited to not even feel my IT during this run.  Except right after I took my selfie, I did start to feel it, but it wasn't really painful.  Definitely improvement!

AND IT IS SPRING!  FINALLY!   I saw about 8 deer on my run in the woods, but I only could catch two of them before they hopped away.

18 more days and a doctor's appointment....

I finally broke down and made an appointment with my orthopedist.

It's been exactly four weeks since I fell.  My knee and hip are still popping all the time.  I still get some knee pain on and off during runs. And my knee and hip keep swelling up after hard workouts, with stiff muscles the next day.

The positive:  I'm not having, and haven't had, any major pain during a run. I've been able to go easy for 18-20 miles, I've even done some tempo runs at race pace without major pain, and aside from a few runs where my knee started bugging me with a very manageable ache, I've had no chronic pain.  When I had the EPIC fracture, the pain would start within a mile and just get worse as I ran.  Now, if I do get knee pain, it comes and then leaves as my leg loosens up.  I can hop on my leg and it doesn't hurt.

BUT the "payback pain" is so similar to what I had when my stress fracture was undiagnosed, but healing.  When I would run about two months into the healing process (and I never tried to go more than a couple of miles) it would feel okay but the next day my leg would lock up and I'd have an inflamed hip and knee, with snapping and popping in the joints.  Exactly the same feeling as what I had all day today.

So I called and made an appointment.  And I'm so, so scared.

I broke down crying this afternoon.  I'm terrified of another stress fracture.  I've been so good about not overdoing it, about taking easy days and rest days, and not running on anything that hurts.  And then I fall.

I was going to make today a rest day, but my husband told me to go out and run with the kids in the jogger, and to stop if it hurt.  They needed fresh air, and I needed that run.  I took some Advil and ran about four and half miles on the Accotink Trail.  I didn't go fast.  It didn't hurt, and it still feels good.

 Some days I have no doubt that I'll get to the starting line healthy, and other days (like today) I am convinced I have a major injury that is going to take months of rehab.  I'm not willing to race Boston if it's going to put me out for another season, so I am getting this checked out.

But -- please excuse the sappiness here -- it's going to break my heart if I can't run this race.  Jamie is running. My parents and children are coming to cheer us on.  And.. it's Boston. I worked SO hard to qualify for this race.

Selfish?  Maybe. It's just a race, right? Last year I put in the training cycle of my life, and got a stress fracture during the taper.  This year I have trained through the winter that nearly killed me -- can we say FROZEN -- I'm talking miles and miles on the treadmill, long runs with negative wind chills, far too many numb fingers and toes and honestly, unpleasant runs that I could only do with this goal in my head....  I want to cross that starting line, and that finish line, more than I can put into words.

Anyone training for a spring marathon through this Polar Vortex deserves a medal just for the training...

Anyhow -- virtual hand holding appreciated at tomorrow's doctor's appointment.  Fingers crossed that this is nothing major.

26 days ago go... just get me to the starting line.

I haven't written for awhile because I haven't wanted to admit what has been going on.  But, let's start from the beginning....

So it's been a snowy, snowy winter.  Fairfax County isn't the best at snow removal, and that means that every time it snows (which has been pretty much every week since December) there is no safe place to run.  I have spikes in a pair of running shoes but even they haven't been suitable for 6+ inches of snow that hasn't been plowed.  So a lot of my runs this year have been on the treadmill.  Still, I have managed to get in a really decent training cycle.

Three weeks ago to this day, I was just so sick of the treadmill.  There was no safe place to run in my neighborhood, and we'd been out of school for two days and had a delay on Wednesday.  Susanna's school opened on time, so I figured I'd be okay running on the well plowed sidewalk at the Merrifield Town Center after dropping her off.  I had 8 easy miles on the schedule, and needed to be at work by 10:40.  I looked at my watch when I had a couple of miles ago go, and decided to pick up the pace for the last couple miles.  I was on my 7th lap of the town center loop when I found myself sprawled on the street.  I don't remember falling.  All I remember was sheering pain in my knee and elbow.  It was so bad that I couldn't stand up. Some construction workers ran over to me.  "How did that happen?" I thought.  Then I noticed the black ice, in between two sections of sidewalk.  I was bloody and hurting, but I still needed to get back to my car. Running didn't seem to hurt too badly, so I finished up and remember thinking I was glad I didn't break anything.

The next day I stuck to the treadmill.  Running didn't hurt, but everything seemed to swell up afterwards.   5 easy the next day, and I felt okay. 22.5 -- the biggest run of the training schedule -- was on Friday.  I felt fine during the run but afterwards everything hurt.  I took the following day off and felt okay on Monday.

The next week started out okay with an easy run Monday. Tuesday I did speedwork in the morning, and then an easy 8 in the afternoon.  Again, everything swelled up the next day.  My leg hurt all of Wednesday but loosened up for the run.  Easy Thursday -- felt better. Friday easy, all good.  Saturday 18, and I was feeling great so I did 14 of that at planned marathon pace.  The next day my knee swelled up again. Did an easy 8 and didn't feel any better afterwards so I called my physical therapist.

She was able to get me in on Monday, and could see swelling.  She advised me to add a few rest days that week, which I did.  I did a great tempo run on Thursday, an easy run on Friday, and felt great for my 20 miler on Saturday, albeit sore afterwards.  Sunday I did a short easy run and again felt everything flare up again.

Monday I set off for a morning run with my friend Holly and although I had pretty dead legs from my long run, I felt decent... until about 7 miles in.  My knee, for the first time since I fell, started to hurt DURING the run.  It was the same area that has been swollen afterwards, but this time it hurt with every step.  I had ten miles on the schedule, so after I bid Holly farewell at the 8th mile, I slowed the run to a jog and felt much better.  I was able to finish without much pain, so I decided I would skip my speed session on Tuesday and just attempt to get in some easy miles.

Tuesday is track day, and I got in about 5 before the track session started.  I decided to see how a 1K repeat felt - it felt great!  I did it at a 6:40 pace, and did a slow lap around the track.  I did another one, felt great, another slow lap.  Took off for the third, and by the second lap I could feel my knee start to ache. I slowed it down to a jog again, and figured I'd just try to jog the last three I had on the schedule to get to 14.  Except the pain didn't subside this time when I slowed down.  So I quit.

I skipped today, and I am not going to even attempt to run until Saturday.  I am icing.  I am foam rolling.  I am praying.

I have worked so hard to train for Boston.  I want to run the race I trained for.  However, at this point, I also just want to run the race.  After sustaining an epic injury, I am terrified I will not even make it to the starting line.

I know, I know, I know.  Go see a doctor.  Get an x-ray.  Well, guess what.  Last year my doctor told me I was fine to run Shamrock, the x-ray picked up nothing, and I started the race with a fractured pelvis.  Excruciating pain ended my attempt three miles into the marathon, and even after that I didn't get a correct diagnosis for two more months.  Quite frankly, a "good" diagnosis from a doctor will not give me "peace of mind."  And quite frankly, every major injury I've had (pelvic stress fracture, Iliotibial Band Syndrome, Metatarsel Stress Fracture, and Plantar Facsaitis) I've managed to figure out myself and then had to ask the doctor if that is what I had, and I was always right.

It could be something that a a few days of rest will take care of.

It could be a fracture.  Since, after all, it's March, and that's when I seem to get them.  (And by the way, the only good thing about the month of March is that my daughter was born.  Did I mention that I slipped on the ice while running on my due date with her, and landed on my belly?  She was okay, and I was okay, but I rest my case that March is not the best running month for me.)

Anyhow - if you have any positive vibes to send to my knee, please do.  For now I'll be pool running for a few days with my fingers crossed.

Anniversary

Exactly one year ago... the Thursday after I ran the RRCA Club Challenge... I set out for a short little tempo run.  I dropped Susanna off at school at 8am on the dot so I could get in four miles before I had to be at an 8:40 meeting.  I was feeling fatigued and hadn't done any speed work since the race, and felt no pain on this run (or any previous runs) but could not get my pace below an 8 minute mile.  Defeated, I went to my meeting.  When I stood up, I was limping.  And thus began my epic injury that consumed thousands of dollars in doctors appointments, PT, and of course, lost race fees.

I had planned on a 12 mile run before work this morning, but my calf has been cranky, my right achilles has been tight, and my neighbor Holly who usually does these way-too-early runs with me is skiing in Utah.  When my alarm went off at 5:07am, I checked the weather -- 17 degrees with a windchill of 5 -- and rolled over to go back to sleep.  Running alone in those conditions was just not appealing...

At noon, I started to get phantom pains in my left hip.  Could they be real?  Every time I sat down, I was sure that when I stood up I'd be limping.  I decided that maybe I should take a rest day, even though last week was a recovery week and this week I'm supposed to be at peak mileage. Aside from the calf that seems to be getting better every day, I didn't really have a reason to skip the run.  Except then I'd feel another twinge... my right ankle this time.  Or maybe it was my left hip.  Or maybe my right foot.  Come to think of it, my knees kind of hurt.  And maybe my shin?

At lunch I googled "warning signs of a stress fracture."  And basically it said they come on without warning.  That would be right -- there was NO warning for either of the fractures I've sustained. They came on suddenly, the first during a marathon (far left metatarsel on the left foot, and only an 8 week layoff from running, during a time I would have been recovering from a marathon, so really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things -- plus it got me hooked on swimming and biking and led me to my first tri season) and the second when I wasn't even running (that being the injury I never, ever, ever want to relive..)

I spent the majority of my lunch break reading Camille Herron's blog on stress fractures.  She advised serious runners to take it easy most of the time... she said she had the most stress fractures when she was doing all high intensity runs on lower mileage, and the least on high mileage (averaging 120-30 per week!) when she did about 80% of her runs about 2 minutes per mile slower than her 5K pace.  My 5K pace is probably a little under 7 minutes per mile, and I have no issues at all with running 9s or even closer to 10s.  So I decided I would go ahead and try to get my mileage in -- slowly -- today.  I did the middle six miles with the Lululemon Run Club, and got in almost 12 total.  Walked in, ate dinner with my family....  I wasn't limping after dinner.  So I've officially made it one year post injury without another stress fracture.

I'm still flipping out.  This whole "stress fractures come on without warning" thing is a little more than scary.  Poor Paula Radcliffe, the marathon record holder, can't even jog more than a few miles at a time due to a stress fracture on her foot that never healed.  I read a recent article where she said that she just wants to be able to run for pleasure at this point.  She said she can't even run after her two children.

I've spent so much time in the past 2 years trying to better myself as a runner.  I want to push myself to the breaking point.. but not break.  I guess all of us out there who are trying to set PRs and get the most out of our "running years" deal with this.  How far can we push our bodies before they cry "Uncle!"

I want to reach the start line of the Boston Marathon.  Unbroken.  But ready.  It's hard to know where that magic line is.

RRCA Ten Mile Club Challenge -- Take TWO! (Race Report)

I’m pretty sure the RRCA Club Challenge 10 Miler was the last straw in my overtraining last year… the straw that broke the camel’s back my pelvis.  Four days after that race, which I ran on untapered legs and finished up with not one but eight cool down miles for a total of 20, I began to limp.  All that marathon training went down the drain, as well as any hope of running for the next four and a half months.  A pubic rami stress fracture is not an injury I would wish upon anyone – but it healed, and that experience is far behind me.

So why did I sign up for this race again?  Because it’s a great training course for Boston full of challenging hills and a well-organized event with a super fast field consisting of the RRCA groups in MD and DC.  Oh, and it was on a Sunday (a must for races this season, since I coach on Saturdays) and, well, the entry was paid for by DC Road Runners.  I shuffled around my recovery weeks so that this time around I would not be hitting peak mileage the days preceding the event.  Course redemption here we come. 

Jamie fell on the ice about three weeks ago and cracked a rib, so his training hasn’t been stellar but he told me last week that he still wanted to do the race.  We had the babysitter coming overnight since we were leaving before 6am.  So Saturday night I say to Jamie “We need to set up the guest room since Hillary will be here at 8.”  Jamie says “For what?”  I say “For the race tomorrow?”  He says “WHAT RACE TOMORROW?  I thought that was next weekend!”   I say “Um, no, it’s tomorrow.  Did you run this morning?”  He says “Yes, and hard.”  Well, at least one of us looked at our training plan.  Hey, maybe I’d actually beat him in a race for the first time ever.

We got to the race and I was still unsure of what shirt to wear, long or short sleeved. We did our warm up mile in the long sleeves,  and then headed to the gymnasium until 10 minutes before the start.    It was 42 degrees … figured I’d ditch the long sleeves.   I threw it in the car and jogged to the start.

Jamie and I stood there chatting and then got in place for the race (he up a little closer to the timing mat.)  Wait… TIMING MAT!!!!  CRUD!!!!  My bib…. and my timing strip….  was still attached to my long sleeved shirt… IN THE CAR!  You have got to be kidding me.  No time to go back and get it.  I figured I would just time it for my own sake.  Oh, I was so mad at myself!

This race is all up or down.  There is no flat in Columbia, MD.  So I had no idea how to pace myself.  Last year I ran a 1:16 and this year I hoped to break 1:15.  My goal was to hit 7:20s, but the first mile had a lot of downhill and I felt like I was barely working when it clicked off at 6:58.  That scared me a little, but this course was impossible to keep an even pace.  My Garmin consistently read under 7 for the descents, and would click all the way up to 8 or even a bit higher for the climbs.  They were relentless.  Up, down, up, down, up, down.  I am not used to the terrain and could feel it in my calves (especially the right one) by the third mile.  By the 8^th mile (which I think was my slowest mile at 7:40…  it was mostly up and I was ready to clobber whomever came up with this course) the right calf was really aching, and it hurt the rest of the race.  

My Garmin had been spot on with the mile markers and so exhausted as I was, knew after I hit 9 that I had just a few more minutes to go.  I concentrated hard to keep pace, and thought how nice it was that unlike a marathon, when you see the last mile marker, that really is it – one more mile.  No “point two” to mess with your head.  Except then my Garmin hit 10 and the finish line was still a good 100 yards away.  AURGH!  Darn you!  I did see the clock still was in the 1:14 realm so I sprinted hard.  Ended up with 10.08 by my Garmin, and 1:14:23.  The timing people were right there at the clock, so I immediately went up and asked them if they could record my time.  He said “Yeah, it’s okay, we had a guy come in a few minutes ago who also didn’t have his bib, but we saw when he crossed.  What’s your last name?”  I said “Lynch.”  He said “Interesting, so was that other guy’s.” 

Of course it was.  Of course my husband would be the only other person in the race to forget his bib. And of course, even with a broken rib, he still beat me.

It’s now  Monday, I tried to run 6 recovery miles at a snail’s pace, and I officially am sure I have a calf strain.  This race hates me.  Looks like I’ll be taking it easy for awhile…

TOTALLY Flattering Race Photography 

Jamie looks a little less pained.  And he's the one with the broken rib.

Finally smiling, because I don't have to think about that course until next February.

MESOCYCLE 1 - Done Done Done!

1/3 of the way through my Boston training plan!  I can't believe it there are just 12 weeks to go!  The first six weeks of the plan I'm following are endurance building, and has hardly any speed.  Aside from some strides thrown in the second half of weekday run, and the occasional 30 minute tempo, most of the miles are easy.  This is to get my body used to the high mileage before stressing it with intense workouts so I can AVOID INJURY!  Brilliant concept, eh? So far so good.

I am also making a valiant effort to keep the strength training going at least 2 times a week if not three.  I am going to do my best to make it to the Boston starting line in tip top shape, and with no pulled muscles or fractured bones.

Mileage build up has been:  54, 57, 59, 61, 65, and 69.  Next week is a "recovery week" -- ONLY 59 miles.  ONLY!

For the most part I've enjoyed my runs, and have been glad to find some great ladies in the area to do morning runs with.  Running really is my social life -- since I choose to put so much effort into endurance sports, that needs to be my social outlet as well.  It's nice to arrive home at 6:45 a.m. with my workout finished as well as some great girl gabbing.

This polar vortex things has got to go, however.  Seriously.  I know I don't live in Canada or Michigan or whatever, where they've had windchills of something insane like -65 and real air temperatures of -30.  Not even close, and I don't want to think about it.  And yeah, I grew up in Indiana but don't give me that "You're from the midwest" bull.  I've always hated winter.  I can handle running in 30 degrees, but once temperatures dip into the single digits, I can honestly say it's miserable.

Never before have I gone on a run where afterwards my thought was "I wish I hadn't done that."  Until Friday.  My regular Friday running buddy had 18 miles in her schedule, and  I had 8.  Our usual running route was covered in ice so we decided to instead run on Pickett St, a 1.6 mile stretch of road with well plowed sidewalks and good lighting.  I had done 11 miles there the day before in the sunny mid morning.  I figured it would be a little cooler so I bundled up with two pairs of wool socks, two pairs of running pants, two long sleeved tech shirts, a windbreaker, winter cycling gloves, a face mask, and a winter hat.  We began our run, and realized that the plowed part of the sidewalk was too narrow for us to run two abreast, so this made speaking to each other difficult.  A half mile in my lips were frozen despite my face mask, so I guess that didn't really matter.  At two miles I had to go to the bathroom and I realized I couldn't feel my nose or my wrist, which was slightly exposed, so I ran into the Cross fit studio owned by another lady in our running club.  Seriously, had we only gone two miles?  It had to be more than two miles.  Ugh.  Outside again, another loop which seemed to take at least an hour (although apparently only about 30 minutes) and I again couldn't feel my hands.  I ran inside Einsteins Bagels to warm up a little bit.  I made sure every square inch of flesh was covered up, and then continued outside for my final loop.  It was still dark out, the traffic was picking up and cars were blinding me with their head lights (I swear everyone had their brights on), and unfortunately there is a filling station for Semis on the streets so we were constantly getting passed by massive noisy trucks with stinky exhaust fumes.  The sun was rising by the time we got to the end of this loop, and my GPS was at 7 miles.  I still had one to go, but when my running companion told me she was done with her run (this being someone I swear can find beauty on ANY run.... except apparently this one) we both declared it the worst run ever and headed to our cars instead.  7.15 miles.  Not 8.  That's okay.  I can live with that.  I couldn't feel my fingers at all, so unlocking the car became an unexpected challenge.  Once I managed to turn on the ignition, I realized my numb hands couldn't maneuver the steering wheel, so I had to sit there with my hands on the heating grates until I could safely drive home.  After I was thawed out I checked the CURRENT temperature.  It was 6 degrees at 8 a.m. with a ReelFeel of -10.  So who knows what it was at 5:45 a.m. when we started.  I don't know how these people in Chicago train through winter because that seriously had me dreaming lovingly of the treadmill.

Today was a little warmer -- ReelFeel of 1 degree, actual temperature of 20.  I ran my first 14 miles with one of the runners in the group I'm assistant coaching, but after she left I had a really hard time finding any motivation, especially since as a coach in the program I can't use headphones.  There were still people out on the course, so I kept running until they all finished (at this point I was up to 19 miles) and then called it quits and got in the car.  After I'd thawed out a bit, I forced myself to head out the door and run the last two miles on my icy, frozen neighborhood streets.  21.  Done.

Ready. For. Spring.  And we're not even a month into winter....