Phoenix Marathon Race Recap

Marathon #3 is in the books. 

After my foot scare and getting the green light to run, the big worry going into race day was the weather.  All along we had planned on running in sun and heat.  Two storms were headed our way though and there was a 100 percent chance of rain for the Valley of the Sun.  And 15 mph winds.  I was pretty nervous, but then remembered that we have done all of our training in northern Arizona, where wind is an everyday occurrence.  And, who can forget when we ran 12 miles in the freezing, pouring rain on the day of the Christmas Parade?

The night before was very uneventful; drove to Phoenix, made a quick stop at the expo, carbo loaded at Olive Garden, went to the Gilbert house and laid out race stuff, and in bed by 8:30.  I think I slept pretty good until 2:30.  Then I was tossing and turning until my alarm went off at 3:45.  We left the house at 4:15 in time to get on the bus that takes all the runners to the start line at Usery Mountain Pass.

Usery Mountains photo courtesy Arizona Oddities

As the full marathon runners were loading the buses, some guy asked, "Is this the the bus for the fun run?".  Then as we were getting off in the middle of nowhere in the dark and wind, another guy said, "Are we at six flags?"  We had a few good laughs and lightened up a bit after that.  On the twenty minute ride to the start I ate my banana bread and banana and drank a bottle of water.  We hit up the port-a-potties right away, then found a place to sit down to get our wardrobe and gadgets finalized.

 
At this point it started to rain!  We dropped our gear bags off, put on our trash bag ponchos, visited the port-a-potties one last time, and made our way to the start line.  Just as we found the 3:45 pacer the cannons shot off and the race started. 

Miles 1-4 were downhill and easy peasy.  I said adios to Larissa after the first mile and settled in with the 3:45 pace group.  It rained for about the first 20 minutes, but I didn't mind.  It was a nice distraction.

Miles 5-6 were uphill, but I stayed on with my pace group and had a GU.  I couldn't believe how fast it was going by. 

Miles 7-10 I was loving life!  I was so happy to be running and felt great.  I ate half of my PowerBar and was still with the 3:45 pace group.

Miles 11-15 I started noticing some ball of foot pain and it was getting uncomfortable to run.  Not good.  As I passed the half marathon point I checked my watch, 1:51.  Not bad!  I finished my PowerBar and hoped the pain would go away like it did on my 20 miler a few weeks ago.

Miles 16-20 were into a headwind and now the top of my foot started hurting too.  I took another GU and knew my goal time of 3:45 was slipping away. 

Miles 21-25 I was miserable, wincing, and limping. I promised I would drop out as soon as I saw Jason or a medical tent.  But I saw neither and I didn't have a cell phone with me so I just kept trudging along.  I alternated between walking and jogging. 

Mile 26 I was in a sad and pitiful state, but when the 4:00 pace group came up behind me I said, "Oh heck no, not again!" and started running as fast as I could all the way to the finish line. 

I finished in 3:58.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I walked around the finishing line looking for medical help or Larissa, but could find neither so I did the worst possible thing for my muscles and sat down in a chair.  When I took off my shoe and saw what I had done, I started sobbing.



 

Just then Larissa walked up to me and immediately left to get medical help.  The people all around me were freaking out that my foot was broken and offered me ice and Advil.  They brought me a wheelchair to get to the medical tent and that was the most embarrassing thing ever.  How can I possibly run 26.2 miles but need a wheelchair to go 30 feet?  A doctor examined my foot and recommended I get an x-ray.  They gave me some ice and sent me on my way. 

 

I wish I had a different ending to this story.  My training partner (who did every single run with me for 18 weeks) ran a 3:34 and qualified for Boston; I limped across the finish line and may never run again. 



 

Injuries Make Me Sad

Apparently I have metatarsalgia.   It's a vague term that means the ball of your foot hurts.  I first noticed it on a recovery run on a Thursday.  Then on Friday we went to the Open House of the new LDS Gilbert Temple. 

It was amazing, but I didn't do myself any favors by wearing high heels.  We had to wait in line to get in and had to go on lots of stairs.  That means there was a lot of time on my feet, with pressure right on the ball of my foot.  I didn't notice any pain at the time, but the next morning at about 5 miles into our 12 mile long run, the ball of my foot started hurting.  By the end it was excruciating and I could hardly walk into my house.  Foot pain was something I wasn't familiar with, so naturally, I started Googling my symptoms.  For the next few days I drove myself crazy trying to find a name for what I had.  No luck.  I ran on Tuesday and about 4 miles in it started hurting again.  So I Googled some more and decided to skip my next two runs and in hopes that it would be better by Saturday.  Just in time for a 20 miler. 

I'm trying Dr. Scholl's Ball of Foot Pads for now.  My foot hurt off and on for the first 5 miles but then seemed to do okay. 

 

And if that isn't enough to deal with 3 weeks before a marathon, might as well throw in some IT Band issues as well.  Oh, and some shin splints. 

 

I haven't had an IT band flare up in over a year so to say it took me by surprise on the 20 miler would be an understatement.  I'm not too freaked out about it yet, because it was just one incident and I have been slacking on my IT band exercises.  Luckily I came across this little gem to help. 

 

My left shin has been bothering me off and on since June.  Again, I've been slacking on my regimen so I need to be diligent about doing that as well (things like rolling my foot on a golf ball, stretching my calves, wearing compression sleeves, ultrasound). 

 

I don't know if this has any significance, but just before all of these injuries started popping up, I got new shoes.  I researched for weeks and finally came to the conclusion that the Brooks PureFlow 3's were going to be my next marathon shoe. 

 I wore them on a few easy runs first, and then the 12 mile run (where the metatarsalgia flared up) and the 20 mile run (where the IT band tightened up).  Note that I did not wear them on my amazing 19 mile run.  It could just be coincidence, but at this point I'm not interested in testing them out any further.  My running store, RoadRunner Sports, has a "90 day wear them and exchange them" policy, so lucky me, I am returning them and getting what has worked for me in the past.  Say hello to the Saucony Kinvara 4

I don't know why I seem to get injured so much.  I feel like I am doing things right (cross training, strength training, easy vs hard days, rotating shoes, and rest days) and yet I still get injured.  Some things are just out of my control, but I am going to do what I can in these next 2 weeks to give my body the best shot at being healthy and rested for the marathon.

-rest and sleep more

-healthy, nutritious food (no processed sugar for the month of Feb.)

-it band and shin splint regimens

-trust in my training