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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

I have this race on Sunday.

I've been injured for so long that I might miss the Louisiana Marathon for the second year in a row! Last year, the director was kind enough to give me a deferral when I thought I had a torn hamstring*. But I don't want to ask him to defer it again - I think I'm already pushing it. So the race is coming up Sunday, and I need to decide what to do:

1. Run the full marathon, which I'm registered for. HAHAHA. I could barely finish ten miles on Saturday. That's a no.
2. Drop to the half, which I think I can do, but probably can't do well. I have not added any speed in yet, and I'm feeling quite slow all over. Maybe pace a member of my group who wants to do something reasonable, like break 2 hours?
3. Skip the whole race. It's in Baton Rouge, it's early in the morning, and there's no race day packet pick up. It's an ordeal for an event I won't really do well in.

As far as injury risk if I run it, I know better than to do the full at this point. I don't think I'm at risk if I do the half: I'm up to 12 miles since the injury, and I'm not running fast at all, so that won't contribute. But just so you all are aware, I'm still not 100%, nor do I think I'll ever be. I feel like my left leg is always going to be a problem, especially the adductor, so there is some risk of injury with every single run. That's just a nice depressing thought I like to keep in the back of my mind to ruin every run, race or no.

Pretend you're me. What would you do Sunday?

*Newer readers: Five months later an x-ray revealed a femur stress fracture. Either way, couldn't have run the race!

15 comments:

  1. I would do #2. Drop to the half and do it easy and fun or pace someone.

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  2. I'd go for pacing someone…fun, happy medium way to stay involved. DON'T do the full! : )

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    1. You are not amiss to tell me don't do the full ;-)

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  3. I would not do the full. I would do the half for fun, if you think you can find some fun in it. At FIRST sign of pain, I'd drop out. Now, I am not in your body and I don't know your tolerance to pain, but I would definitely err on the side of caution. If it's not an important race to you, then it's better to skip it than affect the races that matter the most. Sometimes, stressing about an event is as bad as the injury itself. Take it easy and whatever happens, don't let the guilt get to you.

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  4. I would do the half for fun. I enjoy "racing" so much more now that time doesn't matter to me.

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  5. You are up to 12 miles, congrats!! I would pace or drop to half and try to keep it slow for speed. Maybe make a goal of running it at exactly 2 hours or something like that? 2:00:00.00 :)

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  6. Looks like I'm in the minority, but I say skip it. The no race day packet pick-up is what would kill it for me.

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  7. Hmmm, so I'm Grace, interesting ... I would probably wake up first thing and try on a dress I bought for $0.47 because it was such a great deal and sooooo sooooo cute!!! Then I would be very excited because my beloved Saints play in the Championship game in a few hours, oh wait. Probably bake some cookies, or a cake or something. Talk about my adorable niece (I think niece, it might be nephew). Finally, drive to BR and run as fast as I can, probably PR, and place very high in the women's division without even being in top shape, but then get analyzed the following week for a fractured femur or humerus or whatever the leg bone is ... BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU DO!!! Why is this even a question? You know if you go run the half you'll push yourself harder than you need to at this point. I say DON'T RUN AT ALL!!! You seem to be recovering very nicely ... why risk messing it up? Anyway ... you asked. Who Dat!

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  8. Jim fricking nailed it! lol! You know you are going to run the half too fast, so why are you asking us our opinions? lol!

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  9. I would do the 1/2 but try to not overdo it and 'race' it if that is at all possible... good luck!!

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  10. Honestly, if it were me, I'd probably just skip it, just because I am so ambivalent about I'm-racing-but-I'm-NOT-racing -- I either end up running harder than I mean to & feeling crappy and/or hurt, or I run hard & have a slow race and STILL have to deal with all the recovery stuff, which kind of feels like a bum deal. (Although if there were race day pick-up and was close-by, I would probably say, "Eh, go have an easy run.")

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  11. See...THIS is why you need a sparkly skirt. Protective magic. Run any distance safely.

    Stay home, woman. Why in the fuck are you even asking? The sane, smart people will tell you to skip it. The disordered, psycho-runningfiends will say "oh, just do the half" like a half ain't no big thang. The fatalistic "nor do I think I'll ever be" ...keep running on it and that will come true ;-)

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  12. I would jog the half. I have jogged races in my day and I still have a lot of fun!

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