Show Up and Blow Up?

I haven’t run a step since Saturday, September 22^nd. Yep, and I’m planning to run a really fast marathon in a few days. I’d like to say that I’m being especially intelligent about training and that this was all part of the plan – to take a nice long taper before I run the best race of my life – but if I were to tell you that it’d be a big lie. I know I’d be running right now if my plantar fasciitis, hip funk, and metatarsal/phalange pain were completely gone; in fact, I’d probably be running more than I should regardless of my voice of reason (my husband Carl). I was never smart about tapering or even taking it easy for that matter – that’s probably why I’m dealing with all these silly minor injuries.

So what am I doing to deal with them? Well, number one, I’m obsessing over them, spending countless hours at night on the internet and PubMed trying to self-diagnose. This hasn’t gotten me anywhere except for losing sleep and thinking that I won’t live past age 28. Number two, I’m seeking medical advice from professionals. I’ve been to Student Health three times for my PF, and recently went to a chiropractor for my hip. But as you can imagine, Student Health wasn’t much help and the chiropractor, who was recommended by a triathlete friend with a similar hip problem, seemed to do more harm than good. I stopped seeing him after a few visits because he was too expensive ($50/visit and he wanted to see me three times a week) and my hip wasn’t getting any better. Moreover, I’m very suspicious that by adjusting my “problem” metatarsal, he did something weird and that’s why I’m having right forefoot pain.

OK, enough complaining about my body parts. As Megan Riker-Rheinschild once told me “all injuries heal.” If only they’d all do that before Saturday. Seems like my odds are against me though – I sure hope that I don’t “show up and blow up,” as Chris, one of my lab mates and bike buddies predicted. I’m not sure completely what he meant by it, although it doesn’t sound good. On the bright side, I have been somewhat fortunate to make training for the marathon manageable. I’ve been able to run ~3 days per week (up until last week at least), and the majority of that running was fast and/or hard. I was also able to cross-train, and I did this like crazy, on my road bike and the elliptical trainer. So, the plan now is to not run a step until the start of the marathon and until then hope, pray, and stay off my feet. Hopefully that will do the trick.