Running injuries, or should I say trying to recover from one SUCKS.
Long story short, I partially tore my Achilles tendon and developed one of the worst cases of Achilles tendonitis that my podiatrist had ever seen while training for and completing runDisney’s 2 Course Wine & Dine Challenge last November. This injury landed me in a boot for 6 months and 3 additional months of physical therapy, translation NO running or walking for 9 months. Finally healed (or cleared to start walking again), I did some funny Disney math, played with the calendar and decided that I could participate in my 19th half marathon, the 2017 runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, since I was going to be at Walt Disney World at that time anyway.
The race is now 5 days from taking place and it is time to face the facts…
Despite my best efforts to get back to running/walking, 3 months is not long enough to go from 0 to 13.1 miles. My attempt to do so has landed me with yet another injury that will take some time to recover from, bursitis in the hip that was under used during the time in the boot.
Looking at my corral placement and the pacers, I could probably make it to where I think the last hard sweep will take place at the maximum pace of a 16-minute mile. However, based on how I feel physically after long training runs, Sunday and the rest of the week would be miserable and who wants to be miserable at Walt Disney World? I would probably end up injuring my hip further and need A LOT more healing time, which would put a damper on my training efforts to complete my first (and last) full marathon by the time I turn 50 next year, as well as be devastating mentally. With all of this in mind, I have decided to pull myself from runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. I am not even going to start and let myself be swept, because I know how stubborn I am and how much I would push myself to stay away from the dreaded latex and bicycle spokes. I am also not sure that being swept would be a good thing mentally for my recovery efforts, along with a medal that I really did not earn.
It’s going to be difficult Sunday morning to ignore the 2 am runDisney alarm and visualizing myself running that amazing 3 park course. It’s going to hurt seeing and hearing the clanking of those medals throughout the day. But, I will put on my big girl panties and remind myself that in 14 months I will be running through all 4 parks and a different medal will be around my neck, because after all…
To all my runDisney friends, have a magical run. I will be cheering for you and celebrating your run Sunday night in Epcot during the postrace party!
My Life in Ears 