About 6 months ago I signed up for a double marathon. The New Years Double to be exact, a great race in Allen, Texas. So, this is one marathon on New Years Eve, then another marathon on New Years Day. I thought I could do it and I was determined to start what I had finished. I had been looking forward to dipping my toe into the Ultra realm... Well, my body had other plans.
I had a terrible summer, lots of stress and personal struggles on the home front kind of left me a bit of a mess emotionally. I put on some weight, vowed to start training for my double in September and then I'd take all the weight off, then October came and kicked my ass.
I started October with a hip injury, but I powered through and ran a half marathon with the injury and actually PR'd. So I thought I'd just take a little time off (like a week or 2) then dive into the double training. Then I got strep throat. Then about 2 weeks after that I broke out in psoriasis all over my body, and I literally mean ALL OVER. About a week after the psoriasis breakout, I came down with a stomach bug that shut me down completely for 2 days. Thanksgiving came and I ended up spending my favorite holiday in bed, along with the 2 days after, completely drained and unable to function. I really just think I was exhausted.
Needless to say my training suffered beyond repair. December was creeping up and I knew there was no way in hell I could run 26.2 miles once let alone twice. So I paid my $10, completely devastated, and dropped down to two half marathons. Still an extraordinary feat of strength and endurance, but in my mind I had failed, I had given up. I cried.
I think a lot non runners don't understand how competitive of a group of people we are. And its not even that we are competitive against other runners its the competition against yourself. I felt like I had made too many concessions and let myself down. I sent a text to my sister, who is also a runner, and just as hard on herself and just as competitive. She talked me off a ledge, made me realize that running two half marathons is no joke. It's something many people wouldn't even attempt and she reminded me of all I had accomplished this year, running four half marathons, while working full-time, raising 3 very young kids. And still being an awesome person (OK I may have added that last part in myself).
But I really think I needed that 2 months off. I am always telling my running friends, just listen to your body, it's telling you what you need to hear. But I was refusing the listen. I shut it out and pushed on and in the end I ended up compromising my health and the fun I have just running.
I completed the Double Half Marathons, finishing faster on day 2, I'm notorious for leaving too much in the tank. But I felt good. I hadn't really trained for even a half marathon, so I decided a month out that I would run 2:1 intervals. It worked out well. No injury, I was pretty sore after the race on day 2 but by the next day, I was able to get on and off the toilet without assistance.
