this post is long overdue.
like way long overdue.
like i’ve been rolling it around in my head for at least a month now.
so let’s just get to it…
i haven’t been running much lately.
and i certainly haven’t been running enough for someone who is supposed to run her first half marathon on saturday.
when my half marathon training plan started, i was pumped. i was also doing the runner’s world run streak and seriously kicking a**.
i got through about the first 4 weeks of my training plan, and then i got sick.
i didn’t blog much about it, but i had some pretty awful stomach issues pretty constantly through june & the beginning of july.
so that led to not running much (or doing much of anything except laying on the couch/in bed and trying not to poop my pants, actually). (sorry, t.m.i.?)…
in fact, i ended up taking 3 weeks off from my training plan. i ran a couple times in there, but every run was maybe 1-2 miles and did not end well.
so that brings us to the middle of july.
in an attempt to get back “on track” with my training plan, i did all of my runs one week, cutting down the shorter ones to 2-3 miles since i hadn’t been running, but then figuring that i needed to at least try to get in my 8 mile long run that was on the training plan if i was going to have any chance at all of not dying during this half marathon.
in hindsight, this was probably not a good idea.
the run took me forever and pretty much crushed any optimism i had that i’d be able to pull off the half right now.
i struggled majorly to run the 8 miles. lots of walking breaks. lots of thoughts of quitting. ending up walking the last mile home.
it wasn’t fun.
i still didn’t completely give up though, for about a week after those 8 miles, i kept up with my mid-week runs.
but they didn’t feel good.
i was in a pretty major workplace accident about 7 years ago when i worked in a factory for a summer during college. my left ankle was hurt really badly and i always have to be careful not to “anger” it now.
i think a combination of not easing back into running after taking that 3 week break and not listening to my body until it was too late, led to to it acting up. i didn’t “re-injure” it, but the past few runs have hurt. kind of a lot. it doesn’t hurt very much while i’m running, but the soreness afterward is pretty brutal.
biofreeze is my new best friend.
after thinking about it a lot, i have decided not to run the half marathon on saturday.
i don’t want my first (maybe only) experience running a half marathon to be completely awful. i want to go in at least being properly trained. i know things can still go wrong if you train well, but i’m pretty much guaranteeing a bad experience with my current level of running. also, i know my ankle will thank me. i’m honestly not sure how it would handle 13.1 miles in its current state.
so there you go.
that’s why i won’t be running a half marathon this weekend.
i’m hoping there will be one in my plans in the future, but if not, i’m ok with that too.
i had a really hard time coming to this decision and an even more difficult time putting it out here on the blog. i know most of you probably didn’t even remember/care that i was planning to run a half marathon this weekend and i could have just not mentioned it again and pretended it never happened, but i definitely want to be 100% honest.
it’s really difficult for me to admit that i failed at something. i hate that i wasn’t able to complete my training like i should have. i am so so so bummed that i won’t be running my first half marathon this summer. but, i will suck it up and move on.
…………………….
i’m trying to keep it upbeat, but i’m pretty bummed about all of this.
tell me something that will cheer me up please!
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p.s. one more day to enter my adora chocolate giveaway!
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