Thursday, September 22, 2011

Thank you!

“Nothing has turned out as we expected! It never does. Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect. We take what we get and are thankful it's no worse than it is.”
Author unknown

Bloggers are wonderful people! I am so grateful to all of you for taking the time to share your experience. This morning, I woke up to the most lovely and touching "letter" from G...I definitely shed a few tears while reading her wise and loving words of encouragement.

Many of you told me to beware of NSAIDs...though some of you believed I should go ahead and take one. As it stands, the forecast if for warm and humid, which means I will quite likely skip the NSAID (though I may carry one with me just in case). 

Most of you feel that I should go ahead and run, considering I've done the training. That's definitely the direction I was leaning. Meg mentioned going through this exact same dilemma (although it wasn't her first marathon) and I liked her goals. So here are my new goals.

A) Finish the marathon within a reasonable time (5 hours would have me doing a happy dance).
B) Walk a little more if I have to and try and make the cut-off of 5:45.
C) Simply stop if it becomes unbearable and too risky...Anne mentioned not being able to run for six months after running a marathon with an injury. I'd prefer not to have that happen.

Jill is the queen of foot pain, and she felt that if running didn't make it worse, then I should try. I mean if Jill thinks I should go ahead, that's reassuring. 

Even Johann, our long distance hero, thinks I should go ahead. Now, if you read Johann's blog or if you've gotten some of his comments, you know he leans more on the cautious side, so again, reassuring.

Almost everyone mentioned taking it extra easy during my last week of taper, which I did. I ran a 5K on Wednesday and will run a short and relaxed 3K on Saturday just to keep the muscles loose. 

Now, I just have to avoid catching Uber H's cold (he's a high school teacher, which makes colds inevitable for him)!! Plus, there's one going around and so far this week, I've had two kids spend their therapy session blowing their noses!! Yikes!! I've been abusing hand sanitizer :)  

On the plus side, a close friend of mine is currently taking massage and other similar courses right now. Today, she did a combination of Polarity, Shiatsu, and Reflexology. This involved getting the energy flowing throughout my body, a very complete massage of every single part of each foot, and stretching of my back muscles. It felt great and she will redo the foot massage on Saturday. How lucky am I! 

So, YES, I will be on Jacques Cartier Bridge at 8:30am on Sunday morning, wearing bib #212 :)

Once again, a great big THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your advice, encouragement and support! Here's hoping that by Sunday afternoon, I will have become a marathoner. But, let me tell you right now, that if for some reason it doesn't happen, I'll be okay and I'll just try again.

Cheers!

20 comments:

Teamarcia said...

Sounds like a good decision to me! I'm so excited for you. BUT you are wise to pull the plug if you need to. There will be plenty more marathons. I think you'll be great though! Thinking of you!

Anonymous said...

Take it easy and listen to your body. I ran a marathon a week before foot surgery. The key was taking my time.

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

So very excited for you! Just enjoy the journey, you can and will do fantastically. Plus, 212 is an awesome bib number. It's loaded with good mojo!

Marlene said...

I'm behind on posts after being away last weekend and missed your last one - I'll read that next. :)

Sending you good wishes for your big race this weekend!!! I'll be thinking of you. Run smart, have fun! I hope your feet are alright!!

Robin said...

So glad you are going ahead and hope you have a great race. It's amazing sometimes that no matter how bad you feel prior to the marathon, things can fall into place on race day. I hope that for you! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Average Woman Runner said...

I'm so very excited about your marathon! It's been a long journey and I look forward to seeing a happy photos of you on that finish line. If you're concerned about NSAIDs but looking for an anti inflammatory, try curcumin. It's turmeric, common spice in curry. You can buy it in capsule form and is not going to trash your kidneys they way ibuprofen will but will give you some good anti inflam action.

Caroline said...

Le pont Jacques Cartier! yeah!
je vais penser a toi Anne! j'espere que tout ira bien...pour anti inflammatoire...humide me semble que c pire non? moi je pense que je prendrais avant d'avoir de la douleur...
bonne chance!!!!! Vive Montreal et Anne!!!!

Caroline said...

2 liens pour remedes naturels


http://www.wholehealth.com/vitamins-supplements/anti-inflammatory-support?gclid=CNDJiqq6tKsCFQNggwodmXsHiw

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/natural-safe-anti-inflammatory-medicines/

Irene said...

Wishing all the best with your race! You are so prepared, and you have thought of everything. I look forward to your race report AND pictures.

Char said...

Good luck with the race. We'll be waiting for you on the other side :)

ajh said...

We will be running at the same time but I am only doing a half. I so hope you have a great experience. I so loved my first marathon - truly one of the best days of my life -mostly because of my family and supporters. You will be great.

RunningFromCancer said...

Extremely excited for you. I will be thinking of you on Sunday and will be sending positive vibes your way. This has been a long time in coming - you have been patient and smart with your training and are ready.

Enjoy each and every moment . . . Hoping for smooth running.

Can't wait to here how it goes.

Jill said...

Queen of foot pain...I'll take that as a compliment!! :)

We are way stronger than our minds want us to believe we are and I think you are going to do just fine! Will be thinking of you, #212, and can't wait to hear all about it. Enjoy the journey!!! Listen hard, I'll be cheering for you from Colorado!!

Xaarlin said...

Good luck in the race! Let it be a celebration of all the hard work you have done. :)

Claire said...

Sounds like a perfect plan!! Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Anabela (Bela) Neves said...

I know you will do great. Just listen to your body, it will guide you safely to the end of your journey! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Beth said...

I'll be thinking about you and am rooting for you! Hope it all goes well and know you will take away so much from the experience no matter what happens. Run happy!

bobbi said...

I'm thinking of you! Can't wait to hear how it all went! :)

bobbi said...

OK, I couldn't wait and I cheated...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Emz said...

Hoping it went awesome today!
Been thinking of you!!