I'll start with Friday. I dropped Martha off in the morning to stay with a puppy friend and headed out to Clarksville to pick up my race packet. The "race expo" definitely left much to be desired but it was cute. This year was also the inaugural Clarksville race so there were expected kinks to be worked out for next year. I also checked into our hotel and instead of doing work for a bit there, I just napped in the patch of sun on the bed... ah....
After a bit, I picked my mom up at the Nashville airport. Hurray! I was so happy that she flew in to run with me. We had a pretty good dinner at Cafe Nonna in Nashville, but I was a little disappointed with the lasagna. Not nearly as many tasty fall veggies as I had hoped. We drove back to Clarksville and after some ice cream, called it a night in preparation for the morning race.
We were up and fed and at the starting line by 7:45am the next morning, and the race began at 8. The course and weather were both perfect! The course winds its way by some wineries and farm houses and had a good mix of flat stretches and good hills. It was about 60 degrees when we started and I was actually kinda hot as it warmed up. All in all though, perfect conditions. Plus, the run felt great. My legs felt relaxed, the pace was nice, and my heartrate was comfortable. At about mile 2, my left IT band started twinging, but not too bad. However, by mile 6 it was really starting to hurt. We stopped to walk for about a half mile, hopping that it would give my knee enough of a rest to come back. Between mile 6.5 and 7.5, it hurt but I figured that i could run through it. Only another 6 miles to go at that point! However, between 7.5 and 7.9, it went from uncomfortable to unbearable. We were going around a curve and within 10 steps, I couldn't put any weight on it. With some tears (I'd say half from frustration and half from pain), we got a ride from a really rude cop to the finish line, where the EMTs had to check me out.
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Beginning of the race! You can see how beautiful the weather was. :)Once they determined that I wasn't going to die on the spot and I signed a refusal of treatment form, my mom got the car and picked me up, and off we drove. I didn't want to stick around for the festivities and medal stuff because it would just add to the depressing situation.
After a few days of contemplation, I know that it was the right call to stop and that I probably ran through it for too long in that I still can't really walk on my left leg. I think I kept going because I didn't want to stop and give up and then think back that I hadn't pushed hard enough. I think the lesson is to listen to your body and when it says no, it means no. Also not to take two weeks off with a race coming up!!
So for the future! I'm going to physical therapy today and we'll see how it looks. Hopefully in a few months, I can start really training again and maybe the DPHM is still a possibility. Rehab it and try again! I'm more determined than ever now to finish it because having an unfinished half hanging over my head is going to irk me until I finish one. I hope I can come back stronger and quicker. I also hope that my knee feels well enough for yoga tomorrow!!! I have it in a brace now because it helps keep it stable as I drag myself around. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to throw my right hip out with the awkward way I'm walking but hopefully we'll talk about that at PT today. It felt a whole lot better this morning after icing it lots and elevating yesterday, but it's pretty uncomfortable in class with the angle of the chair and all the stairs I have to hop up to get to my seat. Last class of the day at least! Hopefully someone can give Martha a long walk for me today too... poor puppy.
Here's to hoping that PT goes well today and that I'll have some good news in a few hours!
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