Spring has finally arrived...Hallelujah! That was one long and challenging winter that started early and finished way too late. I don't even want to talk about our winter now that we are enjoying a beautiful spring but I do recall running a 5k Resolution Run on December 31 (yah I know, exciting way to bring in the new year) and it was a complete blizzard. I also remember thinking I'm going to run this 5k and in 6mons I'm going to run an Ultra (50K). So I spent the next many months running in the worse weather possible, nobody in their right mine would be out... but me and some crazy fellow runners. I would say those difficult runs made me a better, faster and stronger run. And as I had registered for the Ultra in Niagara and booked the hotel I had my eye on the ball and every opportunity I was training.
Reluctantly, I signed up for the Mississauga Marathon May 4th, I say reluctantly because I had focused so much on running the 50 I didn't want anything to mess me up. BUT I thought I would use this race as a training run, get my 42.2k in.
Just prior to the race and perhaps a sign, I got a bad cold, my first of the season and was trying everything to get better. Realistically, I should have stayed home bundled up in a blanket but I'm stubborn so off I went and as I was feeling badly I took some cold medication which might have been one of my worse decisions. Just before the 1k mark I was accidently tripped by another runner, I went over on my ankle and actually fell. Looking back I'm thinking I'm lucky no one fell on me. I continued to run with discomfort but if I didn't put my heel down it was ok... until about 30k which is when the cold medication was wearing off. I actually had a pretty decent run, all things considered and finished 4:22.
I am now 6 wks post marathon and what ended up being a pretty bad ankle sprain. I originally thought I would be able to do the Ultra with this injury but I just couldn't get in the mileage without real pain. So this past Saturday my friend and fellow runner used my bib and ran it, she did awesome and I've very proud of her. And yes I was a little sad and disappointed for all my efforts especially over the winter. So at this stage I'm doing lots of therapy on it and hopefully I will soon be back out pounding the pavement. And there is always next year...