Secret Sacrifice

It's been one day since the OC Marathon on Sunday where I squeaked in under the 4 hour mark (by 3 seconds) but missed my goal of getting a Boston Marathon Qualifying time. I'm now in that emotionally elevated post-race state of mind. A a good friend asked me if they could get me into the Mountains2Beach Marathon in 4 weeks, the one I originally intended to do, would I do it? I told him/her that my heart said yes but my rational self knows better.

I knew that taking on this BQ goal was going to be challenging and difficult. I also started to see about 2 months ago that it was likely going to be a one shot attempt. And that was IF I could make it to the start line in the first place. I've had plantar fasciitis (f-ing-itis!) in my right foot for 5 years. In that time I've managed to do at least 1 Ironman ever year but I've had to make choices in order to do that. I've avoid many shorter triathlons and running races in order to show up healthy at an Ironman starting line. Until I found Hoka One One running shoes I did most of my run training on the elliptical machine, and when it was really bad, running in deep water. I've managed to be able to train normally for at least a couple of years, holding the plantar f. issue in check.

Training for this marathon after doing 6 half marathons during the previous year and a half started sending me back into the "uh-oh, this is an injury again" category. Even a month ago I was having an internal debate about pulling the plug before it got worse. Obviously I decided to go through to the end, focused on the goal.

Everybody who trains for these endurance events makes sacrifices of one sort or another in order to get the training done. For me, for this race, there were also some secret sacrifices. I knew I was taking a calculated risk - my health vs. my desire to achieve a goal. In choosing the goal I knew that I was going to be in for some seriously painful rehab work. Whether I got Graston technique therapy or (and) something else, it will not be pleasant. I also knew that regular running (on land) would have to be put on hold for a while until the pain subsides and the treatment can be effective. That means elliptical (if I'm lucky) and water running for a good long while.

Since I can't walk normally today because of plantar f. pain, there's no way I could run 26 miles four weeks from now, no matter how much I want another opportunity! I believe at this point that I made the right choice but you never know. Hopefully it wasn't a miscalculation. Only time will tell.