Three Days and Counting
I feel upbeat. Relieved. Hopeful. I have a strategy that I think might take me to the finish line. Follow along. Here's hoping!
The 350 miles I've logged onto my Garmin since the middle of April show an overall average pace of 14:30 per mile. Not bad for a little ol' walkin' phatgirl and I hope to shave another minute off my average over the next year. With my current average pace in mind I had been aiming for a marathon pace range of 14:30-15:00 and the two 20 milers gave me confidence that I could pull that off, with the caveat of confronting the unknown miles between 21 and 26.
Add in the new development with my foot or more specifically the major muscle group running from toe to knee. When I walk at my current average pace I put added stress on the muscles because my foot fall tends to strike the ground more forcefully. I'm not a dainty walker. A few miles of that the other day and as reported earlier, my injuries were aggravated and the pain at a level I don't think I could have managed through 26 miles.
Over the past couple days I've noticed that when I walk around the house, to the car, from car to coffee shop, from coffee shop to newspaper stand, my foot feels fine. When I intentionally walk faster to evaluate how it's doing it's the big ouch. And so my thought is this, that if I keep my pace to a 16 minute mile pace my foot fall will remain gentle, my foot won't be jarred, and my odds of reaching the finish line will be increased.
A 16 minute mile was my average pace when I began training in January and it's been a real kick to shave off 2 minutes or more off over the months. So granted, it's a little disappointing emotionally and mentally to go back to my starting pace for the marathon but when I weigh going my current average pace and hoping I can walk through the pain versus going my average starting pace and increasing the possibility of not only finishing but finishing without being miserable, I'm going with Door Number Two, Monty.
AND I still have 2 full days to ice, elevate, massage, medicate and after visiting Portland friends earlier this afternoon I now have Traumeel, a homeopathic ointment to add to my regime. I don't know if the ointment can actually help with the inflamation but if you told me spitting in the wind while spinning a plate on my head would help, I'd be spitting and spinning.
I've been working on hydrating the past couple days and because my diet tends to be fairly low carb, I've been minimally increasing my carbs each evening with a baked potato or brown rice. I'm not intending a pre-race carbo-load since my natural inclination is to overdo and I don't want to be waddling excessively at the starting signal.
For those of you with no life and a cell phone you can track my progress in the marathon. The Portland Marathon will have chip mats located at the start, 10K, half-marathon, 20 mile and finish markers. By going to www.portlandmarathon.org you can set up your cell phone to receive text updates each time I cross a mat. You just need to know my name (Anita Cadonau-Huseby) and my bib number (225). If I walk a 16 minute pace that means I'll cross each at the following times:
2 comments:
You have this down to a science.
See you in Portland!
Anita:
I want to say something deep and meaningful, wise and protective. I am resisting this urge. I am in Intro to Pastoral Care, where the teacher is telling us, everything that comes out of our mouth, is about us. She has been very aggressive with me, and right now, I hate her. So in lieu of dropping out of the class, I have been showing acceptable complying behavior, head-nodding, and gratitude for her insight.
I figure she can not place my psychic internet in this large mouth category, so here is what I got one the psychic internet about tomorrow.
If you slow your pace, you will meet someone tomorrow, that you would not have ordinarily met. This person will be a gift in your life, of which you will reflect on, in the future.
While you are walking, I will be enjoying my house, in the usual ways, and probably get into something that gives me a break, from "Dr. Wacko."
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