Markemmanuel

My biggest and most important race is in less than a month. The Chicago Marathon has been the beast I’ve been battling for four years now. My goal my first year was to finish the race. I needed to prove to myself that it wasn’t a fluke so I ran it a second time. Last year, I attempted to get below four hours but warm weather pushed me into the wall. I have a month to get everything in order, heal, and raise money.

Planning and Preparing

I dialed in my performance food for race day. I re-acclimated myself with Clif Shots, the official energy gel for the race. My refueling strategy fell into place on the twenty mile run before my foot injury. I’ll be receiving my shoes and shorts from Brooks within the next week. I should receive it in time to test the new shorts and break in my Brooks Adrenaline GTS.

My training was on track for me to run the marathon in 3:45:00. My injury and lack of running makes it highly improbable to achieve that time. It’s time to re-evaluate my training goals and accept situation for what it is.  I still want to run the marathon in under four hours. I won’t nail it down until the morning of the race.

With less than thirty days left, I need to start visualizing my race. Every part of the race needs to be looked at one mile at a time, my clothing, breathing, every ache and pain in my body, the course, my strategy, etc. I close my eyes each night to see, feel, taste, and smell this race.

Keeping the Faith

Opted not to run the Chicago Half Marathon to keep my marathon goals alive. The foot is injured but it’s getting better everyday. Matthew restrained me from making a bad situation worse. I almost ran the Chicago Half Marathon. Imagine if I ran the half marathon and created a situation where I can’t show up to run the Chicago Marathon? I’d be beating myself up inside until my next marathon.

After two weeks of no training, I decided to start riding my bike and adding miles to my schedule. The pain is finally bearable enough to ride a bike. I’ll be adding a couple of miles each day to assess my progress. I don’t want to push to hard and aggravate the injury. The healing process will take time, patience, and tender loving care.

I’m keeping my head up. The prospects of showing up on October 9^th is still good. I need to have faith, believe in myself, and act upon my beliefs.

DetermiNation & American Cancer Society

I want to thank everyone that has supported me as a charity runner this year. We saved lives, saved birthdays, and eased the burden of cancer. I reflect on this almost night. I think about it every time I visit my uncle. The money we raise goes to research and helping those that need a helping hand during their journey. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I have one more month to reach my personal goal. Help make every mile I run more meaningful so we can help save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Please support the cause I am running for by contributing to my effort to raising $2,621.87 for the American Cancer Society. Let’s change the course of cancer together!

Less than one more month until the Chicago Marathon. It’s just around the corner yet so far away.

The past year has been one of struggle and frustration. Minor injuries plague me. My internal balance is off. My resistance to stress has been low. Negative thoughts constantly create small cracks slowly causing structural failure. Negative thoughts apply pressure until I break.

A skin lesion was removed and prevented me to train in January. Many of you know that running keeps me balanced. It grants me permission to move forward with confidence. I find myself weak without running. I had a personal breakdown when my car broke down in April. Thoughts and perceptions of life turned very negative as I tried to line up rides to get to work and school. I felt like a burden. My spirit became tired. It continued to spiral downward when I went to the Urbana-Champaign region to run a half marathon. It was a bad experience. My body and mind failed me. Injuries are piling up. I experienced heel pain in July. I currently have a foot injury due to an event I experienced on a pace run. I can’t run until it heals. The negative voices constantly beat on my mind and spirit. They get louder as the school semester grows older. There aren’t many tools I have to keep me standing tall.

There were a few highlights. I ran a personal best at the Soldier Field 10. I also accomplished running my best 10k of my life. I enjoyed time kayaking and camping with people in my life. I also experienced a week in traversing the Presidentials in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I’ve raised about one-fifth of my goals for the American Cancer Society.

Sometimes I have to ride out the lows. Other times I need to climb out of the mess I’m in. I take extra care with my foot by icing it often and staying off my feet. I went so far as to take next week off at work to focus on healing and studying. I need to remind myself that I’m okay and school will be okay if I believe in myself and keep the faith. I’ve left reminders in my car, home, and books that encourage me and remind me. I visit my cousin and uncle’s graves to remind me life is short and I need to live the life I was given instead of walking through life as if I’m already in my grave. I’m blessed to be alive. I’ve taken action and now I need to be patient to see where it goes.

The struggle and frustration is temporary. In fact, it’s what molds individuals into better people. If I embrace this, I will get over.

I’ve been blessed with running injury free for the past three years. Over the past month I gained (earned?) a number of injuries and soon to be injuries. I decided to take a full week off from running to rest, stretch. massage, and ice my trouble spots. I’m not sidelined.  I just have to adjust my training so I can take care of my injuries. Here is my list of problems.

1. Discomfort in the left hamstrings area. My hamstrings are taking a beating since I’m doing more hill, interval, and tempo workouts.  In addition to rest, I’m kneading it out with “The Stick” massaging tool, and a lot of stretching.
2. Sore right ankle. I’m resting it before it gets worse.
3. Pain between the second and fifth metatarsals on the right foot. It feels like I’m developing arthritis in my right foot. It goes away once I warm up and start running but it’s always there throughout the day.  It hurts to the point that I take pressure off of it while I walk.
4. Right heel pain.  I believe I received this injury at a wedding.  Running is taking a toll on my body and dancing goofy was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
5. Bruised confidence, mental outlook, and motivation. I’ve had this issues for over four months.  It’s not a physical injury but it is a problem that impedes my running performance and forward movement in life.  It’s something I’m working on right now.

I am training at a higher level, and I need to be more aware of my body. Staying aware keeps me from passing the breaking point.  Careful preventative care will help me avoid huge hiccups in my training. What has been nagging you and what have you been doing to take care of it?

Today is the day I turn things around and make things fit better. More later…