The Final Pre-Marathon Run

Since my last incident with my IT Band, I have sought advice from two athletic trainers. Basically, I was told that if I wanted to complete the marathon in April, I needed to stop running and let my injury recover. I had a bit of a panic attack at first, but I came to realize that I would have to do what I was told (for the most part) if I wanted to be able to run. The second trainer I saw told me I should even stop working out completely which then caused a major panic attack on my part. I am a bit OCD when it comes to planning working out into my schedule every day, so this was devastating news. My IT Band issue was much worse than I thought. Compromising a bit, I have continued cross-training with the elliptical, weight training, and other low-impact cardio machines, but have only done a few shorter runs.

I had to miss the last two Sunday runs which was really difficult. I still got up at 5 am last week to do a shorter run in Brookline, but I really miss running with the team. Tomorrow is the last long team run on the marathon course before we have to taper off. I am so excited to get to take part in this and hope my IT Band has somewhat healed from the therapy. I am very nervous it will give out on me again, but am trying to stay positive. I have iced it, taken medication, and done the stretches recommended, but I will not know how it will feel until I run tomorrow. We are doing 20 miles starting at Boston College, then running out to Wellesley near where the marathon begins, and then back to BC. I have not run this part of the course yet, so it will be helpful to familiarize myself with it.

After six months of training, I am entirely invested in this goal. I just received my bib number in the mail and there are signs hanging all around Boston rallying excitement for the marathon. On April 19th, I am determined to complete those 26.2 miles whether I am sprinting across the finish line or hobbling over it in pain. I can only hope for the first, but tomorrow will give me a better idea of how my injury has healed with the time I have taken off. On a positive note, the weather will be around 50 degrees with no chance of rain. I'm looking forward to the beautiful day and have a mint chocolate GU gel pack to go with it.