Troy Is Falling

I think it was Hannibal on the A-Team that used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.” This, after having endured many minor detours on the way to the end of that plan. Well…sitting on the precipice of the Marathon start Sunday morning… I hope that is what I am saying Sunday afternoon. The problem is I have been suffering through one of the detours for about three weeks now and there is no way around the fact that it will affect the race.

In the days just after the Oxford race, I started to have pain in my left achilles, which I first thought nothing about and attributed it purely to fatigue. Now three weeks later with an ice pack on it as I type this blog, the thought that it may be more than fatigue has sunk in completely – along with some swelling.

I have maintained my run training schedule throughout, with one additional 20 mile run about two weeks ago, but the last two weeks I have been in serious taper mode for run training and the pain has not subsided. In fact, on Monday I told someone it felt like spikes being driven up my achilles into my calf. What is more frustrating is that fitness-wise I feel great.

Ultimately, I have made the decision to still race because I have worked too hard to not give it a go at this point. It will most likely not be a PR, unless there is a small miracle between now and Sunday morning, but you never know. Advil, ice packs and heat are actually helping substantially.

Really, the only word to describe the whole thing is frustration, because it was only two weeks ago I was thinking that Boston was completely feasible. Now, sitting a few days out, that reality is slipping away.

I keep telling myself the goal has always been the Ironman this year, and that I have run the marathon before. So if this one doesn’t go as planned, it’s no big deal. This close to the event that perspective is a hard pill to swallow, especially looking back over the winter runs.

With that said, I am sticking with the mantra I told Anna about week ago, which is not as poetic as “I love it when a plan comes together”, but just as effective.

“*uck it, I am running.”

Editor’s Note: Looking forward to a day that I don’t wake up to the smell of IcyHot in the morning and am not asked “Does this look swollen to you?” As this will probably be the last post pre-marathon…Good Luck Team Mozo!