Lazy pre-marathon days

By popular demand, I will not be running any more training miles pre-race day. In an effort to not allow my foot snap in two, I've been advised by many parties to minimize the strain on my fragile little foot bone. However, I was assured by one of my TNT coaches that I'm not going to lose all the training by not running for a week. She swears that the cardio, muscle memory and ability to run 26.2 miles is all there and it can't be lost overnight. Despite her reassurance, I am desperately terrified that at mile 18 my foot is going to kill so bad that I won't be able to continue.

The Doctor Visit

So I gave in and went to the doctor today. I mean, the overwhemingly excruciating pain when I run a long way finally got to me. Everything went pretty much as expected. ..

"So Brooke, what brings you here today"

"Well Doctor, my bone hurts when I run more than 5 miles at a time. I'm running a marathon next week and I want to make sure that I don't cause any serious damage by running on it."

"Does it hurt right now?"

"Well, no."

Doctor pokes and prodes affected foot a little.

"Does this hurt?"

"No, it really only hurts when I run a lot on it."

"Let me see you walk."

I walk around the small examination room completely normally.

Doctor looks thoughtfully at my foot.

"Well, I think you should get that x-rayed."

"Oh, ok great, so do you think it is a stress fracture or something more serious or nothing at all?"

"The x-ray will tell us if there is a stress fracture in which case I would recommend you don't run."

"Hmm, ok, well I thought that stress fractures often did not show up on x-rays"

"If it doesn't show up, then it shouldn't be too serious, but if it hurts, you shouldn't run."

"Oh, ok, well, thanks, you've been a wealth of information Doctor."

"I'll call you on Tuesday with the results of the X-ray."

The taper begins!

Longest long run: 20 miles!

Most people think I'm crazy when I tell them I am training for a marathon. Lots of people keep asking me about it, want to keep up with how far my longest run was, find out why I'm limping that day. Of all the motivation I've had, I have to thank all the people that have remembered on a daily basis and asked me about marathon training. I honestly would not have come this far without their support.

Unfortunately, just because I'm finally not limping, does not mean I'm not injured. Starting on my 20 miler, my foot really started to hurt. (My right foot, all my injuries are on the right) I figured it was just part of running twenty miles. Then I ran 14.5 and it hurt even worse. On the shorter runs it starts to feel a little sore, but It really doesn't hurt that much. Last night I went to a TNT get together and one of the coaches had heard I might be injured. I told her about it and her diagnosis? Stress fracture. Great. 3 weeks before the marathon and I have an injury that will only heal with rest. Her advice? Since I've already done the 20 miler, to just do whatever doesn't hurt and go to marathon day. That being said, I'm still (quite obviously) going to attempt the rest of my runs before M-day. Oh right, and I'll go ahead and schedule myself a little visit with the doctor, say, the day after the marathon?

Go Team!