Well, I am still sick, the end is in sight but my 30min run today was utterly exhausting. With two weeks to go until the Ottawa Marathon it was decision making time yesterday. The marathon portion of training started off well when we did the 10miles medium, 10miles tempo, 2 miles easy, although the groin problems had already begun, but from there thing really just went off the rails. The groin did not heal and I started to get the breathing issues I had last year. I was willing to put up with this however, because I was still able to train well with the groin soreness, and I had seen the pharmacist and doctor and they concluded that it was not directly allergies causing my breathing problems but a return of some asthma problems I had as a child, which could again be helped by using ventalin. So I started working on getting the documentation and all that to submit to CCES. So in the meantime I missed a few workouts, but then I got sick and missed a few more workouts, and I am still sick. In sum, I have virtually missed 75% of the marathon specific portion of my training and so we have come to the conclusion that it isn't a reasonable expectation to put a good marathon together.
It certainly is unfortunate that I won't be able to go and compete at a high level in the marathon but unlike last year the dissapointment is not devastating. One of my major goals was to maintain a balance this spring between school, running and interpersonal relationships and i've done quite well I think. I may not be able to run a marathon but I have returned to a high level of fitness, i've achieved a 3.15 gpa this year, put a good effort into work, and maintained and developed relationships well. There is certainly a lot of improvement to be made of course. Another great conclusion of this marathon build is that I have moved from a mental space where I was seriously considering retiring from competitive running to wanting to continue, find new challenges and goals, and enjoy everything running has to offer from hard training to fun 'adventure runs,' road races to trail runs, and everything in between.
I'll post back soon after some planning and goal setting, but for now I am hoping to do the Oak Bay Half-Marathon in Victoria on May 24th. I may not be in marathon shape but i'll be rested and ready for a good half!
Glad to hear you've at least sorted things out. I was starting to wonder what you were going to do...from my angle it kind of seemed like school stress was negatively affecting things, and eventually running was becoming as stress instead of a stress relief, and I know that can be really frustrating. It's always nice when you can find a place of peace with decisions.
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