Mini Marathon Training

Indianapolis holds the largest half-marathon in the U.S. on the first Saturday in May to kick off the weeks leading up to the Indy 500. I've had the pleasure of doing the mini-marathon a few times and always enjoyed doing it. It's a great atmosphere with bands, cheerleaders, students, etc. lining the entire 13.1 mile route encouraging the 35,000 participants to finish. A big highlight is running around the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and crossing the yard of bricks at the start/finish line there.

For me, it's not about racing, it's more about running (or maybe more appropriately, jogging). I really couldn't care less about trying to keep up with the Kenyans. And, of course, it's about being able to say that you accomplished it. While I can't say that I've had any earth-shattering times in the mini, I can say that I've completed it every time.

I believe I had mentioned before that I've signed up for the mini-marathon again this year. I had planned to complete it with Ed Sweetland, another surveyor and the past-president of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors. Our goal was to complete it in 2 hours, 30 minutes.

I was fairly confident that I could make that goal as I've been a pretty regular runner at the YMCA here in my hometown since we joined in January of 2003. As a matter of fact, I was running about 26 miles a week back in November and December and, using one of those running calculators you can find on the internet, it projected my half-marathon time at around 2:15.

A few weeks ago I had started getting some soreness in my achilles and down through my right heel. It was so tight that I couldn't walk down steps without pain because it just wouldn't stretch out. I was running 4 to 5 miles on a consistent basis and had my long run on the weekend up to 7 miles so I decided that it would be foolish at my age to try to train through the injury. I took a week off and it was still a little sore. I didn't want to re-injure it so I took another week off.

Still, it was a little tight and sore, although it felt much better. So I went back to the Y last Friday night and did five miles. My legs felt fresh and I didn't get winded much at all but the pain was there still. It was better, just not what I had hoped for.

I took another two days off to let it rest again and returned to the Y again tonight. I wish I hadn't. At just over 2.5 miles into the run, I felt a pain that went from the back of my heel to the inside of my ankle. Not just a tweak but a full blown pain, one that almost dropped me to my knees. I've had a broken ankle before and remember that when it happened, I immediately felt light headed and nauseous at the same time. It's the same feeling I had tonight.

Right now, I'm sitting in my kitchen, fingers on the keyboard and foot propped up on a bag of ice.
I believe my mini marathon training may be over for this year. Maybe that's what happens as your body gets older. I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon. As stated by my doctor and repeated in an earlier post - welcome to the mid 40's!