Time for tapering

Another 12 days to go to Hannover marathon and while I am really excited about it, somewhere back of my mind I have a concern if my back can handle it. I have had great time with training, I have done many exciting runs and the 10k test run in Paderborn Osterlauf went well (well I expected to be a bit faster but well enough anyway). So now it is time to relax and just wait?

Unfortunately since our skiing holidays I have been struggling with my back and have constant pain as soon as sitting, standing or even lying down. The good thing is any kind of movement is good, surprisingly all my runs have been pain free. One could say it is the endorphines, I just think I am meant to keep moving :) Because of the pain I have shortened couple of the long runs this month and skipped few runs completely. I have been working a lot with my core, doing yoga every second day and some additional planks, squats etc. It really helps and I feel since I made the decision to really work on that more regurlarly, the back is doing better and as bonus my mobility has improved.

What's wrong with the back then? I wish I knew. I am back at the physio, he is doing his best to crack the right movement to the lower back and legs again and hopefully that will help. If not, there is this chiropractician lady living just behind the corner and what I hear she is comparable to god. Nobody knows if she is retired (Just to note, I am living in a small village and your know everything via grapewine so not necessary all the facts are available) but if the physio does not help, I am desperate enough to just ring her doorbell and beg her to treat me.

So 12 days to go to #runnover and how do I feel? I am sure I will be able to run the half marathon. I give up for any time goals as it depends on the condition of my back on that day. It will surely hurt especially on the last kilometers as I skipped some of the long runs but a bit of pain is part of game I guess. Therefore all in all, I am sure it will be great experience and I just have to not stay relaxed!

Count down time

I have run some 675+ km since first of June, have spent some serious number of hours on the road, have explored many new beautiful sceneries and have gone beyond my comfort zone again and again. And during the last week I have slept. I did not know it is even possible for me to sleep so much, I did not think it can feel normal to sleep on average more than nine hours a night plus a nap of 1-2 hours both Sat and Sun. I truly hope it is my body's plan to prepare for the marathon rather than the sign to prepare for the winter sleep.

There is another six days to go and I never thought I would feel so confident to run a marathon. Even though I took the challenge serious from the beginning, somewhere in the back of my mind I was asking myself if I will succeed. But now I am not anymore, I know I can run it. I know I will enjoy it even though I know it will also hurt. The question is how much and if I should go for more intense pain or longer pain... What do you think? Either way, it is part of the game and it cannot be anything compared to tonsillectomy nor delivering a baby.

So dear people, Sunday morning at 9 am (CET time) it is time to start running. Seriously. And some four hours later, it is time to party. Whatever the reason, party will be good. So please keep your fingers crossed and vote for number F11126 :)

Pain and all that comes with it

I passed the half point of my marathon training, this week was the ninth week out of my 16 week training plan. So far I have run 382 km and I have spent about 35 hours on the road since I started this project. I still enjoy the most of my intervals and tempo runs, but surely there are mornings when I would prefer to just stay in bed and sleep another hour before going to the office. The biggest challenge I have with the long runs, knowing myself it was anticipated that those will be the hardest part of the project and I am still not complaining about it. I know I just have to get my head over it and I will get there.

But what I was not prepared of was the pain I have for whole Sunday after spending three hours on the road. Or the pain I have in my feet after the long runs for couple of days (until the next long run is scheduled) or the pain of walking the stairs down in the mornings. Or the pain of falling toe nails and the fact that wearing sandals does not feel like a natural choice when the temperature outside is over 30 °C. Still so far I consider myself lucky as I have no issues with blisters or any kind of chafe, falling toe nails came from my own thoughtlessness and will slowly heal, and I found a physiotherapist who seems to be good (I only met him once so far). The cause for the pain in my feet (especially the right one) seems to come from a nerve which is pressed by a tight muscle and with his miraculous hands it seems to get much better. I am so glad that probably for the first time in my life I realised to look for help before it was too late and it seems I can continue training as planned as I have no pain during the running and as I have at least one rest day between runs, I normally have no issues with the recovery. 

So once the cure for the pain after the runs is there, I only have Sunday afternoons to suffer and hopefully those get also a bit easier when the heat is less.I have another 7 weeks to go with the training and if I keep myself together for the next five long runs (as I trust I do), I am going to be very fine for the marathon :)