Judith's Marathon Journey

After a week of rehab, the injury is not responding, and I’m still sore. I’m to have x-rays tomorrow, but it is clear that I won’t be able to manage a marathon in October.

It’s been interesting trying to record this journey, and I’m gutted that I’m not going to complete it. But I remain hopeful that one day, some day, I will run another marathon!

After that amazing hill run my sacroiliac joint was very, very sore. I resorted to Voltaren and Panadeine for a day or two, which shifted the worst of the pain. I was able to get through Express Fit on Thursday – with some modifications to some exercises, and I also had an extra Yoga session on Friday evening.

On Saturday I umpired three netball games, and played one. No pain while playing – probably thanks to the Voltaren!

On Sunday I went to they gym for some rehab exercises – squats, clams, side leg-raises, etc. I woke up on Monday pain-free – and decided on one more rest day. BUT some pain was back on Tuesday morning! It felt a bit different – more stiffness than injury, I hoped. Another trip to the gym…. I hopped on the treadmill, walked about 1/2 km then transitioned into a jog – all the pain went as soon as I moved from walking to jogging!?! I decided not to push my luck, and restricted the jog to 3k, then did the rehab exercises and stretching. Also added the hot-cold treatment under the shower – seems to be OK, just a little sore.

Will go to Yoga tonight, then see how I feel in the morning before deciding whether to risk a hill run…

This run was approximately 12km, and took me 1hr 31min…. so, slow on the hills! There were two medium type hills, one short and sharp, and one very long – the last one, all the way up Mt Victoria! I was surprised that I could do that one without a walk break, so very pleased with the run. And it was freezing cold on the way down, into the southerly – and getting dark!

My SI joint had been sore all day, but it didn’t worsen during the run, so that’s good. Next hard run won’t be until Sunday, so there’s some recovery time.

For some reason, I felt incredibly weary over the weekend, and even Monday – so no running to speak of.

Today I still felt tired, but went out anyway. I started feeling sluggish, but as the run went on and the niggles went away I started to run better. In the end, I ran about 7.5k in 50 minutes.

And I will go to Yoga tonight!

I didn’t get to Yoga last night – fell asleep – but I wish I had! I’m incredibly weary today, without any energy. Just jogged about 1.5 km to netball, played one full game, and umpired 3 games. I had time to run more, but it didn’t seem like a good idea. Very worried about trying to run 21km tomorrow….

My run was split into two today, just ran out of time to fit it in around another appointment. I took the hilliest route I could find from home to Frank Kitts Park and return, including back streets of Newtown and Mt Victoria! I’m estimating I covered about 11km in 1hr 20min. The return journey was quite slow – starting to feel weary, and a bit tight because of the break in the middle.

Yoga tonight…

Wednesday: Blah! Felt flat and couldn’t face a long hill run today! Now I have to re-arrange my week!

Thursday: Ran a total of 6.5km, mostly on the treadmill, sandwiched around Express Fit session. Believe me, the run was easy compared to the gym class! I’m too old to crawl around on the floor pushing weight bags, etc!

Monday: Much needed rest day!

Tuesday: Ran 6.5km, in about 43 minutes – happy with this. This was about 4pm, and very cold, with a light southerly. I felt tired and sluggish to start with, but got better as the run progressed – quite enjoyable, really!

Thursday: Express Fit – I was the only client, so I got plenty of attention – emphasis on core. Worked hard, abs so sore next day!!

Friday: Ran about 6.5km in 43 minutes, not bad. Just an easy pace run today.

Saturday: No netball, so an easy day: 4.5km on the treadmill (30 minutes) followed by a circuit on the weight machines.

Sunday: 16km in 1:44:58 – a very good run, with good pace throughout. Very cold conditions, with a brisk southerly.

For the week, total kms – 52! Year to date – almost 800!

Just short of 11km, on a hilly route – up to Roseneath, down to Oriental Bay, and back the same way, chasing the hills! I felt slow and sluggish to start, but I didn’t really struggle with the hills, and felt stronger the longer I was out there. Really happy with this one!