Lake Geneva Marathon...for Nellie

This weekend my marathon journey took me to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. But it was the 6 days beforehand, the recovery, that was my greatest concern. I know I have no control over the hills on the  course, or the weather. No matter how I slice it, I know I had to run come 8:00 Saturday morning. My focus was on was how much could I recover, how much could I heal before then.

I had hoped that running such a slow marathon the weekend before and having taken time to walk with Andy for the last several miles that my body would respond more favorably. But that didn't seem to be the case. After the Potomac River Marathon, through which I limped/ran most of the time, I found myself still dealing with a great amount of pain. And that night, as I laid in bed, trying to sleep, I couldn't. Even after all my efforts to recover after the race, the pain was strong enough to keep me awake. I felt so overwhelmingly depressed and frustrated with my body, I didn't know how much more I could take; but I knew what I would be doing first thing in the morning, making phone calls.

Monday morning I went through the list of sports doctors in my area and got an appointment for Thursday with a doctor that specialized in knee/hip issues. Then I made my trip to physical therapy (PT) . For the second week in a row I didn't go to the gym, but instead did my PT sessions, getting laser and ultrasound therapy. I iced, I rested, I bought orthotics. I was at the end of my rope. Every day I woke up hoping to get out of bed feeling a difference. Every day I noticed very little if anything. I was desperate for any kind of relief, any kind of answer. On Wednesday my PT  decided to try and old Chinese method called cupping therapy. If you've never experienced cupping, it involves a small cup, about the size of a shot glass, that's attached to a pump. Considered one of the oldest medical practices, it's described in Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical textbooks in the world that dates to 1,550 B.C.

In traditional Chinese medicine cupping is a method of applying acupressure by creating a vacuum on the patient's skin. The therapy is used to dispel stagnation, thereby improving blood flow. There are various methods used, but in my case, only one cup was used. The therapist applied gel to my leg, suctioned the cup and ran it vigorously up and down my IT band. Last week I had joked about needing a stick to bite when I got the deep tissue massage with the ice scraper tool. I knew it wasn't good news when this time around, the therapist gave me a towel, even without my request, just in case I needed something to bite on. Boy she wasn't kidding! The resulting sensation from the cupping was a severe burning feeling on my leg. I'd like to think I have a decent pain tolerance, but I had to ask her several times to stop and give me a break. It was that painful, especially since she was going over already bruised skin. I knew the cupping was going to leave a mark. I had no idea how bad it would be!

By that afternoon the bruising was evident. The rest of the week I refused to go out in shorts, regardless of how hot it got because it looked so bad. With the bruising I had before I got plenty of looks and comments. With this one, well, I just didn't want to have to explain. If I didn't look like a battered wife before, I sure do now!

The aftermath

Thursday morning I went to the sports doctor. He looked at my x-rays and after evaluating me suggested cortisone shots. I got one in my knee and hip and left his office hopeful that it would be the answer I needed. The doctor told me it could take several days to get the full effect, but regardless, I had to run Sat morning.

I flew out Friday night, but due to a 3 hour delay I didn't get into WI until midnight. A good friend, Stacy Hastings, whom I hadn't seen in years, came to pick me up at the airport and drive me to Lake Geneva. I was really excited to see her, spend some time together and have her support at the race. Once again feeling uncertain of how my body would handle the run, I was so glad to not be alone. We got to catch up on things during our hour drive to Lake Geneva and by the time we got checked into the hotel I was exhausted. Settling into bed at 2am, I had a hard time sleeping. I laid there, having a million thoughts swirl through my mind, wondering how my body would handle tomorrow.

 Stacy and I

Six AM we were up and getting ready. Stacy had decided to run the 5k, her first race ever. She had recently been in training for a half marathon and was sidelined by an injury. After taking several weeks off to recover, this was going to be her first time getting back to running. I've known Stacy since before I got hooked on running, so I was really excited for her to be doing her first race!

 Bib #'s on and ready to go

 Right near the start line

Everyone ready to go

We picked up our race numbers and got ready for the start. My race started 15 minutes before hers, so she saw me off. I made sure to start near the back of the pack, but even even as I took off, I could feel the limp. A woman passed me and did a quick double take, giving me a look of concern. I smiled and said "yeah it's going to be a long day." Like the previous week, the first several miles were quite painful. I slowed to walk once a mile, trying to allow my body to warm up easily. As the miles continued to pass, my body adjusted and the pain lessened. I was still running with a limp. I was still running slow. But I was still able to keep moving forward. My Garmin watch battery was dead, and in my haste to pack my bag I had forgotten the charger, so I had no idea what kind of pace I was keeping. Looking back on it I think it was a blessing not knowing. I was quite aware of my slow pace and not having a constant reminder every time I looked at my wrist was a good thing.

The weather was cool, the course was beautiful and there was a bit of wind to deal with along with some hills. Had I been pain free, I would have really throughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Pure beauty on the course

At 8 miles, the half marathoners split off from us and I found myself all alone on the course. I began to wonder if I was the last one running! Just before the half way point I came around a corner to an aid station. The volunteers saw my crazy limp/run stride and asked me if I was ok. "We have a car here, we can take you to the finish line if you need to" they told me. I asked them if there was a cut off time on the course. They told me no. "Then I'll be fine" I said as I grabbed a cup of sports drink and headed on my way.

Lake Geneva

The next several miles I found myself feeling very down. I was going so much slower than I had hoped. I knew I would make it through one way or another, but the miles seemed to drag on and it was mentally frustrating as much as it was physically. I found it harder to keep focused. It was one of those marathon wall moments, where the continual breakdown of my body was giving way to the breakdown of my thoughts.

One of many pretty places I passed

I loved all the trees!

By mile 17 I was finding my drive again. I was feeling slightly better physically and knowing I had less than 10 to go made me eager to keep moving forward. The surge of energy and renewal carried me through and I embraced every mile marker I passed as an accomplishment. I thought about Nellie, the girl I was running for. She's 12 years old, orphaned, and lives in the Ngqeleni District of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Her grandmother takes care of her and 2 older sisters. Nellie enjoys school and wants to live overseas and be a doctor when she grows up. I hope through what I'm doing I can be a part of helping her bring that dream to life,  so she can, in turn, help others. 

Nellie

Wearing down again at mile 23, finding different muscles of my body fatiguing, most likely as they had overcompensated for my IT/knee issue, I once again struggled along. Stacy had met up with me at mile 23 and it meant so much for me to have her there at that moment. Those last few miles were long, but the area we ran through was beautiful and extremely posh. I enjoyed the vast estates that we passed, each with grand stone column entrances and professional gardens.

 Entrance into one of the estates

Great name for a lane!

The very last of the race is run on an ancient Indian trail and once I hit the trail I was elated. It followed along the water, the perfect setting for the finish. I approached the finish line, battered and worn, limping and tired, but I finished! Crossing the line in 5:36, I met Stacy and got all the details of her race. She had run her 5k in 35 minutes, finishing 8th in her division out of 21 and was super jazzed about how she'd placed, given the hills. I was thrilled for her, and so happy to be done, having survived another week.

 Indian trail

We made a bee-line to the local YMCA so I could shower quickly before heading back for the airport. I really wanted to have more time to hang with Stacy, but as I had booked this flight before I was injured (and had planned on running a faster time) I had no choice but rush to get to the airport in time for my flight out.

This weekend was another huge milestone for me as I completed #16 of my journey. I'm now 1/3 of the way through and as my flight landed last night I was so thankful to be home for Mother's Day on Sunday. Here's to another week of recovery and as this marathon was slightly less painful than the one before, hope that I'm turning a corner for my healing process.