Stress Fracture Blues

Dang it! The training for the Portland Marathon (and just perhaps my age too) has finally done me in. Just a month after I ran 26.2 miles, I ended up with a stress fracture on my right foot. And I have over-training to blame.

I am so frustrated! Running is my stress relief, my religion, my saving grace on a crappy day. Not only that, but coming up on age 40 seems to have slowed my metabolism such that I have to work extra hard to keep the pounds at bay.

Now, I get news today that there shall be no running for 4-6 weeks. What can I do? Swim? Um.... no. Not only am I not that great of a swimmer (I couldn't do a flip turn to save my life), but the thought of all the extra effort of pulling on a swimsuit and getting all wet in a pool, makes me want to run as fast as my kitten from a running bathtub. If that wasn't insult enough, I have to wear an ugly post-op "shoe" that has a stiff sole and keeps me from bending my toes when I walk.

I found out that it is not uncommon for women like me to suffer a stress fracture. Women my age (pre-menopausal - gulp!) are more likely to have issues with bone density. The amount of running I was doing - about 30 miles per week - also had something to do with it. So, how to keep injuries at bay in the future? Slowly increase mileage (check), make sure you have good, supportive shoes (OK, I need to work on that), and don't run when you are feeling any pain (my bad - I ran on Sunday even though my toes were hurting). If only I could be like this guy in the pole-vaulting video and continue my sport while I am healing:



What can I do for the next month or two after being diagnosed with a stress fracture? Starve myself - since I'm not burning off 500+ calories per day with exercise? Nope. I can't do that. I love food too much! To help me in that department, however, I have taken on Julie's no-sugar challenge, which has at least three times today kept me out of the Halloween candy. No leftover birthday cake for me either. I have considered starting to ride my bike to work - I live only 4 miles from downtown Bend - so that would be theoretically easy. But its November. Waaaah! I don't want to cycle in the snow.

I guess the bottom line is that the stress fracture is nature's little way of telling me to slow down. Heck, it was dark today at 4:30, so who wants to go out and exercise in the rain in these conditions? OK, yes, it would have been me....

I Ran 26.2 Miles

Yes, its true! On Sunday, October 5, I lined up with 9000 other runners in Portland, Oregon, for the 37th annual Portland Marathon. And - just a mere 4 1/2 hours later - I crossed the finish line. What an experience it was! I admit that I always wanted to run a marathon, from the time I started distance running in college. Twenty years have passed though, including law school, a career, 4 children and a diganosis of Type 1 diabetes. I resigned myself to the fact that a marathon just wasn't in the cards.

Well, about a year ago, my sister encouraged me to start on a training schedule to work up to a marathon. We aimed for the Portland Marathon and cleared our calendars for the big date. I consulted with my doctors and got the green light. For 4 months this summer, I diligently logged my progress, putting in anywhere from 20-35 miles per week. I ran my first half-marathon in August, and then, a few weeks later, got injured. Weeks of physical therapy (plus 2 weeks' rest) helped get me "back on track." I was ready and raring to go last weekend.

The marathon started at 7:00 in the morning (we actually started a bit after the hour because the race had a wave start) and we finished before noon. The rain set in about 5 miles into the run, but that didn't dampen our spirits. I heard about "hitting the wall" around 18-20 miles, but I was fortunate to make it all the way to 23 miles before I started breaking down. The last 3 miles of the marathon were among the toughest I've ever run. Hearing the announcer cry out my name as I crossed the finish line nearly brought me to tears.

My sister and I hobbled back to our hotel, showered and then slept for hours! We were pretty sore the first two days afterwards, but today (Day 3), we feel nearly 100%.

The Portland Marathon is one of the best first marathons in the country. It is popular among walkers, as well. Portland is famous for being extremely well-organized, which sure makes it nice for nervous participants. Perhaps most notably is the fact that the Portland Marathon is a "green" event. Among other things, the race donates discarded clothing to shelters, uses cups made of biodegradable materials, hands out canvas shopping bags, and each runner gets a tree seedling to plant - to create a virtual Portland Marathon forest!

I'm planning to run the Portland Marathon again next year. Let me know if I'll see you there!

Marathon Training for Beginners

I am doing what I never thought would be possible - training for a marathon! It will be the first time I have attempted running 26.2 miles straight, and I expect that it will take me at least 4 1/2 hours to complete the distance. Fortunately, my sister is training along with me. There may be 250 miles between us right now (she lives in Seattle and I live in Bend, Oregon), but we're tracking our progress together on a Google Document. All together, the training will take us 13 weeks before the Portland Marathon on October 5, 2008, in Portland, Oregon.

I've been running since college, for the past 20-some years. My sister, on the other hand, started running last November, but she is quickly becoming a seasoned runner. She completed a 1/2 marathon in March 2008 in good time. To complicate matters more, I am an insulin-dependent diabetic. This means that I test blood frequently and never go running for more than an hour without my kit, cell phone and glucose tablets (as well as gu). We both have children and work as attorneys too! Nonetheless, we are strictly following training schedules set forth in Runner's World, and (as of this publishing at the end of Week 3) are doing great!

If you are interested in a marathon and/or just want to read what its like to be training for one, please read my hubs which track both of our progress:

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week One

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Two

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Three

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Four