Danger Will Robinson

Saturday night (or Sunday morning), I got up to pee at 2:06. I took one step and nearly fell sideways onto the bed. My feet would not bend. I held onto furniture and hobbled to the bathroom. I hobbled back to bed and was paralyzed with fear.

I was not going to be able to walk in a normal fashion, much less run the scheduled 3 miles on Monday. My mind started going crazy. I could not see how I could continue to train, nor did I see how I could ever finish the marathon if I didn't continue to train.

I cried and cried and cried - not because I feet hurt so badly - but because I was going to fail - I just couldn't see how to keep my promise to finish the marathon. All of this work to raise close to $12,000 for Alzheimer's research and my body was not cooperating.

After I got done having my little sissy-fit/pit party. I developed a plan.

It is clear to me that my cardio-fitness is great. It is also clear to me that my feet are not great. It is clear to me that if I keep running on my feet, I will not be able to complete anything. If my feet were in the shape they were in 6 months ago, I could walk 26.2 miles at maybe a 16 minute mile pace - maybe - but I could do it. The way my feet are right now, I could not even walk a mile.

My plan:

- Take 2 weeks off from running

- Use my elliptical on the days I am scheduled to run. Do 10 miles on the elliptical for each mile I am scheduled to run. This way, I get the cardio and I get the sense of what it is to work that hard for that long.

- Continue my anti-inflammatory pills

- Continue icing at least 3 times a day

- Get my new orthotics back

- Ask Brian/Ali (the coaches that Run2Remember provides for us) to give me a running schedule once I am back so I build up my mileage smartly and sufficiently to be able to complete the marathon.

- Allow for the possibility that I will be mostly power-walking the sucker.

- I am clear I will complete the marathon.

I also really took care of my feet on Sunday.