And in the end...

I will not be running the Marine Corps Marathon.

If you read this blog on any kind of consistent basis, you know that I’ve been training for the MCM, which is in approximately 2 weeks. You also know that my training has been sub-par due to injury caused by over-training. When a runner is plagued by shin splints and IT Band pain that just won’t go away, it’s a sign of pushing too hard, too fast.

Now I’m not a super-experienced hardcore runner, but I wouldn't classify myself as a beginner either. I’ve got one marathon under my belt, dozens of shorter-distance races and about 9 years of running experience. I own 7 or 8 books that only “serious runners” would buy and look forward to my copy of Runner’s World each month. I browse Cool Running, Running Times and the Memphis Runner’s websites everytime I get a chance and I read all of your fantastic running blogs just about everyday. So you see, I consider myself fairly well-read on the subject of running. That’s why it makes absolutely no sense that I am injured enough to have to drop out of my upcoming marathon. Shouldn’t my super-educated running brain know when to hold back and when to persevere and push through the pain? Apparently not. Cause here I am. Out of the race with injuries that I haven’t dealt with since I was a beginning runner back in high school.

I’m not sure why or how it all began, but it’s been a vicious cycle…run too much too soon, suffer the consequences and become forced to take a few days off, try to play catch up, run too much too soon, suffer the consequences and become forced to take a few days off, try to play catch up….

Yes, it is frustrating, and yes, I want to ignore the pain and do whatever it takes to finish that race. However, that would be really really dumb and I don’t want to waste all that I’ve worked toward, thus far, by doing something dumb. I want to run a good marathon-one that I’m prepared for and one that I’m healthy enough to complete without risking blowing out my knee for a year.

That’s why I’m going to postpone my marathon.

So many wonderful people have sponsored me by generously donating money to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. I promised those people that I’d run a marathon and I will. I will run a marathon. It won’t be the Marine Corps Marathon, but I promise you that I will run 26.2 miles as soon as I possibly can, in honor of Meme.

I’ve taken a good amount of time off to properly recover (fingers crossed) and have slowly been getting back into my routine. I’m making myself take it slow until I can gauge exactly where I am in my training schedule. Once I determine where I stand, I’ll pick the appropriate marathon and do my best to stay healthy and injury-free until I’ve got marathon #2 under my belt. Since I already made my plans for travel and meeting up with old friends in DC, I’m still going on my trip. I’m looking forward to cheering on my fellow teammates on the MMRF Marathon Team. But that means that my vacation time is gone and so I’ll have to run a local marathon. Here are my options:

St. Jude Marathon in Memphis-12/6/08

MS Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS-1/3/09
Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans-2/1/09
Little Rock Marathon in Arkansas-3/15/09

Knoxville Marathon-3/29/09

Anyone got any input on these races? I'm leaning toward doing the half in Memphis and the full in Jackson. I think that 10 weeks will give me enough time to get back on track.