First Full marathon Completed!!

Hello all. Well yesterday was a wonderful day! THe events leading up to it had me worried...a lot.

I have been suffering from IT band issues in my left leg for a month. Three times while I was attempting long runs, my hubby had to come and rescue me, as the pain got so severe, I needed help home. I did physio for weeks, but it wasn`t relieving my really tight band at all. I would feel great, until i got into a run. At first it was 17k in, then 13k, then 5k...It was depressing. I also went to a massage therapist for help. All therapy made me feel better for daily use...but my muscles have great memory and would just go back to tight quicker each time I ran. The knee pain is horrible! 

I then decided to switch from physio to a chiro who does Active Release Technique, as well as acupuncture with electrodes in it. I only got two session in which did well. Friday I dropped by to be taped, and brought him in the shoes that I have been wearing since the summer. His jaw dropped. I have been wearing natural running shoes, as the running store suggested I try them out, (after they videoed my feet, as I ran, they concluded that i`m a neutral runner). Well, the salesperson sold me the wrong shoe. Even though he knew I was marathon training, the shoe I have been wearing is really for sprinting only. I need support, as I pronate while just standing (yet somehow I don`t as much when I run). Anyhow, he said he would never suggest this, but I needed to get new shoes, or I would be damaging myself further. I went back to the running store, wearing the shoes they sold me, and the owner took one look at me and asked what I was doing in that shoe. He was upset when I told my story, and spend an hour and a half with me getting me the `right`` shoe. He also hated me switching at this late in the game.

Anyhow. I wore them Saturday for a 4k run, and they felt good....i mean REALLY good. the difference was huge. I also discovered Traumeel cream, and drops. It`s a homeopath anti-inflamatory that we can take. I think it works.

So, race day. I expected to be walking most of it. My chiro gave me a 25% chance of being able to run it. I took it easy, and felt great...so I kept going. I went at a slower pace than normal, expecting the pain to come at any time. And it didn`t really. Any pain I felt was nothing like before...and it came and went. I barely walked any of the course..just a bit to bring my heart rate down at 36km for about a minute. THe rest was running. And i SPRINTED to the finish line!!! I still can`t believe I did it. My time was 4:31 and change...I did want under 4:30 yesterday (and before I was injured, I was hoping for a 4:00 finish). WIth that said, I`m proud of what I was able to achieve and I will be doing it again next year!!

Next for me...a half iron! :-)

Here are a couple of pics.

That's awesome! Congrats!

Thanks!

CONGRATS!!!!  Glad you found a shoe at the last minute that helped you.  Amazing speed too, you are well ahead of my best thoughts at this point.  (5:15 if I can do 12ish min miles)

Now go update that signature with the newest new info!!  :)

Sam

Good call. Signature added!

Congrats!

I am a big fan of ART, myself. It's helped me a lot with my calf issues.

I'm also a bit leery of the current fad of natural running shoes and minimalistic shoes. I think they have some merits but some people act like they are the answer to everything and they aren't. I do use a neutral shoe but it not a minimalistic one. I am thinking of going down with the padding and support but, if I do, I'll go down gradually and be really careful about it.

I'm also looking into the new Cloudrunner technology as I think it has promise. I want to try it out and see what I think.

Thanks. I went from a lot of support to basically none. Very bad idea, I now know. They felt awesome, and I had no idea they would be doing damage to me. Lesson learned. My new shoes are wonderful. Just the right amount of support. I may drop down after the next pair, but I need to be fully healed first. I won't be running for a bit now anyway.

AWESOME...so inspired by your efforts, thanks for posting I needed it today!
 

On to the next challenge right!!!

THank you. I'm glad I inspired you....hope all is well!

OMG!!! You look awesome!!! And what a finishing time, I'm in awe!! Thank goodness you found relief and it didn't deter you - I've heard it said that if your body is sending pain, it's trying to communicate something. It'd be lovely if some day we could just hop into a body scan and it'd tell us exactly what we need to wear/eat/train.....