My daddy and grandma watching the race
Outside world of coke with my younger brother. Since I didn’t have to race my family and I went site-seeing.
Post Race Update
Thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout my training, but especially during the last week. It was such a disappointment not being able to run in the Publix Half last Sunday but hearing from everyone made it easier. Obviously race weekend did not go as planned. However, my family still came in town and we had a great time together. Here’s a recap of the weekend:
Race Expo What a cool experience! Everyone I saw at the expo just looked like an athelete. This is where you pick up your race day packet, including shirt and bib, and there are just a ton of vendors there giving away free samples and offering great discounts on all kinds of running gear. It was a sad experience for me, so I didn’t linger but it was definitely very cool.
Inspiration Dinner Team in Training hosted a lovely pasta dinner for the team at the Ritz Carlton downtown. My family and I decided to skip out on the even last minute since we’d spent a full day being tourists in Atlanta—one of the perks of not running.
Race Morning Also one of the perks of not running…I did not have to wake up 4:30 a.m. to make it to the starting line on time. My family and I did go to the race and cheered on individuals as they crossed the finish line. It was so inspiring seeing everyone with huge smiles on their faces and even those who were limping across. It was also very difficult to watch…I wanted to be out there so bad! We got there in time to watch the slower half marathon finishers and also saw the first handful of marathon finishers.
Bottom Line I was ready to run that race and I’m proud of myself for running more miles in the last few months than I’ve ever run in my life. I’m also proud of the fact that I was able to raise $3,400 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That money is going to make a big difference and I’m so thankful to everyone who contributed on my behalf.
Bonebreak Heartbreak
I received some bad news yesterday. In fact it was absolutely crushing. I will NOT be running in the Publix half marathon this weekend.
I spoke with my coaches about the pain I recently developed in my shin (aka in the last 4 days) and they urged me to go to a doctor. This wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I just assumed I had shin splints and they would tell me to ice and run through the pain. But at my coaches’ recommendation I went back to Emory Sports Medicine.
I was fortunate enough to get a last minute appointment but after having an exam and x-rays done I learned that unfortunately I have an early stage stress fracture in my left shin. That means my bone has a hairline crack in it from all the pounding the pavement I’ve been doing. (Stress fractures are not uncommon in female endurance athletes). Sadly this also means that I will not be running this weekend. Running on a stress fracture will not only be painful but will worsen the break and could cause long term damage.
I am absolutely heartbroken. For those of you who’ve been following this journey all along, you know it’s been a difficult six months to get to this point. I did not ever imagine I would get this far only to be told 3 days before the race that I can’t run. Needless to say a few tears were shed in the doctor’s office.
I’m mad at my body for, in my mind, betraying me like this. And I’m mad at the situation. The one positive of all this is that at least my efforts were not completely in vain, I still managed to raise $3,400 for cancer research.
I haven’t decided how I’ll handle race day yet. But I’m not going to give up. This makes me more determined than ever to run a half marathon. It just won’t be happening any time soon.
