I did it! I hit my goal! Not only a 3:10 marathon, but a sub- 3:10 marathon! Sunday and Monday, I was on cloud nine. I floated though each day on a runner's high bliss! Nothing could bring me down- I had just run a 3:08:02 marathon! Then, after awhile, the runner's high went away and I had to face reality, running a marathon that fast, with an injury, meant I was still injured- and it wasn't going to go away in a couple of days. My leg was very sore after the marathon- along with the rest of my body. But as the days passed, the general soreness from running a marathon disappeared, and I was left with a dull ache in my left knee/calf. Advil seemed to be the only thing that got me through the day. Long walks were out of the question. I did nothing for 5 days straight. Even massage didn't seem to help much. Along with the diminishing runner's high, my ego also took a fall. 3:08 no longer seemed fast enough to me. I felt that I could run much faster than that if I had not been injured. If I had stayed more mentally focused at the end of the race I could have run a 3:06-3:07 perhaps. Instead, once I knew a sub 3:10 was in the bag, I relaxed for the last few miles and cruised in. My 7:11 pace marathon didn't seem as praise-worthy as a 7:05 pace marathon or a sub 7 pace. I guess that's part of the drive in a runner that keeps us training and racing, so we continue to improve and set our goals even higher.
A week and a half after the marathon, I got another massage. The muscles around the injury were still very dense, but much of the achiness had subsided. I was now able to walk with little discomfort- yet the ache was still there in the background. I took up biking again to keep myself sane. Luckily the weather was nice enough to get a few long rides in. Biking no longer caused discomfort either, like it had during my taper. The question now is: when can I return to running? When will I no longer feel pain? When can I get to work on my 50K training? I was told to wait one week after I feel no pain to begin running again, but that seems like it will never come, since still this morning (11 days after the marathon) my leg still feels stiff and sore when I get out of bed. I was looking forward to my 2 week break, but a 3 week break or a 4 week break- well its hard for me to imagine that. There are so many friends planning group runs. There are so many races I had wanted to do over the summer. Now I have to just sit back and be patient while time runs its course and my fast leg slowly, slowly heals.
