It’s race week, and I have to say that this training cycle has not gone as planned. I started training for Grandma's Marathon in February. Grandma’s Marathon week is my favorite, having participated in 5 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathons and 2 Grandma’s Marathons. As I settled into the training cycle, I added some speedwork, but my legs rebelled. I slowed things down with fewer miles, still hoping to complete the marathon, but as I started to increase mileage again, my legs acted up. I finally relented and began physical therapy. I didn’t have a major injury, just years of compensating for muscle imbalances that caused problems whenever I started serious training.
I listed my bib (ticket for the marathon) at a discounted price and was amazed when a guy paid me full price just to be nice! At that point, I was doing very short runs of 2-4 miles and thought I would be able to manage the 5k, which is held the Friday before the full and half marathon on Saturday. But I just couldn’t give up my distance quite yet. I went on the hunt for a half marathon challenge bib (5k and half marathon combination), figuring I would run either the 5k or the half if I felt up to it. With two of my sisters and a niece planning to run the half, I didn’t want to be left out of all the racing over our fun weekend.
In May, I finally started to feel like myself again. I slowly increased my miles and was able to complete a 10-mile long run the second weekend in June. I’m certainly not in the shape I was hoping to be in, but I am grateful to be ready to put on some miles during Grandma’s Marathon weekend. I’ll post a recap next week to let you know what distance(s) I decided to run and how things went.
To read more about Grandma's Marathon Weekend checkout:
My recap from last year's Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon