I decided to run this marathon even though I hadn't run in a month. Probably not the best idea, but it could have been worse. A month ago, I was diagnosed with Extensor Tendonitis. I've been resting my foot and not running. I've still been biking, swimming, and rowing. I've been sticking to the non-impact exercises.

I felt pretty good on the morning of the marathon. No pain in the foot. Everything else felt good too. Weather was perfect. It was probably 55 and sunny at the start of the race. I think I am able to run a 3:40 at this point so I started with the 4 hour pace group. I just wanted to run a nice easy pace and enjoy the day.

I was hoping my foot would be well rested and not give me any issues, but I felt a pain in my foot with my 3rd step. Not a great sign. Our pacer was kind of all over the place. He would run some miles 30 seconds faster than others. I think he did this so runners could stop at water stations. This was fine with me as I felt fine. I finished the first half of the marathon in 1:59:14. It would have been a little faster but I stopped between miles 12-13 to use the bathroom. The first half was not too bad. I wouldn't say I was in pain, just in some discomfort. Starting at mile 14, it starting hurting. Nothing too bad at first, just some pain in the foot. I had to make sure I was running in the middle of the street as anywhere else was too painful. The slant of the road was starting to really bother me. Miles 14-16 were moderately painful. Miles 16-18 it start to hurt quite badly. I managed to keep the pace at an OK rate but it was getting really bad. Miles 18-20 were excruciating. I wanted to quit at every footstrike of my left foot. Finally, at mile 20, my foot said 'You will not run another step'. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do so I started walking. When I say walking, that really means limping as I could not walk a normal stride. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. When the year started, I made a goal of running two marathons and two half ironmen tri's. I knew if I didn't finish this marathon, I would have no shot of reaching my goal. I thought it wouldn't be so bad walking in as I thought I could probably walk a 15 min mile. Now if I could walk, this probably could have happened. I was limping. It was kind of ugly. I could barely limp a 20 min mile. I was probably asked by 30-40 volunteers if I was ok and needed a ride in. By mile 23, I thought, just 3 more miles. At that point, I knew I would finish on my own no matter how long it took. It was long, slow and painful but I finished on my own 2 feet. It was SO frustrating. I finished the first 18 miles in under 3 hours. The last 8 miles took almost 2:30. I probably should have taken a ride in, but I don't think I could have looked myself in the eye if I didn't try to finish. Not the smartest move, but it's the way I wanted to do it.

I would like to be healthy

Extensor Tendonitis


I love the MM, but this race freaking owes me. Last year it was 90 degrees with very high humidity and this year I was injured. I am making this race my #1 priority next year. I am so going to run sub 3:40 here next year.