A Runner Beset by Injuries

Last year, I joined the umpteen thousands -- and the nearly 150 from our area -- who ran in the Fargo Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and various relays. As I write this the day prior, my feelings are not so much of excitement as they are relief and trepidation.

My marathon training this year feels sort of like the Minnesota Twins' baseball season so far this year -- injury-filled and somewhat disappointing.

Last year, my first time doing the full marathon, I didn't realize how easy I had it. While there were the normal aches and pains, the bottom line was, I got through the three-month training period relatively injury-free, and I was able to finish the full marathon in under four hours.

This year, I didn't get so lucky.

It started off with a little knee pain, which was probably due to overuse. Then I had one of the worst cases of the flu that I have experienced in several years, resulting in a missed 19-mile training run. I felt disappointment by not getting a personal record in the St. Cloud half-marathon in April, and the Get In Gear 10K on April 30 (a day when I should have been doing a long training run).

The missed long training runs prompted me to attempt a 20-mile run two weeks ago, going against advice by a couple runners not to worry about such a long run.

Of course, about three-fourths of the way through the run, my left knee started bothering me, prompting me to cut back on my running for the following week. Last Saturday, I felt pretty strong during a six-mile run, and then my foot started bothering me. Likely cause: tendinitis.

So this week, I decided not to run, and simply let myself heal up. Of course, the beautiful weather forced me to go golfing and mow and fertilize the lawn, and in the course of all that walking, I felt some discomfort in my right shin muscle.

I'm also pretty sure I gained a couple pounds this week, since my brain tells me I should be eating a ton to burn all those miles off, yet I'm not running the miles.

What all this means as far as my performance Saturday, I'm not sure. Some Internet chart says, based on my St. Cloud half-marathon time in April, I should beat my time of 3 hours, 53 minutes and 10 seconds.

Especially if we don't get the same weather as I experienced during the last half of last year's marathon -- hot, humid, with 40 mile-an-hour winds.

I also was supposed to be tapering -- that is, vastly cutting back on the miles to let your body strengthen up -- these last two weeks anyway.

So while I don't know how it will go, I do know this: I have relatively low expectations. I'm going to start out conservatively (translation: relatively slow), and see how I feel. Qualifying for the Boston marathon has been out of range for a while now, so trying to push for a great time isn't of the highest priority.