On December 15, 2007 I was quite excited. I was ready to run twenty miles with the L.A. Leggers. This was to be the furthest I had ever run. I knew that if I could run twenty miles, I could finish a marathon. When I completed running twenty miles I was going to sign up for the 2008 L.A. Marathon. All of this is part of training for my larger goal of finishing an Ironman Triathlon, but finishing a marathon is a pretty big step to that end.
I was feeling good. The whether was perfect for running, very cool, but not too cold. At about eight miles I commented to Tim, one of the Leggers I often line up with, that I was amazed that I had not had any injuries since I started running. I am by no means a natural runner. I have been a slow, plodding runner my whole life. A knee injury in the eighth grade made me even slower and gave me an even weirder gate. But somehow, even with that, I managed to run in two half-marathons, I completed training runs of fourteen, sixteen and eighteen miles. I was feeling great just short of the nine mile mark of my twenty mile run when my right foot barely hit a rock and it just slightly tripped me. I came down hard on my left foot, but didn't fall. There was a pain in the back of my knee. I immediately thought it was minor, then about four seconds later, I realized it wasn't. Everyone in the group kept asking, "are you okay?" as they ran by. I just said, "I'll be okay."
The last mentor finally came up and walked with me for a little bit while the rest of the group went on. I pulled my calf, it was hard to tell how badly at that point. I borrowed her cell phone and called my parents to ask if I should stretch it or not. They said no. I really wanted to stretch it. I then called Wendy to come and pick me up.
The perfect running whether was awfully cold for just sitting and waiting for someone to pick you up. I started shivering.
It is almost two weeks later, and I am certainly much better, but I haven't run at all. There have been times when I thought that I was done. That I would not do the L.A. Marathon and that I wouldn't do the Ironman 70.3 California. However, if I can start running again within a week, I can get back on track for the L.A Marathon, if not I will start training for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon in June.
I was feeling good. The whether was perfect for running, very cool, but not too cold. At about eight miles I commented to Tim, one of the Leggers I often line up with, that I was amazed that I had not had any injuries since I started running. I am by no means a natural runner. I have been a slow, plodding runner my whole life. A knee injury in the eighth grade made me even slower and gave me an even weirder gate. But somehow, even with that, I managed to run in two half-marathons, I completed training runs of fourteen, sixteen and eighteen miles. I was feeling great just short of the nine mile mark of my twenty mile run when my right foot barely hit a rock and it just slightly tripped me. I came down hard on my left foot, but didn't fall. There was a pain in the back of my knee. I immediately thought it was minor, then about four seconds later, I realized it wasn't. Everyone in the group kept asking, "are you okay?" as they ran by. I just said, "I'll be okay."
The last mentor finally came up and walked with me for a little bit while the rest of the group went on. I pulled my calf, it was hard to tell how badly at that point. I borrowed her cell phone and called my parents to ask if I should stretch it or not. They said no. I really wanted to stretch it. I then called Wendy to come and pick me up.
The perfect running whether was awfully cold for just sitting and waiting for someone to pick you up. I started shivering.
It is almost two weeks later, and I am certainly much better, but I haven't run at all. There have been times when I thought that I was done. That I would not do the L.A. Marathon and that I wouldn't do the Ironman 70.3 California. However, if I can start running again within a week, I can get back on track for the L.A Marathon, if not I will start training for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon in June.
John Thum
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