Of Mice and Marathons

dang. i'm not liking these posts --really sorry to hear things aren't going so well. i hope you can get the hip issues figured out and i really hope no one at the health clinic pulls RICE on you.

good luck. hopefully you can still have a fun weekend at the race. i can confirm that jake and andrea are fun people, and if coach murphy does in fact make it in the suitcase, you are in for a great party.

don't forget: magical pumpkin ale. it helps.

Thanks, Allie. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely devastated, but I think it's a temporary thing and I've done well (or been lucky) to run for 22 months and 5600 miles without anything sidelining me. I may have pushed a bit too much, but I wasn't unreasonably beyond what I had been doing. I should have shut things down sooner though.

I hope you get some Indiana candy corn because I need SOMEONE to benefit from the horrendous corn syrup smell that comes from a factory not far from where most of my runs take place.

I believe I mentioned this, but a colleague once described the smell as, "you know that smell when you fry an egg and then wash out the pan? It's like that."

'completely devastated' -- i've been there. i'm really sorry. you have every right to be upset, depressed, etc. injuries are cruel, but as you said, temporary. you'll come back quickly, no doubt.

i do remember you saying that about the eggy pan. in fact, it may have been the first post i ever read on your blog, and my thoughts were: "i need to come back here."

we don't have any corn syrup factories around here, but we do have a medical waste incinerator that smells like bad mustard.

Jason - sorry to hear about the injury... And apologies for not posting sooner. Sounds like a hip flexor issue - if I am reading your description correctly. You probably have googled this injury a bunch already too - but for what it is worth, I have had the hip flexor injury a few times. It has something to do with a bursa sack that gets inflamed under the hip flexor. Needs time to allow the swelling to subside. Sounds like you've been doing exactly that. It could take a few weeks - but when you resume training just take it very easy and stretch it out well before and foam roll after. You'll be back at it before you know it.

Not a problem, Bret. I realize people have adult jobs and families and aren't obsessive bloggers :) I appreciate it. I'm pretty sure that's it. I had some quad soreness after my last race. Very rare these days even after a pretty aided marathon, so it was definitely a sign something was getting worked in a new way. I could see this being another week. I don't think it's too serious and if these are the only setbacks I deal with every two years, I'll consider myself a lucky runner.

If it's any consolation Jason, you'll probably bounce back from this quicker than you think and be stronger than ever.

Sorry. Hang in there!

Thanks, Rob. Read this before bed and felt better. Slept like crap, but I felt better :)