The Adventures of Elizabeth

Chicago Marathon Update....will I race?


I have had several emails lately asking me about my progress with my training for the Chicago marathon this coming weekend, October 22nd. I appreciate it so much that you are even interested!

If you have read my blog, you will know that I did my very first marathon last March in NYC. It was so very hard, but I am crazy enough to try it again!

I have been training and eating right, but the last four weeks or so have been a real challenge. I have been living with severe pain in my left arm, hand and my left butt cheek down the back of my thigh. At first, I thought I just pulled a muscle in my thigh, but the pain is not going away with stretching and rest. My left arm and hand, I am afraid may be more serious.

In 2001 I had neck and spine surgery due to the pain in my left arm and hand. Basically a bone chip was cut from me and fused into my neck to allow the spinal fluid to flow as it should, thus relieving the pinched nerve. I had to wear a neck brace for five months. No driving! I had to sleep sitting up. It was terrible. Really terrible!

Now, about a month or so ago, the pain returns. Some nights it is so fierce that I just can't take it. I get an average of 2-3 hours a sleep a night for weeks now. (That is reason, if you look, you see several of my posting published in the wee hours of the night - I can't sleep due to the pain.) I went to the doctor last week, and she gave me a splint for my arm and some meds. Monday I go for an MRI and bone scan later this month. At the end of October I go and see a neurosurgeon.

Obviously, I am frustated, as I wanted to improve my race time. I wanted to feel good and healthy. I have ran only an average of 4 - 6 miles a few times a week the last several weeks. Not good training. I did manage to get in a 10 mile run right before the pain really set in. So what does this mean?

Well, I need to go to Chicago on business anyway. I have hotel room anyway. And I really, really want to "run" this race. So, I am going to do it. I may not finish it, or I may have to walk it, but I want to be a part of the crowd. I worked for this. I want to be inspired by all the women who are older than I and be amazed at their strength, their health, their speed, and their passion. Like everyone else, I look for and need, inspiration too.

So, just in case you are interested, my bib number is 19335. I will be starting with the group that paces about 10 minutes a mile....much slower than I want to start, but at this point, I just need to take it slow. If you log on to the
www.chicagomarathon.com I believe, I am told, that there is a way to track runners as they cross check points. I would love it if any of you are going to be in town and want to cheer on a "crickety old woman" (inside joke with my honey) and see if she can run across the finish line or not.

If this turns out not to be the race I hoped for - then there is always the St. Louis marathon or the NYC marathon. Yes, I am nutty enough to train, yet again, for another race. Why? Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just like the idea that at age 42 that I can even walk 26.2 miles, much less run it. Maybe I like pushing my body to its limit. Maybe I just need something in my life that has nothing to do with my business - something I do just for me. No one else. Just me.

Or maybe I just don't have the good sense to spend the little free time I have to take well-needed nap.

I have never been one to nap though.

Thank you again for asking. Your well wishes are appreciated and I will give you a post race posting to let you know what happens. And yes, I will let you know what the MRI says as well. And as I cross the finish line, I can tell you this: I will be thanking God for my health, I will be grateful for all that I have, I will feel blessed to have so many well-wishers and I will be needing a really good massage. :-)

from my house to your house,

Elizabeth
www.elizabethhouse.us