Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A marathon deal?

I registered for the upcoming Disney Marathon through Team-in-Training. I thought about signing up for the marathon outside of TNT but I've done a bunch of events with them and figured I might as well add one to the resume (I'm normally really good at fundraising but that's a story for another day). I don't really follow their training program (instead following the sage advice of CoachBikeMike) but I try to use the team's workouts as ways to get company for my long runs. Of course, this was when I was actually doing long runs.

After I hurt my knee and it didn't get better, I wondered if I could switch from the Disney Full Marathon to the Disney Half Marathon held on the same weekend. I figured there was no way that I could finish "the Full" unless I wrecked myself physically due to a lack of training. ("The Full" is unknown territory for me since I've never even started one before. Last year I signed up for Philly26.2 and bailed since hurt my left leg. This year my NYC26.2 dream was cut short by a rude encounter with a Honda CR-V while riding my bike but I've beaten that story to death). The official Disney policy is that no changes are possible but I reached out to the TNT folks hoping for special dispensation. After they checked, the answer back was sorry, but no.

Oh well, I gave it a shot. I planned on going down to Florida anyway with the Mrs., enjoy the weekend, and maybe do a little running if I'm up to it (rumor has it that it isn't snowy and cold there). There was no imperative to run and since I haven't run in about a month, I was expecting to, at best, jog a few miles to earn the swag before being rescued.

Today the phone rang and TNT let me know that they were able to make the switch! It may take a while to show up on the website but I am now registered for "The Half" instead.

Holy mixed emotions, Batman. A deal? Yes, a deal.

If I can run at all, I think I can finish the half. I may have to walk a bit of it (OK, maybe more than a bit) but there is no backing out now. I'm not going to hurt myself but most half marathon training plans call for a little more than 2 weeks of actually running. Running outside in NY is still a bit of a challenge due to the amount of snow still on the ground (let alone seeing what my knee will actually let me do). I adjusted my mindset that this is, at best, a "C" priority race and I don't care at all about my finishing time (well maybe I care a little but not anywhere near the normal amount of race psychosis).

The slow journey continues....

PS: The maladies continued with the cough adding on a runny nose. The snot factory kept me up all night even though I tried the OTC medicine roulette so I broke down and saw the doctor. He gave me real drugs to cure my bronchitis and sinusitis and I'm hoping for the drugs to kick in any minute now.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

i'm glad you got switched to the half. hope you can run it!

Diane said...

Are you sure you are up to it? And your knees and ribs and back and etc.. are as well? Have fun, be careful, enjoy the run. You are one crazy dude, I have to say it. But I like your spirit. Always, always, always. I like your spirit!!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Even the half might be rough, I hope your better by then, its better to DNS and miss ONE race, then race and miss many.

Al's CL Reviews said...

I hope it works out!
I think you can do it!

Anonymous said...

Got this from TriMommy:

Listen to your body... on race day if your body tells you not to do it, don't do it. But if it tells you to show up and give it a whirl, then go for it. There is no shame in just seeing what you can do and if that means walking, that's okay!

Merry Christmas!