I am counting down the 6 days remaining until I run
2 Marathons and 1 Ultra Marathon in 56 days.
I have been training for these marathons since I
signed up for them in January. It has not been easy training for these
marathons. This year started with one of the coldest winter months in recent
times. This year also started for me with injuries that I struggled with during
each training run leading up to today. I started with a severe back injury in
the first week in January and then moved on to injured hamstring muscles,
inflamed piriformis muscle and shin splits. I was able to recover from the back
injury in about two weeks, the shin splits in about a week but the hamstring
muscles and piriformis muscle have taken their royal time in getting
better.
I kept running all winter and willed through the
injuries to keep myself ready for these marathons. During this process, I did not
give myself any prolonged rest. In the next 6 days, I will let my legs relax
and recover from the injuries that have piled up. I will be stretching a lot
this week, applying cold packs and eating a lot of carbs.
I have two regular marathons and one ultra marathon
to run. Each marathon is more difficult than the previous one. I scheduled it
in this sequence to prepare my mind and body for running the
last marathon that is supposed to be the hardest of them all.
On May 4th, I run my first marathon of the year.
This is the Cox Providence Rhodes Race. This is considered
a relatively flat marathon and I expect to set a new PR. Looking at the
extended weather forecast, I see showers on May 4th with nice run-friendly
temperatures. I am optimistic that this day will turn out to be good day for a
run. This marathon will also serve as a practice run for my next marathon.
My second marathon is an Ultra Marathon. An ultra
marathon is any marathon that is more than 26.2 miles. This course is on an
off-road path with twists and turns and has a distance of 31 miles (50km). I
have never run this type of distance before and thus I don't know what to
expect out of this course and my body. This marathon is called the Salomon
Trail Running Festival at Pineland Farms. This is a two-day event
with a variety of scheduled races that range between 3.1 to 50 miles. I am
excited about running the Ultra distance but I am more excited about seeing the
variety of runners that are expected to attend this festival. This variety will
likely include amateurs, average runners, and the hard core running types. I
will come out of this experience a better runner.
My third marathon is the hardest of them all. Bay of Fundy International
Marathon is set for June 15 in Lubec, ME. This marathon starts at
the eastern most point of the continental USA, crosses the border into Canada
and runs most of its distance in Canada. This marathon finishes in the
continental USA. This is the hardest of them all because the first six miles of
this marathon are relatively flat but the last 20 miles are non-stop hills. By
the time, I get to the starting line of this marathon; my body will already
have run a marathon and an ultra marathon. The two previous marathons will
serve as a practice run for this marathon.
When I think about these three races, I get both
excited and nervous at the same time. I worry that I am going to get injured or
that I may not be physically and mentally ready for the Ultra and the
international marathon.
I will never know if I don't try.
I plan to be fully healed and rested before running
my first mile of the first marathon. I am looking forward to running these
races and taking this challenge head-on.