Me, a few days ago: My foot hurts. The pain makes any other ailment I ever had seem like just a case of a sore muscle. I believe this is my very first injury and it had to come at a perfect time: halfway through marathon training. I worked so hard to establish a nice base and I was well on my way to experiencing runs beyond 2 hours. Crap.

Me, today: Maybe this is a blessing in disguise? I don't know when or how I screwed up my foot but it did hinder my spring race plans. However, why was I rushing to do a spring marathon? Well, when I signed up for the race, I was only in school at the time. I figured it would be easier to train while I was in school. Training hard when I had to go back to the "real world" would be too difficult, I could only do it recreationally and say goodbye to my Boston dreams. I forgot I had these thoughts a few months later when I found myself working a full time job that was 1.5 hours away and still going to grad school. Everything happened so fast!

It wasn't until this injury that I realized I was doing it already! I was working full time and training my hardest. Granted this work-school-run schedule didn't work out in the "long run", it was great practice for learning how to prioritize! School and running have now become my focus, which I am very fortunate to be able to do.

I also learned a great lesson in patience. I was rushing to get in quality training. To be able to run the time I want to run, I know I need more than 3 months to train. But this little mishap is just a bump in the long road ahead.

For the last three days, it has been uncomfortable to walk. Though, each day the pain is less severe and the walking, less awkward. I believe my pool workout last night gave me the inspiration I needed to continue fighting through this challenge. I finally swam a mile and aqua-jogged for a solid twenty minutes. To maintain the fitness I built up this winter, I know I'm going to have to push myself each day cross training, which I've never done before. Cross training usually leaves me bored but probably because I never pushed the limits. Swimming that mile put me in a zone similar to running where the mind wants to stop. And like a run, I didn't listen. I kept on keeping on.

I've planned for the worst case scenario, which is 4 weeks off from running but active rest in the pool. If the foot gets better each day, like it has been, it may not be that long, more along the lines of 2 weeks off. Whether I'll be doing the marathon or the half marathon is still TBA. But I won't let the running break spoil my training, as I still plan on showing up in Cleveland on Sunday, May 16th.