The Unknown

This weekend was to be my last significant long run- a twenty miler. But I have strained something in my right hip/glute area. My best guess is that I aggravated my sciatic nerve. There’s tightness and a painful soreness all around the area. This became apparent on my 16 mile long run last Sunday. I had some tightness but was able to complete the run. I had run 20 miles the weekend before without any issues.

Training this week has looked very different. Four weeks out from the marathon, I took a few complete rest days, days of walking only, a short bike ride, and today just a tentative jog. It is one of those things that I can’t tell if it is getting better or not. Trigger point massage and foam rolling make it feel “normal” for short amounts of time. Sometimes it doesn’t seem that bad, but it also is stubborn. For sure, it has me anxious. On one hand, I have time to heal before the race. On the other hand, I’m not quite ready for a taper. So I am left to walk a tightrope of “just right” activity that won’t aggravate the situation further and will allow it to heal while still maintaining what fitness I can. This has all been emotional. I really really want to feel strong on race day.