Julie's PR attempt at Fox Cities

I really hope the two days of rest does it, Julie. You are correct, you are in good enough shape with all the miles you've put in plus two 20 milers. I'm trying to remember when I had knee pain some years ago - I think it was generally related to the type of shoe I was wearing (e.g., motion control vs stability). It could also just be the result of the peak miles from the schedule and it will gradually get better over taper.

Seems like your rounding the corner and heading for the home stretch training wise, hope the knee rights itself. I think you're in the start of your taper so ease up a bit and you should be fine! God running to you!

Julie wrote:Thanks Jon,

It seems to take more discipline to not run than to run.

You got that right! So which Julie is going to show up! The more disciplined?

Julie, my advice, for what it's worth, would be to definitely skip that 3rd 20 miler and take the extra time. You've got some great long runs already in the bag, and while that last would be nice to top of the training cycle, it's far more important to give the knee a chance to calm down so that's it's good to go for the marathon. You may even need more than two days off in a row. If that's the case, it's not a huge deal at all.

Julie I'm too new at this to give you any recommendations. I hope your knee is ok. You've trained really hard and I hope you can toe the line and drop the hammer come race day.

Thanks all, I did not run today, I am not running tomorrow. Already put big 0s in my training log and everything. I will see how it feels Monday.

My knee still felt a little sore just today even without running. Took some ibuprofen at work, I guess I'll just start out Monday and see how it feels.

Smart move in my opinion Julie - and I am also one that hates skipping
days. You know your body, though, and it's hard to imagine at this
point gaining or losing a whole lot of fitness. You have done well to
date keeping with most all of your runs so I hope you have a lot of
confidence - you've put in a ton of great work!

21 days and a wakeup - won't be long now!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Smart move in my opinion Julie - and I am also one that hates skipping
days. You know your body, though, and it's hard to imagine at this
point gaining or losing a whole lot of fitness. You have done well to
date keeping with most all of your runs so I hope you have a lot of
confidence - you've put in a ton of great work!

21 days and a wakeup - won't be long now!

+1

The key is to make sure that you are healthy. You may have to take another day off, as well. Just because it doesn't hurt when you are not running doesn't mean than it is healed. You'll get there take it slow and easy.

Julie wrote:Thanks Jon,

I just asked a friend I run with and she said take 2 days off and see how it is Monday. The single days haven't done the trick yet so we'll see what 2 days do. It seems to take more discipline to not run than to run. Bring on the frozen peas and ibuprofen.

No doubt Julie that it takes more discipline to not to run than run. Hope that your knee is feeling better but again like you said and others is that you will not lose fitness over this rest.

I will also add this in your blog, I had a busy, crazy week this past week and knew that my body and mind were being put through some stress that I'm not normally use to. So instead of pushing myself and stressing myself more about running 100+ miles this week I actually took 3 days off and allowed my body a little rest period. Yep you read that right no injuries or niggles like you but decided that my mind and body need a little break due to how great my training and how this past week was going. I have full confidence that it didn't effect my fitness, actually I know it didn't because I had a nice 10 mile run yesterday. I did feel a little out of the groove at first but that started coming back as the run went on.

So these little breaks are a good thing for the not only the body but also the mind. Again hope you are feeling better and get back to running.

Glad you listened to the body and took an extra day off. You have plenty of miles under your belt so no worries!

Thanks John, Nick, Martin, and Peg,

I will catch up with all your blogs within the next few days! Kind of crazy weekend. No running but still my knee hurt just on a short little family walk. I am taking tomorrow off too since Mondays are supposed to be rest days anyway and I think another day would help since I still have some pain. In a way I am worried and in a way I am not because I really think with enough rest this will heal up and hopefully I can run the marathon pain free.

The bummer is that the weather was really beautiful today and it would have been awesome for a run. Ah well, fall is coming and I have plenty of time to run after the marathon, too.

another rest day, tomorrow I'm meeting a friend to run 4-8 miles just play it by ear. Kind of getting excited for the marathon and kind of still worrying that I'll still be in pain for the race and it will mess up my pace plans.

I'm getting excited for you too! It is always nicer to run with someone I think - have fun and play it safe....

I am glad that you are getting out there for a run tomorrow, but play it safe. Make sure to go slow...You don't want to make things worse. I am sorry if I sound like a parent, but I want you to be as healthy as possible for race day

Thanks John!

Thanks Nick! No worries, my parents don't know much about running...I am going with a slower friend (not to be rude, just a fact) so it won't be anything too fast. You are right, I don't want to make anything worse. 19.5 days until the race and yes I've been weather checking already.

I hope taking the extra day off helps making you feel better for the run tomorrow.

Hang in there~

Yeah this isn't funny....I got up this a.m. with storms and about an hr later waiting it out it seemed to calm down, Now it's really thundering and lightning with pouring rain and I want to run but not badly enough to be that foolish. So here is hoping the scattered t-storms we are supposed to have the rest of the day clear off into nothingness and I can at least take the jogging stroller out. Otherwise it's 4 days off in a row and that sure wasn't my original plan.

The weather should at least be better after today.

I heard the thunder and rain too.

so tapering + extra days off for injury + another day off for t-storms is great for having a clean house and really not great for my well-being. Haha. Still hoping it will clear off today.

Julie it's tough but try to stay positive. Running is so much mental. You can still crank come race day.

Thanks Alex,

I made it 2.5 miles between thunder storms before my husband had to leave for work so at least that felt good. My knee hurts just a little now, nothing too big but I will ice it today. It was a little sore during the first half mile, not trying to make a big deal out of nothing but I don't want to be in denial and make it worse, either. If that is as bad as it's going to hurt and not get any worse, I could run a marathon on that, if it gets really bad it is going to be difficult. I am hoping to run a 16 miler on Sunday and if that goes well it will really help my confidence.

I need to think about taking ibuprofen before the race, too, since I have been taking it. I think it would be safe enough but I just have tummy concerns.

I am glad our hotel has a fridge and a microwave, though, so I can take potatoes and other foods I know don't bother my stomach. I am really sensitive to garlic which a lot of places will put in their pasta sauce and everything so I am saving the pizza for after the race. Don't worry, my family will be enjoying restaurant food on vacation.

Glad the knee felt better, I'm sure it's because you have been resting. So much of this is a mental game. It does make a person stir crazy to not run when that is what you're used to.



Woke up at 3:30 or 4 to loud thunderstorms. It occurred to me at 4:30 after checking radar that you probably would not be running much this AM. Seems that a lot of the rain we have gotten in the last month to six weeks has been nocturnal.



I am glad that you have the bulk of your training behind you and now your focus is getting to the starting line unscathed. Hope that you end up in better shape by weeks end. There is hope by the way, the low Sunday night is predicted to be............47!!

Thanks Jon, I know, Sunday should be an awesome early a.m. for a long run!

I did make it about 3.5 with the jogging stroller mostly pain free. Maybe partly because I was distracted by reading a book out loud to Jocelyn she had in her lap. Yeah, I'm that weird. But she really wanted to bring her book on the run with her and wanted me to read.

I'm just going to play it by ear the next few days, and maybe get more on schedule next week but it's tapering anyway so as long as I do some running, I hope to be OK for the marathon.

Now that's what I call multi-tasking. You must be an excellent mother I am glad to see that you were able to get more in this morning. You are smart to play it safe the rest of the week. Getting back on track at the start of the week is always easier, because it's like you are wiping the slate clean.