Ah, Houston? We Have A Problem!

Murphy's Law. It was bound to happen. Everything was going along too well in my training. Spirits - great! Training plan - great! Legs - great! Diet - great (if you consider chocolate a diet plan)! Then something happened that couldn't be predicted. It started as a slight soreness about 3 weeks ago. Just a little stiffness on the inside of my left ankle during long runs. Nothing to worry about. During a 10 miler two weeks ago, the same soreness appeared near the end of the run. And then during last week's 1/2 marathon, it returned yet again, and this time was more persistent from about mile 4 on. The stubbornness in me said I could work through it. The smart runner in me looked at the big picture and I took a week off - hence the lower mileage this week - and wrapped the ankle each day. Yesterday our team went 14 miles. Legs were great, but the soreness appeared from about 4 miles on again. A self-diagnosis indicates the start of ankle tendinitis. Caught early enough, it can be treated properly. Time isn't on my side however, and I can't afford to take 3 weeks off only 9 weeks before the Goofy Challenge. Instead, I need to be smart, and follow the plan for treating such an injury - RICE. Reach, Imbibe, Consume, Evaluate the need for another. Whoops - wrong RICE plan. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Silly me.

This morning I felt fine again and I tried 4 miles on the treadmill with a taped foot. No pain. My weekly mileage may become limited, and the long Saturday runs are going to need to be evaluated week-to-week. Much like was said in the move Apollo 13 (besides when the title to this blog was uttered), "Failure is not an option". I am so pumped to see through to completion what I have started, that someone is going to need to cut my tendon to stop my from participating.

So say a few prayers for me in the upcoming weeks. It is less than 63 days until race day - and like the elite runners in the field - I plan to toe the starting line and bump elbows with the best before the gun goes off!

Then they can blow me away and I can hobble through 39.3 miles...