Season 2 - another marathon?

Hi,

Well, it has been some time since I have wrote. Mostly because I finished my marathon and had not been running. It is time to restart this blog, since I'm running again!

As some of you may know, I ran my first marathon last year (Oct. 2008). I ran it for me (it was always a life goal), but also in memory of my dad since it would occur almost a year from the date he passed away. I was able to raise some money for the American Cancer Society in the process. I also lost about 55 pounds in my training. And, have lost a few more since!

I have not been running because I injured my knee about mile three of the marathon (which made for a long and painful run) and am still recovering. It has been a long battle to get back running. It's been 6 months and I'm still undergoing physical therapy and still have to deal with daily pain in my knee (but it is light pain).

I joined San Jose Fit (http://www.sanjosefit.com) this year (a running group). I'm not sure what my knee will do or if it will let me complete a marathon this year. I have had a couple of setbacks in the past few months when I've tried to run. So I'm just going to take 1 run at a time and see where it goes. No expectations. My goal would be to run the marathon in under 4 hours, but that's only if I can do it without injuring my knees.

Last week (Sat, April 25) was week 1 and was a 4 mile run. I ran with a group that averaged about 9:20-9:30 a mile. To get under 4 hours in the marathon, I have to avg a 9 min mile or less. For now, I'm not going to push it and just see how things go. My physical therapist taped my knee up for the week 1 run and it seemed to hold. However, I had presentations in New York and had to fly out on Sunday. I ended up doing a lot of walking on Sunday and then was on my feet for a number of hours on Monday. By the time I came home, Monday night, my knee was sore and tight. However, after a few days it seemed strong enough to attempt a week 2 run.

I ended up buying a brace that was recommended so that I would not have tape my knee. I made it out for today's run. A 5 mile run. The brace held up. My knee was more painful last week. This week it felt solid (not as strong as my healthy (right) knee), but good enough that I was not worried about doing damage to it. We finished the 5 miles. Averaged about 9:20 a mile. It was fun.

Last year, I trained and did all of the runs by myself. This year, I'm trying the group running. It is different but also seems to make the time go faster and helps you keep a consistent pace. The people seem nice. It is great though to just be back out there!