As if training to run a marathon with no natural athletic ability wasn't hard enough, try training with a fractured heel. Add to it, the fact that it was misdiagnosed for the last six weeks. I guess in a way I am relieved, I was beginning to think this was just a typical running injury and that I would just have to learn to run through the pain (which is what I was doing). When the podiatrist looked at the x-ray it took him exactly 30 seconds to say look there are two fractures running through your heel, you aren't running anywhere, time for a cast.
My world crashed, I fell apart, suddenly nothing mattered more then this marathon I have been training for. I don't know how to explain it, I am no trooper, I usually look for a way out of things, I am notorious for the stack of unfinished projects in my closet, the big ides I have but never execute and the things I walk away from when they get to hard or complicated. Not this time, people have believed in me enough to sponsor me, I am doing it to honor the memory of my step-father and I am going to do my very best to finish this.
After some discussion (I cried and begged) we compromised on a walking cast that I can remove to do swimming pool running and I can do some cardio training. There is a chance I will not actually be able to run on pavement until the actual day of the marathon but with the supervision of my doctor for my foot and the guidance of my coach for training I still have a chance.
This is how I see it, I could quit now and I would fail, or I could fail at mile 10 of the marathon and at least I could say I did everything I physically and mentally to finish what I started. I am beginning to see that perhaps that is what a marathon is all about, not necessarily a medal or a finish line.
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