I just faxed in my entry for the Brewers Mini Marathon on Sept. 22. "Mini Marathon" is a cute way of saying half-marathon, or 13.1 miles. Which, to date is, 2.8 miles longer than I've ever run in my life.
I wasn't sure if wanted to do this (and honestly, I'm still not sure), but since OnMilwaukee.com is a media sponsor, and well, this is my beloved Brewers, it felt like the perfect storm.
Even though I might wind up in last place, this race is very important to me.
You might recall that last summer I had a microdiscetomy, back surgery to repair a herniated disc at the L5-S1 region of my spine. At that point, I had been suffering though sciatica for nine months, and even though I muddled through the Rock N' Sole 10K, I was beginning to limp badly.
Problem is, the surgery didn't solve my problems. Actually, it fixed my disc, but my symptoms remained – although they moved south into my butt and hamstring. Many more MRIs, followed by physical therapy, massage and anti-inflammatory, trigger point injections didn't fix the pain. The only thing that's helped, amazingly, is running.
While no one knows what's wrong with me – the current guess is either Piriformis Syndrome or High Hamstring Tendonitis – the experts agree that if running helps, I should do it.
Still, the farthest I had ever run was 8.1 miles, and that was three summers ago. Since the surgery, I was afraid to push past three.
But, on April 14, I ran five miles. On May 19, I pushed it to nine. Then, last Friday, I mapped a route close to my house and ran 10.3 slow miles without walking. My knees, feet and calves stung, but oddly, my back and my butt did not. I decided to sign up.
I've never been a fast runner, but before the injury, I could do the Storm the Bastille around 31 minutes and Al's Run in under 55 minutes. I have no such illusions for September. What little speed I had is gone, and now I'm "running" 12 minute miles, if I'm lucky. In other words, it's unlikely I'll finish this half marathon in under 2:30. But even if I finish in last place, I vow to finish.
Unfortunately, I don't have the free time I need to execute a proper half-marathon training program, so my plan is to do at least one long run and one short run a week, and more where I can squeeze it in. I don't know how this will affect my butt pain, but I just know that right this second, I'm feeling better than I did a month ago. We'll see how it goes.
And, by the way, I have no aspirations to run any longer distances. If I survive this run, you won't see me blogging about gearing up for an actual marathon.
I'd say this is more than enough.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
