Happy Monday! I’m back from a mini vacation to upstate NY with my boyfriend. It was just what I needed to get away from the stress of work, apartment hunting and my interrupted marathon training. We spent a few days in a beautiful little cabin before heading even further upstate to celebrate one of my best friend’s engagement!
Cabin in the woods
The cabin was amazing and we enjoyed some serious rest and relaxation. We ate farm-fresh eggs.
Straight from the chicken coop!
We built a fire and made s’mores.
Toasting marshmallows
We did a ton of hiking and saw a lot of waterfalls.
Buttermilk Falls
And we drank some beers. Okay, a lot of beers. We visited Ithaca Beer Co., The Crooked Rooster BrewPub and more!
Rooster Fish beer
It was perfect! But now back to reality. Back to the hustle & bustle of city life and back to the thing that has been hanging over my head for the last month: my marathon. After weeks of missed training, physical therapy and a doctor’s visit, I’ve decided I will not be running the Philadelphia Marathon this Sunday. I’m completely devastated and heartbroken. But I know that I will feel even worse if I psych myself up for this race, try to run and fail miserably. Or struggle the entire race. Or injure myself more. I wanted this experience to be enjoyable. I wanted to run smart and happy. But running on Sunday will not be smart and I will not be happy.
So with a heavy heart, I’ve decided to DNS for my first marathon. I feel cheated. I’ve had my heart set on this goal for a very long time and I busted my butt for over almost 4 months to get there. I’ve put in all the work, but don’t get to reap the reward at the end. And I also know I’m making the right decision. I know I CAN and WILL run a marathon, someday. Just not this Sunday, and that sucks. Period.
Help a sister out…What do you do when you don’t reach your goals? Want to come to my pity party? Have you had a training cycle go downhill? Any suggestions for a potential spring marathon? 😉
KH Nutrition 
There are silver linings to every failure. Take out a pen and paper and write down every positive and lesson learned from your marathon training and injury recovery. Yeah it sucks you can’t run the race but learn the lessons and move on.
Thank you. This is a really great idea and I’ll totally be doing it!
Ugh I’m so, so sorry, Kim. I think you’re making the right decision, but that doesn’t make it any easier!!! You have at least one marathon, if not many more, in your future, and you’re being smart by prioritizing your health over this one goal. But I’m sure you’re totally bummed 😦 Pity party soon? *hugs*
Thanks, Jen! 🙂
Oh, Kim, I’m so sorry, friend! 😦
I like Joey’s suggestion above…there are lessons learned and positive things to take out of the whole experience, but even so, it definitely sucks. Cry it out, be angry, then accept, and move on. I know you’ve put so much work into this training cycle and at the very least, you are in amazing shape because of it. Focus on healing and you will come out of this injury a stronger person mentally and physically!
Let me know if you need a friend to help you drink away your frustrations!
Thanks, Steph. I’m totally going to take that advice and focus on the things I’ve learned and what to do to be better and stronger!
I am looking for guest bloggers, and I would be really interested in a post on how to cope with the psychological side effects of training injury. If you’re interested, shoot me an email sarah@simplyfitandclean.com
Scratching from a race you’ve trained so hard for takes just as much gutsiness as signing up in the first place.
Thanks, Sarah! I’ll send you an email shortly! 🙂
Create a new goal. When I bombed in Philly last year I was really upset. I eventually created a new goal for my spring half (Which I didn’t meet either!). In the end, it’s being being sure that you did everything you could. You did, and the next “big thing” for you will be incredible. I just know it.
Thanks, friend! It’s not the end of the world and I can’t wait to get better than ever!
I would like to come to your pity party! In fact, I think I would like to be the pity party social chair at this point.
It sounds like you made the smart decision. Proud of you!
Thanks, Annie! You’re totally invited to the pity party. 🙂