Welp, I Injured myself and Will Not Be Running a Full Marathon: Personal Reflection

Every May I would get excited when I saw the white signs on the Wantagh Parkway. The white signs meant summer was looming, the school year was ending and my birthday was around the corner. Three things every child craves. However it also meant that the Wantagh Parkway would be closing for half a day due to the Long Island Marathon!

I remember asking my parents once driving back from Grandma and Grandpa (I miss them ☹) what a marathon was. They laughed it off and said something along the lines of something crazy people do, they run the entire highway. Every year I would continue to get more and more intrigued about one day running a full marathon.

I wrote the two preceding paragraphs above about 2 weeks ago in preparation for my ‘I Just Ran a Marathon’ post that unfortunately I will not be writing this year.

I Injured Myself

We were in Calgary a couple of weeks ago and was proceeding with my training plan. Unfortunately Calgary is quite hilly compared to my normal route in Maine and tweaked something in my leg. Forgetting I am no longer young, I decided to ignore it and continue running that day….and the following day. That was a mistake as it ended my running days for the summer.

I Was Devastated

Is it me or are we not allowed to admit when defeat makes us sad these days? I was sad for a good 48 hours. I spent a good chunk of my summer outside running in the Maine woods enjoying beautiful weather and increasing my distance well passed the half marathon to about 20 miles. I wasted all that time for nothing….

I Spent All Summer Outside

Then I realized, wait I spent a good chunk of my summer outside running in the Maine woods enjoying beautiful weather and increasing my distance well passed the half marathon to about 20 miles. In that time, I lost a bit of weight, felt amazing and spend more time outside then I have since my childhood camp days. What a win!

The Future

It is starting to get cool here in Maine. Fall is here and winter is coming. I will spend the next several months recovering from my injury and focus on lifting. However, I absolutely plan on trying again next summer, and if not, the following summer! It will happen 😊.

Until Then

I will wallow in my sorrows in Cancun next week. This is a travel blog after all!

Bon Voyage,

Andrew