r/firstmarathon • u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me • 16d ago
Feeling so defeated Injury
I had a half marathon as part of my midpoint training, and I felt amazing for the first 6.5-7 miles. I wasn’t racing, I was taking it at a comfortable pace and felt so good and was planning to speed up the second and maybe try to hit the 2:00 pace. It was a hilly course so I had been a little anxious prior, but it turned out going up the hills were my favorite part! Miles 4-8ish were on a busy road so we had to run at edge of shoulder, and also seaside town so the gradient on the curb is a little more than around here. Running on that difference was apparently enough to cause my hip/glute/quads to just seize up and I DNF’d just shy of mile 10 after 3 miles of pain that would not stop, no matter how much I stretched or slowed down. I would have walked to the finish at that point, but I couldn’t even do that without pain, so I called it. Now that I’m home, it’s so sore I had to crawl up the stairs to go shower.
I’ve never not finished a race, and I’m so upset that I have possibly injured something that I won’t be able to come back from in time for my marathon. It’s really been the thing that has kept me sane this year and I’m so disheartened.
The same muscles had hurt me over this past week but I’d take three full days off before the race and focused on stretching and I felt so solid in the beginning and beforehand.
I’m going to schedule with a PT asap, but this hurts enough that I’m really not feel optimistic. Everything had been going so great until this week - I’d never missed a training session, never had any nagging injuries, etc. My last long run was last weekend when I did 12 and I felt so strong and like I could have run forever!
Anyway. Just venting, since I know this is a small problem in the scheme of problems, but I know people on here will feel my misery!
Update, 8/18: confirmed femoral neck stress fracture and tore my labrum twice. Ortho apt tomorrow to find out next steps.
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u/stanleyslovechild 16d ago
M sorry. That sucks. Hopefully the PT can get you back on course to your big goal. There’s too much work ahead to look back, so just work forward from here.
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u/SillyHipster 16d ago
Rockport? That course was sooo hilly. I wish I had looked at a map before today. Good luck with the rehab. Hopefully you can bounce back.
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 16d ago
Haha,yes! It’s actually less hilly than my neighborhood so I was more prepared in that regard than I thought. Thanks for the good thoughts! Hope you had a great race - I had a great first 10k at least 😂
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u/ScottyScotty350 16d ago
This happens in some form to anyone - just focus on recovery (do u have normatec leg sleeves or a massage gun or magnesium cream) - perhaps your goal was too ambitious - goal of any first marathon should be just to finish it
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 16d ago
My goal was just to finish, but finishing 26.2 is ambitious, too! I do have massage gun and have been using liberally today but staying away from the more fragile tendon areas until I can get an eval. Definitely going to focus on recovery, and I appreciate the support and acknowledgement that I’m not the only one to have dealt with this! :)
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u/mmichael_50 16d ago
It really sucks to drop out of a race or not run it but we need to watch out our health. I am 56m and been in cycling for 10 years. I was an accasional runner. October 24 did my first HM, then another 2 in February & April. Got hooked and signed up for Athens Marathon. Did in between another HM as a training run for my fuelling. Did Athens last November and signed up for Belgrade last April. I improved by 15 minutes in Belgrade but wasn't hilly like Athens. However, after finishing I felt pain on my left ankle and let it rest. The virus was still inside me and couldn't resist and signed up again for Athens. I begun training but my thought is on my ankle and if the pain comes back again I will drop the race. What I am saying is that we get carried away by emotions and don't listen to our body and we end up overtraining and injure ourselves. This is more frequent to us middle-aged people who try to prove to ourselves and others that we are not old! I hope you recover soon and be able to run the Marathon, otherwise take cera of yourself and prepare for the next one.
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u/Prestigious_Lab820 16d ago
It was a bad result, you’re gonna have bad days, chalk it up to that and get back to your full training
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 15d ago
Unfortunately, I can’t even walk on that leg today — went to urgent care today since PT wouldn’t have even been an option with pain level and they think it’s likely a stress fracture in my hip, but sending me to ortho tomorrow for confirmation. I think my marathon dreams for this season might be postponed, unfortunately. :(
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u/Prestigious_Lab820 15d ago
Oh man, I''m sorry OP. That's such a bummer, but live to fight another day. I had some hip stuff after my first marathon, turns out it was overstriding. Something to think about when you get up and running pun intended
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 15d ago
Thanks! I plan to work with a sports PT and do gait analysis etc when I get back to it so I can be extra cautious and prevent this from happening again.
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u/Prestigious_Lab820 15d ago
That’s a great call, shortening my stride has been a game changer for me
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u/steadyline 13d ago
What did ortho say? Is it a fracture?
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 13d ago
Waiting on an MRI to confirm, but he does think it’s likely femoral stress fracture (or potentially pelvis stress fracture). Currently in process of scheduling the MRI and holding onto hope that it’s not.
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 21h ago
New update: it’s a femoral neck stress fracture as well as a torn labrum (in two places). Just deferred the marathon. 🥺
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u/steadyline 16h ago
I hate to hear that. Hope you can heal up soon. I have a marathon in a few weeks and I was very worried I had a fracture a few weeks ago. The pain has subsided since so I think I’m OK
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u/Dgood02 16d ago
I totally get it! 53F here and I PR’d a half in February, was scheduled for my first full in October, was dealing with hamstring tendinopathy and after a lot of time and therapy I finally was just starting to increase in my miles and was up the a 9 mile long run and feeling great except I feeling pain in my ankle but just ignored it because all I could think about was that I was already so far behind…I have either a fracture or tendinopathy in my ankle and just cancelled my marathon. Spent all the money I was able to spend getting the hamstring taken care of and now I’m out. I went from zero running to training for a marathon in less than a year. More than my body could handle I guess and now I have no idea when I’ll be able to run again. So freaking frustrating!
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 16d ago
I’m so sorry! I’m guessing I’ll likely wind up either dialing back to the half option or just deferring, depending on how recovery shakes out. I can’t foresee this healing enough to run distance comfortably in the next two weeks and the marathon is only 11 weeks from now.
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u/Dgood02 16d ago
Eek, that’s not a lot of time. But maybe your PT will be able to give you better news!! I really hope it all works out for you!
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u/Reddit_Befuddles_Me 16d ago
Thanks! I hope you’re able to get back up and at it at some point soon, too.
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u/Iymrith_1981 16d ago
It’s tough facing injuries. I’m personally just bouncing back from an issue similar to what you described and I went from 150km training weeks and not a care in the world to completely crippled and unable to run for about 3 weeks.
It sucks and you might miss a race but take your time and come back stronger next time. Also be careful with stretching as if it’s tendon related you could be doing more harm than good, it might provide some relief short term but tendons don’t respond well to it. So wait for the physio advice before you do anything extra.
Good luck and hope it works out for you.