Post Marathon Injury Blues ???

I ran my best Marathon (so far), and even beat my own PR by 20 minutes. So why am I so moody and irritable? This seems to be question I keep having to ask myself this past week.  Unlike the other 2 Marathons this one was so much easier mentally, I never hit that dreaded wall. Instead, I spent the whole 4:28.18 thinking of how much fun I was having and how I was staying on task. I spent a lot of time thinking about some potential life changes on the horizon and when I was not thinking of that, I was thinking about Steve & Luke. This was my first Marathon Steve could not attend and be there cheering for me. As hard as it was he kept sending me texts through-out the Marathon and it was great. It was like having him right next to me the entire Marathon. I could not wait to see Luke who was waiting for me at the finish with my Aunt. Physically I felt amazing as well, until after the finish. Somewhere between mile 24 & 25 I rolled my ankle. Amazingly ( or maybe just adrenaline) I did not realized I was injured. I finished and finished strong ! However, after they laid the finishers medal around my neck it hit. I went to walk and my ankle was NOT ok. I took some IB Profen and thought it was over-use and the pain would subside. By Monday morning (after I made the 5 hour drive home with Luke to Indiana) I realized I was injured. I went to the doctor who told me I had either a complete or partial tear in my tendon. I was scheduled for an MRI. I had thought about not going at first, but I figured I better see what the deal was. So Tuesday I went for the MRI. The good news is it was only a partial tear, the bad news 4-6 weeks to heal....
These factors bring me to where I am today... anxious to run again. All I want to do is resume my training so I can be ready to kick butt in Chicago in October. I want to set another PR.
 As a fitness instructor, I tell my students to let their bodies heal and  rest is as important as training. However, I am struggling with my own advice. Not training is causing me to panic, yes it is an early panic, but a form of panic none the less.  My other battle is with food this week. Sticking to my fitness competition diet has seemed to be near impossible. I am certain a large portion of this lack of self control is in part to the fact that I am upset that I can't train.  I find myself being concerned with the fact that may gain weight or body fat back. Yet, I find myself stumbling into food blunders.
I guess no matter how much knowledge you have, you still have the same concerns when it comes to losing ground in training. It took my good friend Courtney reminding me to get back on track and offer some alternatives to running to help me remember I could still stay in shape and keep making progress.  So a HUGE thank-you to Courtney for helping me break-out of my slump. So tomorrow, it is back to business for me. No more slacking, no more games, no more feeling sorry for myself, and most importantly no more worries. As for tonight, maybe a cupcake ? :-)

From the Left : Nicki Caylor, Walt Novosel, Jerry Novosel, and Katie Novosel
Pittsburgh Marathon 2011