It's official...

Dear Joshua,

I am sorry to hear that you are injured. I wish you a safe and healthy recovery. I have updated your registration to b ein the half marathon. If you need anything else, please let me know. Thanks!

 

Sincerely,

Kacey Byrne-Houser

Event Coordinator

Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon

425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1100

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Phone:412.392.1021

Fax: 412.202.3494

 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Marathon registration
From: Joshua Johnston
Date: Sat, March 14, 2009 12:24 pm
To: kbh@pittsburghmarathon.com

Hello,

My name is Josh Johnston. I originally registered to run the marathon, but because of a knee injury my training was set back a month or so. Can my registration be switched from the marathon to the half-marathon? Thank you.

-- 
Josh Johnston

Retooling

I haven't written here for awhile because, well, I haven't ran in awhile.

There's still a constant dull pain in my knee whenever I walk around, but it's getting better. I keep telling myself I need to see a physical therapist (or really, all my friends and my parents are telling me this), but I never schedule an appointment. I keep thinking it'll go away and I'll be fine again. That probably won't happen.

On the plus side, I did run around 6 miles last weekend. Keith and I found a trail (or rather the rest of a trail that runs through campus) that made for a great run. We were going at a decent pace until Keith was distracted by some buildings in the distance. I'm not sure what that kid is thinking some times.

We ran about a mile or so down the trail until we realized we really didn't know where we were going. A guy walker his dog in the opposite direction told us the trail went all the way to the neighboring town, but there was a cross road a bit further on. We decided to run to that cross road.

It turned out to be a backroad entrance to a really upscale subdivision. I'm talking perfect green lawns, white shutters and SUVs on the driveways type subdivision. Keith and I had no clue where we were. So naturally, we took a left down a street we didn't know and started running toward nothing in particular.

Long story short, we ended up running through a graveyard. In the dark. I'm still not sure how that happened. Eventually we figured out where we were: We hadn't even left Kent.

Throughout all that, my knee was aching. We stopped and walked a couple times because of it, but I was able handle it. That's a good sign.

This morning I emailed the Pittsburgh Marathon planners to change my registration. I'm now officially running the half-marathon. I'm not giving up on my goal to run a marathon though, just setting more reasonable goals. 

Detroit Marathon anyone? I hear it crosses into Canada for a bit...

White flag?

I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I'm not even sure what possessed me to think I could run a marathon in the first place.

I've ran fewer than 10 miles in the last two weeks. On the good days, my right knee throbs with every step I take around campus. I just tried running a couple miles. Granted, the conditions were pretty brutal — windy, cold, snowing — but what stopped me from running was my knee. It feels like a doctor is taking a reflex test on my knee at every stride, except this doctor is using a small sledgehammer.

I have a little on the plus side of two months before the marathon. My longest run to date has been 12 miles. Since then, I've ran less and less each week.

I hate making excuses. Even more so, I hate giving up. But right now, I don't see how this is possible. My knee is just getting worse, and I have less and less time to run as the semester goes on. 

It was pretty stupid of me to think I could run a marathon anyway. I work close to 40 hours a week at the newspaper. I'm taking 17 credit hours this semester. I've never ran more than six miles in one go ever before I started training.

It's time to call in some help. I'm not going to give up. I need some encouragement. Anybody?