It’s never JUST a half marathon {and injury update}

Last Updated on October 26, 2022 by Amanda Brooks

A triathlon…no a marathon PR…no my first ultra…wait no maybe…I …errrrr

What am I planning to do this fall? What is my goal? I get asked weekly, so I feel like it’s time to decide!

After battling with my ego for months over the timing of a new marathon PR attempt, I knew in my heart I had no desire to race a fall marathon. I am excited to pace Jodi for the Honolulu marathon in December, but prior to that I just don’t want to do summer long runs in Florida and I’m having a lot of fun enjoying my travels without the extra pressure.

Of course I couldn’t just realize that and then take the appropriate action, right?!WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T LISTEN
It’s been years since I’ve really had a spell of lost mojo. Probably because of those years where running was just hard as my body went through so much {what’s up menopause}. It gave me a new appreciation for even bad runs because it meant I could!

While in France, I enjoyed the cool mornings running without music or even a GPS most days.

I was excited to explore.

Happy not to be drenched in sweat.

Satisfied with each run just for the run itself.

Cut to my return to Florida…AM 98% humidity and daily feels like now reaching 100. I don’t want to even go outside much less go for a run in the muck. I hopped on my favorite treadmill, but still couldn’t muster up my normal love for the machine or even engross myself in The Real Housewives to pass some time.

INJURY?!
Then my body went haywire in a way it hasn’t in years… my hips were out of alignment to the point I couldn’t run without sharp pain {always a signal to stop!}. A few trips the chiro and things were better, but running with misalignment tweaked my form for weeks and thus made my quads and knee sore.

WHAT THE HELL?!? This felt entirely unfair as I’m the queen of doing my hip exercises and hip stretches!
As many of you saw from my Ireland Instagram pictures…the knee is now swollen like a basketball and I’m going to have to find a sports doctor to get things back on track.

… the universe speaks to us in whispers.
If we ignore the whispers, we get pebbles of warnings.
If we still don’t pay attention, we get bricks of problems,
and if we’re really hardheaded, eventually the entire brick wall comes crashing down. — Oprah

HAPPY GOALS
It took awhile, but I’m ready to listen.

I enjoyed my half marathon training last winter and I’m really excited to drop my time…so there you have it, I’m going to focus on a half marathon PR and probably a 10K this Fall.

And here’s the thing… I’m not running JUST the half marathon.

I’m running a half marathon.

I don’t know when we started qualifying it with the word “JUST”, but I’m going to to my best to stop because honestly it’s my favorite distance and it’s way too fabulous to play second fiddle to the marathon.

Distance isn’t what makes us runners…{Tweet it! We all need a reminder}.I think it’s the shirts, shoes and spandex. Smile No really, what makes us runners is our desire to: