Hey y’all!
As a continuation of my marathon journey, I’d love to share my experiences while on the road to recovery. There was so much aftermath last week that I really want to share with you!
As you may recall, I had a less than stellar race. I keep reflecting on it and trying to figure out if there was a way I could have had a better race. But among all the things I could have controlled (the stomach issues, my outfit, nutrition, etc.), I keep coming back to my knee and the things I couldn’t control (the weather). And the answer is no. There’s no way I could have controlled having a better race except to DNS or DNF. I’m now very proud of my performance considering the circumstances and I can say with certainty and triumph that I did my best and crushed my first marathon.
So having said all that, let’s check out what happened after the race.
Sunday
Immediately following the race, I came home to see my two babies. Unfortunately the plague was still passing through my house so my daughter wasn’t feeling great, but Boo was super excited to see me (and my medal). He was super helpful, retrieving ice packs and bandages for me, and wanted to take some “finishers” pics while I was icing my legs.
I also discovered I had a pretty gnarly toe injury. (Warning: graphic images below.) Eek!
Button finally felt good enough to check out my race medal and was instantly smitten. I smell racing in her future…
The rest of Sunday was spent pretty much on the floor with outstretched legs or sitting on the recliner. I couldn’t stop eating, either. Oddly enough, I was never hungry after long training runs but after the marathon I couldn’t get enough food in my belly. It took me several hours to muster the strength to shower, and when I finally did I discovered I had a nice burn on my shoulders. Luckily it didn’t hurt at all.
I didn’t sleep well at all on Sunday night. My knee was in so much pain, as were the tendons behind my right knee, plus my gnarly toe. A recipe for disaster. All I wanted to do was sleep, but it was impossible! I was in so much pain. And the more I tensed up my body, the worse the pain felt and that’s when I knew that I had to do something about it. It was then that I started to recall a conversation that I had with a good friend of mine who was recently telling me about how she used something like these cbd lotion wholesale products that her local dispensary had on offer to help manage her pain. She had trouble with her knee, just like I have now and she said that she noticed a remarkable reduction in her pain since using it and recommended that I should do the same. I’m not going to lie, I ignored her at that point but now I know she was probably right! So maybe I’ll have a look at this CBD buying guide when I’m feeling up to it so I know exactly which CBD product will be best for me after my next race. But as I can’t do anything right at this second, I just have to try and persevere as best as I can.
Monday
On Monday I decided I needed to get to a podiatrist. I wasn’t sure what was going on with my toe, but I was certain that it was freaking me out. It looked gross and felt weird, and I wanted nothing to do with it. To the podiatrist we went. My left leg was virtually useless and I was unable to drive, so my husband had to be my chauffeur. Fortunately I had the foresight to ask him to take the Monday after the marathon off, otherwise I would be a hot mess.
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| Battle wounds! |
Because I was in a ton of pain, got very little sleep on Sunday night, and was essentially sleep deprived, I was an emotional mess. The receptionist of the podiatry office was so nice, and the resident that came into the room to first examine me was also really great. He had two friends that had run the half marathon as well, so we chatted about that. But the podiatrist himself… he was rough around the edges, to put it mildly. He basically came in the room, told me he was going to numb my toe, and remove the nail. I freaked out. And then he continued to make me feel guilty by saying things like, “well you’re the one that had to be seen on an emergency basis, and I fit you in even though I’m very busy.” At first I kind of thought he was joking but then it became apparent he was not. I told him I wasn’t interested in that option and to please just drain the area or whatever he could do without taking my nail. I was such an emotional wreck that I ended up bawling later in the day because I was so flabbergasted at the whole scenario.
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| My toe after being drained. |
Tuesday
Tuesday was a mess as well. I was barely walking. Hobbling, really. I drove Boo to school and we walked from the parking lot very slowly. I don’t even know how I was functioning. But I did get a decent night of sleep so that helped. I also took 3 Advil before bed, which I’m pretty sure contributed to my rest.
I diligently soaked my toes in Epsom salts and kept it bandaged.
Thursday
My appointment with the chiropractor was on Thursday. I was never more excited to go to a doctor. I was hoping he could just fix me. He could tell right away that I was in bad shape. He asked about all the details of the race, my pain level, and then decided he was going to do some range of motion tests on me. Unfortunately one of the tests was a positive indicator of a possible meniscal tear. We spent some time rolling as well, and he told me to rest it completely, continue with the exercises he prescribed, and I would see him again in a week where he would retest it. If for some reason things haven’t improved, I may be sent for imaging.
Friday
Friday was much better in terms of pain on my knee. I still had considerable pain at night but it was nothing like it had been. I was hopeful. I rolled and even did some of the exercises to strengthen. Unfortunately I do think I pushed it a little too far because the pain increased quite a bit again.
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| Rollin’ with my homies |
I also decided I needed to get rid of some of the blisters I acquired on my other toes. They were getting bigger and uglier. They didn’t hurt but I felt like they were hindering my quality of life. (That may be a stretch but they were pretty gross.) I removed them and was relieved afterward.
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| Check out those huge blisters. |
Saturday
On Saturday, my husband and I took the kids to one of our favorite spring festivals, Blossom Time. It was so much fun and although my toe was bandaged, I forgot about my pain for a while. We were on our feet for four hours. I knew my leg was probably going to be angry with me later, but we had fun so it was worth it. I went to a friend’s house on Saturday evening and left a little early so I could go home and ice my knee.
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| Big toe=turning purple. Second toe=draining. Third toe=looks like it was eaten. |
I stopped wearing a bandage on my toe after the festival on Saturday. I do have to sleep with it on because otherwise my nail rubs against the blanket at night and it hurts a bit. I’ve also since developed an issue with the big toe on my right foot (next to the one that got drained), and I’m thinking I may go see another podiatrist this week. I think I could probably drain it and relieve some pressure myself, but it kinda grosses me out and gives me the heebie geebies, so I think I prefer having someone else do it so I can just close my eyes and pretend it’s not happening. 🙂
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| My big toe keeps getting worse and worse. |
This week I’ll be visiting the chiro again on Thursday. My fingers are crossed that it’s not a tear but I am a little bit worried. When my knee has been injured before (during taper), the pain stopped almost immediately. I’m four days past when I saw him and I’m still having some problems. Send healing vibes my way, friends. I have no interest in having a meniscal tear!
Hopefully next week’s recap will be much more positive and I’ll be further along on the mend. I can’t wait to run again! I just need like, 3 to 5 miles to keep me happy. But my feet and knee will dictate when that’s possible.
See you later!
xo
Have you suffered foot or knee injuries from running or another sport? How long did it take you to recover?
