Writing this post sucks.
In the days following the Miami Half Marathon, the pain in my butt area didn’t so much as improve, as it did move. After a couple of days, the “pain in my butt” localized, and I suspected that my Piriformis pain was actually being caused by a tight hamstring. I tried a short 5 mile recovery run on Wednesday – no good. After gutting it out for the first mile or so, it seemed a little better, but after about 4 miles, I had to walk home. Nervous about my training for Boston, I tried to run again on Sunday – a week after the race. Again, no good. I walked home. Time to take a little time off.
After a week of rest and stretching, the Piriformis pain went away, but the “Pain in the butt remained”. I finally saw the doctor, and he delivered what I feared – Partially torn hamstring and a Grade 2 strain in my left hamstring. The tear is right up near where the hamstring connects to my pelvis. It had been 2 weeks of no running, and only 2 attempted 5 milers in the last 3 weeks. He wanted 2 more weeks off. No biking either. He said I could swim and strength train my upper body, but no legs. He wants me to start Physical Therapy in early March. When I asked the question that I had to ask, I already suspected the answer. “Can I run the Boston Marathon?” “When is it?” “Mid April”. “I won’t rule it out, but it’s ‘Doubtful’”. As we had this discussion, I was already doing the math backwards. April 16th is 8 weeks away. 2 more weeks off. Even if I can resume a normal marathon training week of 50 miles per week (which I couldn’t) the day I start PT, that gives me 6 weeks until race day. Add in a 1 week taper, and there is no way I can be ready. At least not to race it. Probably not to even finish it at a leisurely pace. So, just like that, a tight hamstring appears in training, a slip on a patch of ice, and my Boston dreams are over – for now. I qualified once, so I’ll do it again. I’ll get my first Boston – someday.
