Not a Part of the Plan

I’m a planner. And when things don’t go according to plan, well, I guess no one likes that. I am withdrawing from the TCS New York City Marathon.

After my last race, the arch of my right foot started bothering me. I listened to my body and took a few days off to let healing take place. The swelling went down, and I felt significant improvement but not enough to get back to full training. I knew after two weeks of nagging pain, I needed answers. An MRI confirmed that there was edema (inflammation in the bone) starting to form, and while there is no fracture, continued stress on the bone would lead to that. So I shut down training, cried, and then came up with a new plan.

In years past, I would have cross trained like crazy with an attitude that nothing would get in my way of running the TCS NYC Marathon. I’ve been training for 15 years, and I’ve been the most consistent in the past 3 years. This consistency has come from a more objective approach, one where I look at the long term, and don’t take unnecessary risks. While I am disappointed to not be able to run my goal race of 2017, I feel fortunate that I can take 2-3 weeks to reset and then focus on being healthy and ready to race in 2018. Thankfully, my coaches, agent, and the NYRR staff are fully understanding and have pulled together in support to help me feel confident in my decision. The good news is that I already have a race on my calendar for November 2018, so don’t worry NYC, I will be back!

Cheers to this stupid, wonderful, heartbreaking, and amazing sport.