To Defer? Or Not To Defer?
That is the question. Week 7 of marathon training went exceptionally well — every goal pace was hit and the 52-mile week was about to close — and then in the blink of a long run, I couldn't run anymore. What in the blazes happened? On Saturday, I headed out for a long run at my parents' place feeling tired but fine, if anything, my hamstrings being a little tight would be my only complaint. Not even a complaint really, that's just regular running probs. Goal was 16 miles at 8:05/mile average and I started out feeling sluggish yet stuck around the 7:45-8:00 pace range for the first 11 miles. Somewhere before that my left knee felt a little irritated, I figured from the slant of the road or running on loose gravel for certain stretches. My solution is to switch sides of the road every once in a while to "even things out" (in theory). In the loose gravel portion, that left knee soreness turned into a sudden extreme tightness in my right groin. Huh. I s...