Carmel Marathon (PW and a Two Year Comeback in the Making)
This last Saturday, I ran the Carmel Marathon. It was a PW or close to that, but it also marked my return to marathons a my comeback after a rough year and a half. The Two Year Saga Carmel was the race I was training for in 2019-2020 and my first canceled race due to Covid. The race was nice enough to defer the runners to its 2021 race. However, after I hurt my knee (not running related) and my dad got severely ill, I decided to defer the 2021 race to this year. As fate would have it, my dad passed away during the race and I am glad I wasn't out there running when I got the news. The rest of 2021 did not get any better. In July, I had an almost-fall on my bike and hurt my glute/SI joint. I had months of PT and massage therapy, and the pain went away for the most part but it wrecked my marathon training for both Chicago and Monumental in October and November, respectively. I deferred Chicago and continued training for Monumental, but the long runs were sporadic as I was still dealin