Weekly Rundown- I DID IT!!!!!!!!!
Ha! Maybe I should have let the suspense build up throughout this post, but I’m so frickin’ happy and excited that I can’t help shouting it- I RAN A 50K! I absolutely cannot wait to write the race recap, because it was an epic adventure. The week had a very rocky start, though. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the weekly rundown. Let’s just see what went wrong this week… and what went so very, very right. Sunday Because I worked on Sunday morning (to make up for the fact that I didn’t work this weekend) I waited till later in the day to do my run. And, it was one of the worst runs I’ve ever had in my life. I was struggling in so many ways, but the worst problem was that my left foot felt horrible. My shoe felt like it was simultaneously too tight and too loose, and I just felt unstable. When I was done, the top of my foot felt like it had a tight band of pressure going across it. I seemed like my foot should have been swollen, but it looked normal. I thought about how it would feel to run 31 miles with a very sore foot. I also thought about how I would feel if I had to DNS this race, and always look back wondering if I could have done it. I vowed to do whatever I needed to do to get my foot to the starting line. Monday Off. Foot still felt uncomfortable just walking around. Tuesday 3 mile run on the treadmill. Yes, you heard me! I wanted to run but was very anxious about it, and wanted to have the option to stop immediately if I had to. The truth is, after all my ranting and raving about how I love running on trails, I also don’t mind running on a treadmill every once in a while. Running is running! I tried lacing my shoe in a different way, to take the pressure off the top of my foot. It did seem to help, but I ultimately decided I couldn’t do a trail ultra with the shoe laced like this- I needed more stability. I went back to the ladder lacing which I usually use for that shoe. Wednesday Back to the gym for upper body day! I also spent a lot of time stretching my calves and doing foot mobility exercises. Thursday Okay, last run before the race! It was a 4 mile run which felt ALMOST normal. Phew… Friday Off. Boy, was it hard to get through this work day! I just couldn’t stop thinking about the race, and wanted the day to end. I spent the evening getting everything ready. I had all my stuff laid out on the table and my husband said “What’s all this?” It looked like I was preparing for a cross country trip. Nope, just a trail 50k! Saturday THE RACE! Race recap is coming up on Tuesday, but I can tell you now there were highs, there were lows, I made new friends (well, sort of- you’ll hear the story of Calf Guy on Tuesday) and guess what- my foot was JUST FINE. So was my achilles, and well, everything! I’m definitely sore, but no real problems. Oh, and I didn’t come in last- not even close. Here’s a couple pictures: Like I said, I can’t wait to write the recap. I want to relive the whole thing! And I want to do another one…. preferably in the winter. Sunday On tap for today- lots and lots of rest. And waffles, of course. How was your week? Who else ran a race this weekend? – I know there were a bunch of them!