Setbacks - Unfortunately Only Two Weeks to Go Until the 100

With the Oregon Cascades 50 miler three weeks behind me and the big ole’ 100 coming up very quickly in two weeks, I have unfortunately hit a serious of unfortunate setbacks. And I’ll be honest when I say that I’m really really really trying not to let it get to me. I think I have come to some sort of cross between acceptance, frustration, and a touch of worry. Sprinkled on top is some optimism that everything is going to be just fine. 

A few days after arriving home from Oregon, I was recovering pretty well. I didn’t have any atypical soreness and really the only issue was a small blister on my pinky toe that was healing fine. I went back to work and knocked out a small three mile recovery run a few days later once my legs were feeling up for it.

Then came a prescribed 14 mile training run and I picked the Biltmore Estate for its nice flat easy running. About five miles in, I realized that the little blister on my toe was becoming a big problem. I tried to baby it but I had to call it quits at mile 10 because every step was immensely painful. I was absolutely annoyed. I don’t usually have a history with blisters and I was stunned to see it had swollen up again and had almost created a sharp callous of skin that was incredibly painful to even touch.

After some rest and skin repair, I was ready to get back on track as Week 25 of the training plan was supposed to be a big one, 71 total miles. However, I woke up one morning with a horrifically sore throat and my heart just sunk. I knew there was a bit of a something going around work and I knew immediately that I was definitely sick. I tried to power through but I could tell how weak I was at work and the next day I came home and had to just lay in the shower, defeated and exhausted. My head felt as though it had been piped in with cement. Bending over to pick something up sent a huge pain into my sinuses and even made my fillings ache. There weren’t enough tissues in the house to appease my nose.

I was tormented. I knew I needed to run but I also knew I would just make myself sicker. I needed to both rest and not rest. It was probably one of the most helpless and most frustrating weeks I have had in a long time. I finally got one in after I was feeling a little bit (not totally, but better), an eight miler, and I felt great! I actually ran that one pretty quick and was feeling optimistic.

Two days later I attempted a 24 mile run. It was supposed to be the last big push for the entire training plan. The following day was to be a 3.5 hour run and then my taper weeks would begin after that. I purposely picked the Tweetsie Trail out in Johnson City because it’s an old rails to trail and super flat and gravel, similar to what I will be experiencing out in Virginia. I dragged my feet the morning of this run as I knew deep down that I wasn’t ready. My head was still clogged, I felt fatigued, and just generally sick. I made the hour drive out to Johnson City, almost knowing for certain that I was making a mistake.

It was hot and humid but the trail was beautiful for the first four miles. I took it slow and I was feeling okay but around mile 7 I could tell I wasn’t doing so hot. I even toyed with the idea of heading back to the car because I could tell things weren’t right but I was too damn stubborn. The trail is 10 miles long and I wanted to say I had run the whole thing and I wanted so badly to be able to at least get to 20 miles.

Dumb.

The Johnson City trailhead sign for the Tweetsie Trail

The trail at this point runs along a main highway and is pretty exposed and grueling. At mile 8, I had to stop in to a Dollar General to buy a Dr. Pepper and a bottle of electrolyte water. I finally hit the end of the trail at mile 10 and had the absolute horrible realization that I HAD to do it again to get back to my car. By mile 14 I was pretty much solely walking. I almost debated about summoning an uber to take me back. I have never felt more defeated, which is crazy after I had just come off that insane Oregon run where I had definitely encountered more adversity. But I just didn’t have it in me.

I passed a group of high school cross country kids around mile 18. They were crazy fast and so disciplined and strong. It both encouraged me and made me feel even worse.

I finally got back to the start of the trail and managed to push a little for the last half mile but I was absolutely spent. I drove home, both proud that I finished but knew that it was a “bad” run. My Garmin flashed the dreaded “UNPRODUCTIVE” warning after I uploaded the run, meaning that my fitness was not where it should be given the training load. Duh.

The next morning, I still did not feel good. I had taken a Covid test and it was negative so I knew this was just a really bad cold and I also knew that I had probably severely stressed my body out with that run. I also knew that there was no way I would be able to run three and half hours, even on flat trail. I probably could have tried, my determination definitely greater than my sense of health. But Gen agreed that I should maybe not and instead focus on just getting better. Fine.

I took four whole days off after that and just let myself heal. I drank water, I ate well, I willed my body to eradicate this cold. Then I headed back out to Biltmore and knocked out a 14 mile run in which I practiced, for the first time, later than I should have, running .80 miles, then fast walking .20 miles and then repeating this strategy.

Little side note here. I guess I originally had thought that my strategy for the 100 was going to be to just “run slow” for the first half and then I guess, see what happens, after that. I had done a ton of reading on this and my UltraPacer plan had recommended times of 12:20-13:30 min/miles for the first fifty miles so I had concluded that this was just what I was going to do.

After getting sick and slogging through that awful 20, I realized that this brute force approach might not work. It’s also really had for me to physically run at that speed when I’m feeling strong. I consulted reddit (eh, it’s helped me in the past) and found many people recommending that adding more walking in the early stages was a crucial approach for them to save their strength for the later part of the race. It sounded appealing.

So out at Biltmore, I tried this. I jogged, very comfortably and slow, for .80 miles and then diligently walked, with haste, for the last .20 miles. It was kind of annoying to interrupt a good flow when I felt strong, but at the same time, I secretly welcomed the break. When I finished, I felt… fine. I wasn’t spent, I wasn’t fatigued, I felt as though I could have easily kept doing that. My average pace was 11:47min/mile, and that ranged anywhere from 11:18 to 12:33, which wasn’t too bad considering this was my first time really trying this method. 

I know during the race, this isn’t going to feel as easy as the miles add up. It’s going to hurt. I know this. My run pace is going to increase dramatically and my walk pace won’t be anywhere near as quick as it was out there in Biltmore. But I feel a lot more confident and comfortable with having a strategy to start out with. After talking with Dana, one of my friends who is going to help pace me and who also has attempted a 100 herself, she suggested that this alternating might evolve into a time based situation, jog for 10 minutes, walk for two, as the night goes on. I’m absolutely on board to adjust this as the miles add up. I’m just a little annoyed at myself for not trying this out sooner for longer runs. I guess I was kind of treating the training as more of a normal race prep, as I had not used this walking strategy for my last 50 and therefore hadn’t really considered it as necessary as I’m realizing it is now.

Dumb.

The next day I did an 8 miler around North Asheville after work, the cold finally in the final stages of its life cycle. This is a normal route that I’ve been doing for months now and there was nothing abnormal of note about it. However, later that evening, my left foot kind of hurt. Okay, no big, maybe just a little sore.

The next morning, yesterday, it still kind of was bugging me a little bit when I first woke up but I was able to “walk it off” and felt totally fine for the first half of work. But, after dinner, I could tell something was not right. I tried to continue working but the task I was doing involved a ton of walking and every step was starting to become more painful. I ended up leaving early so I could go home and ice it and rest. I felt panicked. I didn’t sleep until 3 in the morning, a lot of self doubt and worry and anxiousness really piling up. I also realized I had had a lot of caffeine later in the day than I normally did so I know some of the freak out was from that dumb decision.

This morning, I was supposed to do twenty miles according to my training plan. I’m in my tapering weeks and I was really stoked about going back out to Biltmore and doing my new run/walk strategy for this full twenty. And it’s fucking beautiful out too. A blue, warm but not hot, beautiful fall day in Asheville. Perfect for a run.

But instead. I’m here. On the porch. Venting to you guys, with my foot propped up on a pillow. It hurt when I tried to walk around making breakfast this morning and I knew the twenty miler wasn’t going to happen.  It’s hard to exactly identify what the issue is, it feels like is inside my foot, like just above my arch. I, of course, googled it and in general, it’s probably just from overuse and I should stop panicking because rest and ice is really the only thing I can do. So, I’ve been icing, stretching, and Gen’s even been massaging it. 

Here’s the kicker though. I am supposed to play in a disc golf tournament tomorrow. I have been looking forward to it and was planning on it being my perfect active recovery exercise for the day after this great 20 miler. Instead, now I’m worried my dumb foot might not even be well enough tomorrow to play. 

Current plan is to stay optimistic and have my foot heal quickly and hopefully still play tomorrow. And then try to knock out the 20 miler before work Sunday morning. Not ideal but still within the “week” training. That’s Plan A.

Plan B, if my foot still isn’t okay tomorrow, I’ll have to withdraw from the tournament, which will break my heart, and then I’ll head to a doctor and just accept that I might need to just rest and hope it clears itself up within the next two weeks.

Ugh. You can probably tell I’m a bit frustrated. Tense, even. Actually, just sad. I’ve been so fortunate to be relatively injury free for almost a year of training. I’m incredibly thankful for that. But these last three weeks have just been plagued with misfortune. I’m trying not to let the lost 71 miler week get to me. I know I’ve put in so much work that my previous efforts, including the 50 miler, can still carry me to the finish line. But I’m a little anxious now with this foot injury. 

Yikes. Okay, I’m just going to manifest positive outcomes. It’s a beautiful day. I’m going to focus on recovering, enjoying the weather and use this time to do some planning for the 100.

Riggs just booped me, upset that he hasn’t gotten a walk yet. Sorry bud!