I stole Ryan’s Garmin computer today & went out for a run on the Wolf River Trail. I wanted to make it a semi-urban adventure, so I decided to take a side trail out of the woods and into the bordering neighborhood. I didn’t quite know how to get back- obvious by the mile or so out & back on a dead end street off of Walnut Grove. Nearly 8 miles later, I arrived back at my car…
I can’t think of many things that I’d rather do than spend a few days out in the middle of the woods. Ryan and I drove out to Lake Sylvia Friday morning. Once we arrived, we changed and took our bikes out for a nice 40-miler (see route below). It was just enough climbing to be interesting without making us hate life too much. When we got back, we set up camp and made the discovery that the showers at the campgrounds were actually cold water cannons. After building a fire, we ate some dinner (followed up by smores, of course!) and settled in to our tent. We also found a walking stick…
And Ryan did the dishes :D
Saturday morning, the 100 mile race started at 6:00am. We were asleep, but, thanks to our neightbors at the next campsite over, who talked as loudly as possible at every opportunity, we didn’t need an alarm clock to get up soon after. We met up with the Warthog crew to caravan out onto the race course and set up the Club Flamingo aid station- where the runners would pass through at both 39 and 76 miles on the out & back course. Here are a few photos from the caravan and aid station…
Rockin’ the GPS
Ouachita Mountains
Action shots:
At the aid station:
I’ll get a few runner photos up soon…
Ryan and I will be heading off to Arkansas to volunteer at an aid station for the Arkansas Traveler 100 mile race. It should be a fun weekend. We plan on setting up camp at Lake Sylvia on Friday and heading out for a bike ride. If all goes as planned, we’ll get in a couple of 500ft climbs on the 40 mile loop I’ve got planned…
It should be a fun weekend. There will be smores. Oh yes… there will be smores…
I went for a run today. Barefoot.
It all started last week when I was out on the trail, and my lower legs were hurting like a beyotch. For some reason, I got the urge to take my shoes off & see if maybe it would give me some relief (usually sore lower legs are caused by overstride and a heavy heel strike). Lo and behold- though it was a bit slow going and I did step on a few slightly painful rocks/sticks, overall, it made my feet & legs feel wonderful!
So, I do some googling the next day and discover that barefoot running has quite the cult following. Testimonials claim that it solves a multitude of problems by improving the stride and strengthening the foot. It’s not like they’re selling anything, so I assume they’re telling the truth :D I’m convinced it’s worth a shot- people have run 100 mile ultramarathons with little to no footcover.
I also discovered the Vibram 5-Fingers shoe, which a lot of barefooters use as an excuse for shoes in everyday life and/or running in areas where bare feet may not be ideal. I ordered a pair, and they came in today. However, even though I measured according to Vibram’s site, they’re way too big for me, and I’m going to have to return them.
Today I had planned to run in the 5-fingers, but since they didn’t work out, I just went for it barefoot. I did, however, carry a pair of shoes with me just in case I got to a section of road or trail that would hurt to run over. Good thing, too, because the trail I ran to from my house, though short, was pretty gravelly, and I ended up slipping my shoes on for the length of it. All in all, I probably ran 3 or 4 miles. How do I feel? Well, this is the first time I’ve run lately with absolutely NO lower leg pain. I have a couple of blisters on my toes, and the skin on the bottom of my feet is a little tender, but, all in all, no worse for wear. I’m pretty stoked. I’m looking forward to toughening my feet up a bit & getting over the “blister” stage. Updates to follow!
My ankle injury seemed to be doing very well- most of the swelling was gone, and my foot (for the most part) had returned to its normal color rather than the odd shade of martian green it had been for the past few days. I was even walking with no pain in the area. SO, naturally, I attempted an easy, on-pavement jog last night with some friends. Not a good idea- although everything felt fine in the first 5 minutes of relatively flat pavement, once we jogged up & over a couple of small but steep pitches, the pain started creeping back up the side of my foot/leg. Going against my will to continue and not be defeated by injury (again), I walked. Luckily, I had Turbo, my Belgian Malinois, and Temesa, one of the Warthogs (group of friends I frequently run with), to keep me company.
Although it was (mentally) painful to stop running, I can tell that the physical consequences would have been much greater- even with just a few minutes of stress to the area, the space between my anklebone & Achilles tendon filled back in with swelling, and it’s painful enough today that I can’t help but limp a little. Thankfully, it’s not bad enough that I can’t ride my bike, but I’m not happy to have the nagging pain again.
Looks like I need more time & probably some at-home physical therapy before I strike out on foot again!
So I’m at the (somewhat dangerous) point now where my ankle is swollen and hurts until I take my anti-inflammatory meds, but then it feels OK. Using a neoprene Ace ankle support, I went for an easy ride yesterday and a harder ride today. I decided to switch my Time pedals (with re-centering float) to my old Speedplay X5s (free-float) in order to allow my ankle to stay in whatever position feels most comfortable.
On a side note, today’s ride included three 3 min VO2 intervals. If you don’t know what a VO2 interval is, it’s basically the highest possible intensity you can sustain for any amount of time. I decided to mix it up a bit today- #1 was in a 15-20mph tailwind. I was hauling ass- passing cars were pacing me and giving me crazy looks because I was sustaining speeds close to 30mph. Interval #2 I did up the two largest hills in Germantown (the first into a headwind), and #3 was on my favorite interval road that runs behind my house. Maybe I’m crazy, but I absolutely LOVE intervals. The harder, the better. It carries over to my love of time trials. Something about the pain cave seems like home.
Surprisingly, my busted up ankle didn’t keep me awake last night. I stuffed a couple of pillows under the sheets to elevate the covers off of the area. This morning, I am able to rest my foot flat on the ground (with little or no weight), and I’m able to put my toes on the ground with very light pressure when I’m walking (on crutches). Also, I can move it passively a little bit- the swelling is still bad, and it’s impinging on the range of motion.
I’m happy with the overnight progress. It’s definitely unexpected with as much as it hurt yesterday. Today’s plan is on/off ice and elevation to try to bring some of the swelling down.
I met up with the Warthogs today for a Swamp Stomper training run. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes down the trail, I slipped on a wet root and turned my ankle pretty bad. After sitting on the side of the trail for a couple of minutes, I decided that I’d try to run it off. A few minutes later, the pain wasn’t subsiding, so I stopped to check it out. My ankle was starting to swell up. I decided to run along slowly, but that seemed to be worse. Before I could question as to whether or not I should continue, I turned the same ankle on a leaf-covered rock. At that point, I was hopping on one leg and cursing. I turned and began walking back to the car (about 2.5-3 miles). Soon, I decided to jog slowly (walking was just taking too long). It was painful, but tolerable.
On the way home, the swelling and pain worsened. I was worried that it was broken, so I went to the minor med place to have it x-rayed. Two and a half hours later, I’m on crutches with an air cast- no break, but a lot of pain and swelling. I can’t put weight on it without severe pain and a very disturbing grinding/popping feeling.
I’m not sure what to do next. This month is really important to my training for the race season. If I can’t get back on my bike soon, it could negatively impact my early-season races. Hopefully I can heal quickly and get back on within a week.
Pictures:
