Ready or Not

I haven't written anything on here in awhile.  Yet life goes on and I'm still running.  More than ever.  In the previous 2 months, I've had arguably the best training cycle of my life, reaching a new lifetime peak mileage of 325 miles in 30 days.  I ran my first 50 mile trail race.  And I've been healthy!  No problems, and training was going very well.  On Facebook, I mentioned that I was trying to find my edge, but without falling off the cliff.  Unfortunately, I think I found my edge a couple of weeks ago.

During the 50 mile trail race in mid April, I ran the first 34 miles with a pair of trail shoes that are slightly tight in the toe box.  And then I switched shoes, and used a Superfeet insert that did not have a cork metatarsal pad (used because of my Morton's Neuroma). Near the end of the race, I felt a twinge of pain in between my 3rd/4th toes, but thought it was just because I was nearing the end of a 50 mile very hard effort on the trail.

The following weekend, I made a significant push for one bigger weekend, running 15 miles on Saturday, then 15 on Monday, and 25 on Tuesday.  That was apparently my edge, because on Wednesday May 1st, my foot was on fire.  The Morton's Neuroma pain was there between the toes, and the ball of my foot was incredibly tender.  It really came on without any notice.  Tuesday I was fine, Wednesday, I was a gimp.

I immediately called my podiatrist on Thursday to get in for an appointment for the following week.  In the meantime, various folks on the Internet recommended stuffing a piece of cotton between my toes to help alleviate the pressure. Well, that apparently worked.  I eased down to let my foot rest, and by last Tuesday, the pain was mostly gone and I was running again.  I had the doctor put some new metatarsal pads on new Superfeet inserts, and we both decided that a cortisone shot was not necessary (I had one before two years ago). 

However, fast forward a few more days, and the ball of my foot is still tender to walk on.  Enough that I feel it with every step.  I don't have any pain between the toes, but the ball of my foot hurts.  This could even be a case of Metatarsalgia as well. And I question how the upcoming 3 Days at the Fair will go.  I'll be on my feet for 64 hours (well, with breaks of course).  And I really don't know how it will turn out.  I'm nervous.  I'm angry that I've come this far, with the ideal training cycle, only to come up lame a couple of weeks before the race.  Was this my edge?

Lucky Bucket 7k Trail Race

I ran this race mainly because it was cheap, and the perks seemed good.  Entry was only $35, which included a tech shirt, a couple of free beers, a free brewery tour, and a fun after party.  Not that I especially enjoy shorter races, but I also knew that a lot of my GOATz friends would be running it too, not to mention that it would be on the trails at Mahoney State Park.  I know they exist, but really haven't been on them. It turned out to be about 0.4 miles short.  Yeah, I know trail races are usually "around" the expected distance, but this was really short.  I did run really well though, 114th out of 1047 runners, 90th out of 505 males, so I was happy with that. 

And my foot felt Ok.  The ball hurt a little, but it was manageable. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  Perhaps a little breezy, but sunny skies.  The Lucky Bucket beer was good, and I bought a grilled hamburger, the smell was just too much to resist.  All in all, it was a worthwhile event.