Sunday, May 16, 2010

Cool, Wet Week

It's been a cool, sometimes cold, week in Denver. The mountains have been getting snow. It's been raining every day since Tuesday. Finally today, Sunday, it's a perfect Spring day.

I'm so averse to heat that I've actually enjoyed the cool weather. Even running in cold, slushy rain is okay. But Tuesday, my left nipple was rubbed RAW! (Oops, sorry. TMI alert!) There's not much of a Spring/Fall. It's just Winter/Summer fighting over the weather. But today is definitely Spring!

The Colfax Marathon is finishing as I write this. I don't bother with it because it's not my cup-o-tea. Why would I pay to run in a city? Pavement, crowds, no scenery... I'll leave it for others to enjoy. Sure, I'll do the Steamboat Marathon and Rim Rock, but look at the scenery!!! No comparison whatsoever. And Steamboat is definitely my time-trial marathon course - mostly downhill. In spite of that, I might still not bother, except that Strawberry Park Hot Springs beckons. Marathon+springs is an unbeatable combo.

I'm about to go running. I'm on the brink of logging more miles in a week than I have since my pathetic attempt to get my money's-worth out of the Leadville 100 last August. (I shouldn't have even started that race, injured, but couldn't help myself.) I ought to be able to break 50K for the week. Chump mileage in the old days - today a milestone. One small step for an ultra-runner, one giant leap for a cripple.

I hardly ever feel any pain in my plantar anymore, but I feel something. It's a sensation of discomfort; a knot that isn't quite right. There's no way it's "healed", past-tense. I'm still very much in the process. I've got the rest of this year to go.
I hope (hope [hope]) to be ready to run the Bandera 100K next January. Last time I had serious blisters at mile 5. Next time, I hope to kill that race. Totally want to finish 1-2 hours faster. So this will probably be my next ultra.
My next "planned" race is Imogene.
It's becoming increasingly harder to hold myself back from racing. It's not in the plan, and it could unravel months of healing. I keep telling myself, "steady - keep your eyes on the prize".

I guess this post is also a milestone. I haven't been allowing myself to even THINK about racing. Now here I am starting to map out a schedule.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for your comments on my blog. I do agree that taking it easy, just resting is not a good answer to healing injuries. Gosh, they used to tell heart attack patients to stay in bed for weeks. Times have changed.
    I used to have PF and what really helped me was barefoot/minimalist shoe running.
    Hope you will get to run Bandera.

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  2. Hi, Ewa! I've been running in Vibram Five Fingers since November. It really is different, but I'm used to them now.
    People like you are very inspirational. I have two friends who were very overweight-sedentary. One of them won the Goblin Valley 50k, and the other is just now getting into ultras. My own father will not change his lifestyle. I'm not sure what's keeping him alive.
    But the odd thing about life is, he might still out-live me - you never know.
    Hope you heal quick! I'm rootin' for you!

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  3. Thank you so much.
    I love VFF's too. I would love to be able to do ultras one of these days.
    I know what you mean about stubborn family members. My brother in law is obese. Just this winter they had to amputate part of his foot because of his diabetes. We still have to fight him on what he can or cannot eat. Scary. I hope that fear will motivate me to keep on moving even if I cannot run now.
    Thanks for your support

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