Decision made for Superior........

Sometimes you see what you want to see and then sometimes reality intervenes and forces you to see the truth.

Which leads into confessing that one thing I failed to mention in my Grizzly report was that the next day I did have trouble walking pain free. I somehow torqued my left foot and had moderate pain in my arch. What is moderate pain, well in my case on the 1-10 scale probably a 4 or 5. It hurt enough that I noticed it on every step but not enough that I couldn't deal with it. And since I am confessing I did have moderate foot, knee and hip pain in the Aspen which resulted in me just kind of dragging my left leg for the last 6-8 miles. So for the Grizzly I was happy to only have knee and foot pain and the pain didn't seem too bad as I was too busy dealing with the heat to notice leg pains until the next day when I took my first steps and my foot said good morning and continued to inform me of it's presence all day. I figured I would take a couple of days off and all would be well, you know, normal post marathon aches.

So, yesterday I ran the river bottoms with Karyn (our normal 12.5 mile loop) and the foot hurt again not enough to keep me from getting through it but enough that it took more mental energy than I would want to expend over 50 miles.

So today, I went out with the hope that it was a post marathon first run ache that would last for only the first run and then be gone. The plan was simple, run in Lebanon Hills and if there was no pain or manageable pain then go for Superior.

I convinced myself for the first few miles that I was pain free (yes, there was something not right in my foot but I was using the "it just feels a little torqued" diversion). I then went up a hill and on the way up I stepped on a small root (probably a 1/2" root) and as the foot rolled over it I experienced something that I had to admit to myself was not just a torqued feeling. I of course did the sensible thing and blocked it out. I continued for another mile or so and then hit a section that was a bit rooty and rocky followed by an uphill and then a grassy (think uneven surface) downhill and I had to admit yet again that I had an issue. No problem, it was manageable. I continued for a few more miles and it seemed to not be improving in fact it was getting to be the opposite of improving.

So I had to admit to myself that there was an issue and as I contemplated Superior I had to face my reality which was that the pain seemed to get worse over the length of the run and comes out when the foot is flexed, like going up a hill, stepping on a rock, root, etc.. all the conditions that I would need to deal with at Superior and even worse it hurt as much walking as running. So I had to finally admit the truth, I should not do Superior this year.

I will admit if I had committed to Superior I would go for it in spite of the pain that's how much I want to do it and/or that's how stupid I am when I commit to a race but since my goal when I started the year was working on the 50 states it makes more sense to add another state or two this fall and to wait for Superior until next year. For this year, I will need to live vicariously through the reports of those doing Superior, best of luck to all attempting it.

So after looking through my options, I am thinking that Farmdale (33 miles in Illinois) will be my next long event or if doesn't work out then maybe Rock Creek (50k in Kansas). I don't think it would be wise to push it for Glacier and Grand Rapids doesn't appeal at the moment. It also allows me a bit of time to train (and heal) since both events are in mid/late October. I will have time to work on increasing my speed and reducing my weight further which might even lead to me having a good day. All of my marathons this year have been struggles, actually my 50k's have been easier on me both physically and mentally.

So I will relax for this week, let my foot heal up and then work on a training program for whatever my next race will be......................