Plans for July

I decided today that instead of worrying about the next race or the current injury issue, instead I would focus on what I can and need to do over the next month.

I did have a lot of potential thoughts going into Grandmas, I was thinking run in Duluth, then run Twin Cities, the 50k at Surf the Murph, and then run either the Zumbro 50 or Potawatomi 50 and then go for the Savage 100. After simply enduring Grandmas, I had to accept where I am in and do something about, hence my 30 day plan. Have I given up on all of the above races, no, not yet but if I do the work I need to do in July, then they could happen if I don't then they won't. It's my move.

I did anticipate issues at Grandmas and had already chosen to skip running at Afton and instead volunteered as I knew I would need some time to work on getting healthy. Now I was surprised at the extent of the issues or said correctly when the issues started. I was comparing my times at Med City to Grandmas over 5 to 6 mile chunks and it's kind of interesting. I was within 30 secs through the first half of the races over the 5 mile chunks and at the halfway point it was actually only 17 secs, I was thinking I would be 5 minutes ahead at Grandmas. From miles 13 to 20, I was 13 minutes faster at Med City, I had planned on being 10 minutes faster at Grandmas. From miles 21 to 26, I was 10 minutes faster at Grandmas. Overall I was 4 minutes slower at Grandmas but had expected to be somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes faster as I expected to be faster through the first 20 by about 10 minutes and then another 10 or so over the final 6. Oh well maybe next year.

So what's the plan, it's simple I am not intending to go in for the foot until at least mid July. In doing my self diagnosis I am convinced the solution will be relieving pressure off the tendon in my foot. When I plantar flex, I feel the calf and ankle do things. The ankle seems to catch and the calf almost spasms on the left leg, no issues on the right leg. When I dorsiflex it, similar issues. I also notice some issues as I apply pressure as I take the foot through some inversion and eversion movements. So the plan is to work on strengthening the calf and foot by using therabands, balancing activities plus a handful of exercises I got off the web. If after 2 weeks if I don't see improvements, then I will go in as I will need someone to help me work on the trigger points.

The other thing I read is that having a good range of dorsiflexion is a by-product of having a strong tibialis posterior muscle and tendon.

I am still unsure of which calf muscle I injured back in 2010 (one Dr said the Plantaris, one said gastrocnemius, who knows maybe it was the tibialis posterior) but I am reasonably convinced that this current issue is caused by that calf tear, aggravated by too much weight and increasing my mileage too fast and oh yeah, probably not a proper rehab by you know who.

The other thing I need to do is to work harder on diet and improvements to my core. So July is about putting up or shutting up. If I do the work, I can be back in the ultra game maybe even this year, if I don't then I won't be. One thing I have learned is starting races in pain makes for very long days.