That Was Not Expected

Well fuck.

Sitting here in my hotel room, icing a foot that decided it would act up, leaving a race that would have been such a confidence boost…well fuck.

I decided to come to McDowell Mt. Frenzy a few months ago after I felt strong again coming off a stress fracture in my calcaneous. These past few months of training have been so solid. There was NO INDICATION that something was amiss. I was building fitness with workouts, long runs, and lots of recovery and sleep. I feel like things are clicking. My body is responding well and quite frankly I am ready to crush it.

Well fuck.

I travelled to Arizona yesterday and had the most relaxing day of catching flights and checking in places that I’ve ever had. I slept on the plane (!!!) read and kept a steady stream of energy coming in. My feet and body both felt great and primed, which is unusual actually. Overwhelming evidence suggests that many athletes go into races with niggles, fatigue, lack of sleep or some other issue in the back of their mind. Honestly, I didn’t have that. Sure, my feet feel achy sometimes but it’s more related to being on my feet for long periods of time that any underlying issue. They get sore at the end of the day and with rest, they feel fine. Same as any other part of my body.

Well fuck.

I woke up this morning feeling rested. I slept well, ate a good breakfast, and started hydrating with Skratch upon wake up. My goals for the race were to prioritize nutrition and see where my fitness was at. If I was in contention and feeling good, compete with the best I could knowing this was not a peak race, but an indicator of how things are going.

I warmed up a bit, did my pre-race leg swings and lined up next to my friend Rachel, who is using this race as a tune up for Bandera. The gun went off at 7:30 and. I found myself running easily at a good clip in the top 5 overall. I felt smooth and great using the effort I’ve been working on in training. All the intervals are making a difference. I was moving well and ready to run a good 50k. Right after I took my first gel around mile 4 (not related, just a marker of time) I started to get a discomfort on the top of my left foot near the angle of connection between my ankle and foot. It seemed like something that would work itself out, so I didn’t do anything. About a half milk later I noticed it was getting my uncomfortable so I pulled over and adjusted my shoe laces figuring I might have tied them too tight.

Didn’t work. Well fuck.

I pulled over again and tried a different style of lacing. That was also unsuccessful. Thankfully, I was close to the aid station and made it there still jogging. I stopped and massaged my foot, stretched it, tried a final lacing strategy and tried to start again. I couldn’t put weight on it. I tried a few times to start walking it out to no avail. It was done.

Well fuck.

I only got to the first aid station. Mile 6. I ran more than than yesterday perfectly fine. I am just so perplexed at what my body is telling me. I do not understand why my feet give me so much trouble at the most random times. The only thing I can think of to relate it to would be like an autoimmune condition flare. Hard, if not impossible, to predict and debilitating when it decides to show up.

I am sad. I am sad because I wanted a good race to feel confident again. I am sad because I am fit and running well. I am sad because I am just tired of how my feet continue to prevent me from showing my fitness.

Maybe I should just stick to short stuff, so that I finish the race before any issue come up.

But that is just no fun. Back to the drawing board.