Old Man Still running

I wore the boot sleeping last night, seemed to help the foot rest. Couldn't bring myself to wear the thing to work.  Probably should. I still feel pain walking but can walk normally now.  The family won't give me sympathy when I wear the boot.   I suggested that I get a bell for them to come running at my beck and call, but that didn't fly.  When the phone rings I even still have to get up.   There is no respect for the old-man runner who injures himself.

I did the same routine this morning.  45 minutes pool running and a one-mile swim.  The pool was much cooler this morning, thank goodness.   I did the mile in about 44 minutes and then did vigourous deep kicking while on my back.    I had the pool to myself for almost two hours.   Two ladies showed up as I left.

I can feel my swimming strength returning with three straight days of mile-swims.   The shoulders are starting to feel stronger.  Also, it is fairly easy to lose weight swimming, easier than running.  I've lost about three pounds this week.  On the downside, my skin is starting to be affected by all the chorine and soaking.  They over chorinate this pool and my skin doesn't like it.   That is one reason I don't usually swim regularly.    I'll try to put up with the itching.

I doing fine and actually enjoying the break from running for a little while. 

P.M.   I walked a mile on the way back from a meeting.   It was very discouraging at first.  After a quarter mile the pain was almost enough to make me limp.   But after a quick stop at a store, I felt much better for the last 3/4rs.  The ankle and foot felt good and strong and the pain was minimal.   That was more encouraging.   I did see a couple runners on the downtown streets and I couldn't help to think to myself jealous thoughts, "Show offs!"

I did a tough workout this morning.  I swam 2 miles in the pool.  The first mile was 44 minutes and during the second mile I stopped at each quarter mile to do vigorous deep kicking.  I'm rather amazed that I'm already up to 2 miles in just my first five days of swimming in over a year.  That is encouraging.  That makes 5.5 miles in the pool this week.   Also, I've lost four pounds this week.  I had forgotten how easy it is to lose weight swimming as compared to running.

A couple friends came to the pool during my second mile.  One of them will run in the Sapper Joe 30K.   After all that time in the pool, I went to the rec room and did a little eliptical.  I felt no foot pain, so that is great.  However, I hate elipticals.  The motion just is too far away from the running motion and those machines affect my knees poorly.  They put too much pressure on my knee caps in the wrong way if I do long workouts on them.  I shifted over to the stationary recombent bike and did a tough hard ride that got the quads burning.   Then I did toe lifts to get the calfs burning.  The foot didn't hurt during them.  In the pool my vigorous kicking on my back got the hamstrings burning.   So overall, I think that workout was great.

I'm very encouraged about the foot this morning.  I now feel very little pain while walking.  I think running 10 miles of the BSTM last Saturday set my recovery back 8 days.   I've almost made that up and I will be careful this time during the second week of recovery.

So things are looking up.  I'm trying to keep a postitive attitude and just think of this as a nice long taper.   With all the miles I've run the past two years I deserve a little break.

This morning I swam two miles at the Saratoga pool.  I've never swam that far prior to work before.   My quarter miles splits were 10:29, 11:00, 11:05, 11:02 for 43:37:46 for the first mile.   Mile 2 was 11:34, 11:53, 13:04, 11:38 for 47:09 for mile two.   It was a good 90 minute workout.  The foot feels good this morning, very little pain.   It tends to feel better in the afternoons, typical for tendons.  

I swam 2.5 miles before work this morning.  This is the furthest I have ever swam in one stretch and it felt pretty easy.  That boggles my mind because I have only been swimming for one week.  In the past I thought it takes weeks to work up the swiming endurance and I thought I had miserable upper body strength, but I guess, not so.  The shoulders feel great and I have no soreness at all.  Perhaps my technique is better than in the past.

My split quarter mile (400 meter) times today were: 10:19, 10:25, 10:54, 11:03 for 42:41 for mile 1.  9:46, 11:17, 11:05, 10:43 for 42:51 for mile 2.   10:57, and 11:11 for the last two splits.   I did take a little break after the miles to drink Gatorade.   Those splits are a good improvement from yesterday.   I through in some flip turns now and then to improve the speed.

The pool got pretty crowded during my last few laps as it approached 6:00 a.m.  There were eight people in the pool trying to swim laps.

The foot progress is discouraging.   I checked the foot last night like the doctor did and the tendon is still pretty painful but the strength is better than last Thursday.   I can tell if I tried to start running again now, I wouldn't last long and would really irritate the tendon.   This is a very slow heal process.  I just hope it can heal without surgery.

Swam 1.5 miles this morning.  My 400-meter split times were: 10:20, 10:31, 10:35, and 10:55 for 42:21 mile.   Next splits were 11:02, 10:33.    I then did some leg work.  Tough kicking on back for hamstrings, and then 12 hard minutes on the stationary bike.   I plan to start doing more leg work.   Foot feels a little better today.

11-straight days without running.   This is nearing PR territory for me.   My last long running break was in March 2007 when I took off 14-days to let a shin splint heal.  Then I jumped in and ran 80 miles on the 14th day.

P.M.  Walked briskly downtown to and from meetings.  Very little pain felt....encouraging.

I swam 5k (5000 meters, 200 laps(lengths)) this morning.  That is the furthest I have ever swam in one stretch.  My 400 meter splits were 10:24, 10:33, 10:47, 10:35 for 42:19 for the first mile.  I took a couple minutes break to drink Gatorade.  My next splits were 10:44, 11:01, 11:02, 11:01 for 43:48 for mile 2.  My next splits were 10:56, 11:01, 11:20, 11:38 for 44:55.  My final 200 meters were 6:15.   The total 5K time was 2:17:18.   I started to cramp in my left calf for some reason toward the end.  I guess all the kicking adds up after awhile.

Skin and hair care is a bother.  With all the products I have to use it affects my man-hood ego.  The biggest irration is to my skin.  Despite all the hyrdation gel, cream, etc.  My sensative skin goes crazy after awhile from over two hours in the over-chlorinated pool.  I hate iching.  I'm going to have to find something else to help to stop the itching.   I also take care to dry out the ears to avoid swimmer's ear (fungus).  That can be very painful.  Drying out the ears or putting vinegar in them afterwards helps dry things out.   I do use ear plugs while swimming, but still some water gets in.

The foot is feeling very good.  I think I may try to experiment with barefoot treadmill walking.

I've set a PR for the most miles swimming in a one-week period.  11.5 miles.  That is roughly equivelent with about 70 miles of running at the pace I usually do on trails in the morning.

I slept in, no pool work this morning.   OK, it has been eight days since I've been to the doctor for the foot.  I've seen some progress but am discouraged because I am so used to recoverying fast from minor injuries.  This one is not recoverying fast and thus is probably not minor.   I worry that the tendon could be torn.  If so, it wouldn't heal from just laying off.  I guess I'll give it another week before asking the doctor for an MRI.   I am seeing improvement, but it just isn't as fast as I want.

I ran for the first time in 14 days, and the first time without bad pain in 21 days!   I’ll get to that later.   I started off my day in the pool at 4:00 a.m. and I swam a PR distance of 4 miles!   I had the pool completely to myself for the first 3 miles and until the “soakers” came to the pool to chat and pretend like they are exercising.  Well, at least they are getting out.

It was a little depressing to see how beautiful the early morning was with a nearly full moon out.   If I wasn’t recoverying from my foot injury, I would be out on the trail, probably running about 35 miles.   But instead, I put on my goggles, ear plugs, and dipped into the waters.

My 400-meter (quarter mile) splits times were:  10:44, 10:41, 10:50, and 10:54 for 43:08 first mile.  Next, 11:03, 11:15, 11:33, 11:15, for 45:04 second miles.   11:34, 11:20, 11:24, 11:26, for 45:45 third mile.  11:30, 11:30, 12:00, 11:42 for 46:42 fourth mile.   Total for the four miles was 3:00:53.   The energy for doing that was roughly the same as running 21 miles.   I felt good afterwards and felt like I could have continued on for quite awhile.   However, three hours in the chlorinated pool really takes its toll on my skin and hear.  Clarifying shampoo helps the hair and a host of skin products helps the skin, but what a hassle taking care of both.   I finished of the morning in the pool by doing ten minutes of tough deep kicking while on my back to work the hamstrings.

The morning view was wonderful.  It was a beautiful as the sun rose above Mount Timpanogos to shin on the clear blue sky.   Some people arrived to do some fishing and a family launched their sail boat from the marina.  It was beautiful to watch the boat float out into Utah Lake.

I next went into the exercise room and timidly decided to try running on a treadmill.   With this injury, I have read that barefoot running is possible at some point.   Running barefoot does not put as much stress on the injured tendon.   At first my pace was only a 18-minute mile pace with a timid jog.  Great, no pain at all.   I eased up the pace slowly and eventually reached a 10-minute mile pace.   Still no pain.  During the second mile I experimented pushing the pace clear up to 8-minute mile pace.  Not bad, but I’m not used to running barefoot, so my foot placement wasn’t smooth enough.  I backed off.   I then tried to run at 5% incline, but pretty quickly started to feel some pain, so I returned to the flats.   After two miles, I peddled on the bike for 15 minutes and then returned to run one more mile.   My feet bottoms aren’t used to the barefoot running.  It will take a little while for them to get used to that.

So, I was very encouraged.  It was very nice to feel the running muscles working again.   I had visions of never being able to run again without pain.   There now is hope.   I’ll continue to be very careful. 

Wow, up to 7 miles for the month!  900 miles for the year.  But in the bright side, I swam a PR one-week distance of 13 miles.   That is roughly equivelent of running 68 miles.  I am maintaining my overall fitness and the swimming is helping the core get stronger.

I walked  three miles with the dog this afternoon to experiment with the foot.  Usually with tendonitis, after the tendon gets warmed up the pain decreases.  I was curious how it would feel on a long walk.  The first mile was discouraging but I noticed on the second mile that I was thinking about other things, not the foot because the pain decreased.   Mile three was even better.  I tried some power walking to increase the pace and it worked fine.   But there is still a main location for the pain.  It seems to be the insertion point of the peroneal longus tendon at the 5^th metatarsal that passes through the plantar ligament.  I’m encouraged that the pain doesn’t go far up the tendon.  A rupture is usually a longitutal tear, and I don’t think I’m feeling that.  It likely is a strain with fraying near the insertion point.

One mile walking in downtown San Francisco.   Seven miles on the treadmll in the hotel!    Wow, most miles in ages.  It felt very easy.  The leg muscles wanted to go on and on. Averaged about 9-minute miles.   Pushed it up to 6:45 pace for awhile.   Mild pain in the foot, but I did run six of those miles in shoes, a fist during this recovery.   I couldn't run in my La SportTiva Fireblades because they are a little narrow and put pressure on the sore tendon...probably part of the orginal problem.   So I had some old Montrails with me and they worked well.   I'm going to need to buy some racing flats if I run Ogden on Saturday.

I ran the last mile without shoes, in socks.  That felt great, no pain, but I was stupid and ended out with a blister on the bottom of one foot.  Oh well, that will force me to not put on too many miles before I am ready.   They also have a nice lap pool at the hotel, so I can keep doing my ultra swimming while I'm at this conference.

Swam a mile in the hotel lap pool at 6:00 a.m.  Unfortunately it doesn't open before 6 a.m. so I didn't have time to do more.   Took a walk downtown during the lunch hour and was surprised to feel zero pain in the foot.   What's up with that?   Nice.

In the evening I ran 9 miles on the treadmill. I was delighted to not feel the foot pain at all until the last mile. I averaged 8:00 miles. One of the miles was a 6:40 mile. I'm delighted that it seems like my recovery is at a point where exercise is now accelerating the recovery. I did feel some pain on the tendon above the ankle, but I think that is more from lack of use over the past four weeks. Hopefully I can start strengthening the ankle now.

Running dreams are funny. I had a very vivid running dream a few nights ago. I dreamed that I was running in the Wasatch 100, but it was all screwy of course. I arrived at an aid station, but had to run through a house. On the other side of the house I went out the door but the course was no longer marked outside the house. I found myself in Washington D.C. I along with other runners were frustrated not knowing where to go next. It seemed like we had to circle around the National Mall, but I wasn't sure what road to take. I was confused that this mountain course was in the city. Still lost, I returned to the house and organized several other runners to go through the streets with me. We each took a different street hoping that we could find some course markings. The race volunteers at the house were of no help and refused to tell use the right way to go. This approach didn't work and I returned frustrated again to the house. I had now wasted several hours. A T.V. was on and a reporter was interviewing the winner of the Wasatch 100. Wow, he had already finished. Hold it, it was still light outside. How could he finish a 100-miler before sunset? I thought, gee, the front-runners knew the course, they have done it before. But that thought confused me because I realized that I had run the course before a couple times. Very strange. Why was I in Washington D.C.? Finally I woke up in a state of running confusion. Got to love those 100-mile race dreams. I'm always getting lost.

Up at 5 a.m. Ran 7 miles on the treadmill. Mild pain in the foot the entire time. That it typical for mornings. The tendon insertion point passes through the Planter Fascia, so in the morning it takes a little while for the foot to warm up in that point. An hour after the run, the foot felt fine. Also swam one mile in the lap pool. Gave up when a big guy decided to swim on his back between the two lanes and couldn't stay in his lane, hitting me.

Gee, it is nice to see my name on the first page of the mileage board this morning.  Haven't seen that in several weeks.

If things continue to go well, looks like I will run Ogden on Saturday.   However, turning sub-7 minute miles for very long may be a problem.  I do need to find some new shoes.  None of the shoes I have will work with my foot problem.

I'm in taper-mode now, resting for the Ogden Marathon on Saturday morning.   I believe I will be fine once I find the right shoes that don't put pressure on the tendon.  I'll go shoe shopping on Friday afternoon.

I ran two easy miles on the treadmill, just enough to warm up the muscles and foot.  No pain this morning during the run.   I then swam one mile in the lap pool.  Feeling good.  In the hot tub I ran a jet over the foot and can issolate the pain area on the tendon.  It is less than yesterday.   The ankle feels weak (weaker than usual...usually it is very strong.)

I've started to do some ankle exercises...foot drills that make a lot of sence.  See: http://www.coachr.org/the_foot_drills.htm

The only drill that is painful is walking on the inside of the foot.

I walked a mile in downtown San Francisco and at the airport.  I'm on my way back home.

All systems are go for Ogden Marathon tomorrow.  I found some road shoes that feel good and don't hurt the tendon, Mizuno Elixir.  Did an easy one-mile job outside, my frist mile run outside in three weeks.   Felt fine.  The quads were telling me to run faster.  "Hold back, just wait until tomorrow."   This should be interesting with the huge taper I've had for the last five weeks.

I ran in the Ogden Marathon, in Ogden, Utah, a fast beautiful race that is mostly downhill.  It would be only my third attempt at a road marathon in comparison to 46 finishes at the ultra marathon distance.  I was nervous going into this race, for good reason, because I had not fully recovered from a non-minor foot injury.  I had really not run seriously for five weeks, when I last raced a 50-mile race.   I had only started to do some treadmill miles a few days earlier.   My theory for going ahead with this race is that the injured tendon is not very involved in straight ahead flat road running.  On the other hand, on trails, the tendon if very involved to keep balance.   So I decided to go ahead and give it a try.   How would I do without any significant running training in five weeks?   I did swim many miles in the pool to keep my fitness up, but I was nervous that my leg muscles weren’t tuned well enough to maintain the fast intense speed of a marathon.

I set some goals for the race.   I wanted to at least break 3:25, which would be a PR time and a Boston qualifier time for me by ten minutes.  Looking at the results for the past couple years and knowing a few runners in my age group who would likely run, I also set a goal to finish in the top 7 for my age group.  If I had a perfect race, a top-3 finish would be within reach, but I knew that was very unlikely given my injury.   I don’t really train for road marathons since I mostly stick to the trails and run longer distances.  So it is an interesting experiment to me when I give one of these races a try.

I got up very early and left my home around 3 a.m. to drive up to Ogden.  I arrived with 45 minutes to spare before the buses would leave.  Instead of standing around in the cold to wait for a bus, I sat in a warm hotel lobby and watched the enthusiastic runners making preparations.  The bus ride was long and intimidating.  It drove nearly the entire course and it sure seemed very long.

The start area was next to a wide open field at 5400 feet.   I noticed frost on the grass and quickly made my way over a warm barrel fire and kept warm for an hour waiting for the 7 a.m. start.  The course would drop about 1,100 feet and end in downtown Ogden.  

Even with all the ultrarunning I do, I feel like quite the rookie at road marathons.  That makes it somewhat interesting to me, learning something new. 

I lined up between the 6-7 minute-mile flags.  I wouldn’t keep that pace going for long but wanted to start out that fast.  Shortly after 7 a.m., we were away, following the South Fork of the Ogden River.  The morning was beautiful and the temperature was perfect.   I was a little tentative as I tested out the foot, but it seemed to behave.   I had bought some new road shoes that didn’t put much pressure on the outside of the foot where the tendon is.   I was so pleased to be running again. My first few mile splits were 6:18, 7:03, 6:49, for about a 20:30 5K time.   That split over 7 minutes got my attention.  I really wanted to keep my splits less than 7 minutes as long as possible, then under 8 minutes as long as possible.

I noticed the foot would complain a little when the road sloped to the inside or outside on turns, so I tried to stay on the more level portions of the road, which meant that I wasn’t cutting the corners very close.  I also noticed pain on the steeper downhills.  But so far, things were going well.   I had some good time to observe the other runners around me.  I saw several with fastrunningblog jerseys who I recognized but didn’t know.

My next splits (miles 3-6) were 7:06, 6:10, and 6:51 for about a 41:15 10K split, which would have been a PR by over two minutes if we were stopping there.   That 6:10 split is very suspect.  I think they had the mile marker in the wrong place.

I started to slow somewhat into a more sustainable pace. I noticed that runners who could keep a 7-minute miles were passing me left and right.   My next few mile splits (miles 7-10) were 6:56, 7:27, 7:48, and 7:33.   I carried a hand-held water bottle, but I knew that wouldn’t last so at each aid station I tried to grab a quick drink.   At certain aid stations those in the relay race would jump in a take over.  This was a little confusing because more people would start passing me.   The views were wonderful as we circled around Pineview Reservoir where I had water-skied many years ago. 

I did start having a problem.  My right calf felt like it was going to get sore and cramp.  This is my challenge in past marathons and I knew it would be a problem since I haven’t done enough recent tempo runs.   When I tried to push a 7-minute mile pace, it got worse, so I had no choice but to back off the pace.  I didn’t want to finish with a strained calf.

From miles 11-15 the course is more generally uphill, with one half-mile steeper hill after mile 14.  At the top was an aid station and someone yelled out my name and waved.   I couldn’t tell who it was.   It was good to hit downhill again, run over Pineview dam, and then hed steeply down Ogden Canyon.   My splits from miles 11-13 were 7:47, 7:34, 8:01, for about a 1:42 half-marathon split.  There was a big crowd at this location, where the half marathon race started.  My splits from miles 14-16 were 7:54, 9:06 (hill) and 7:44.   I was a little discouraged because it was now very tough to keep the splits under 8 minutes. 

I had now been running for nearly 2 hours and had about ten more miles to go.  My energy level was suffering so I started to take gels more often.  That seemed to help.   I did notice that runners were passing me multiple times.  It appeared that several would lollygag at the aid stations.

I really enjoyed running along the Ogden River as it roared down the canyon.  We now had high canyon walls on either side covered with pines.  My splits for miles 17-22 were 7:53, 8:08, 8:14, 8:32, 8:12, 8:42.  I was now really struggling.   I was keeping the cramping at bay.  An S! cap helped.  I wished I had brought more.  But my quads and hamstrings were complaining.   I was also breathing hard.  I was really giving it everything I had.  I never had any lazy stretches.    We caught up and passed many half-marathon walkers who gave us nice words of encouragement.

We entered the Ogden River Parkway, a beautiful paved trail that winds and rolls along the River.  As I looked at the time, I knew I had a sub-3:30 in the bag as long as I didn’t cramp up.  But I just couldn’t find any sub-9-minute speed.   Miles 23-24 were 9:09 and 9:02.  OK, just 2.2 miles to go as I was at 3:05.  If I could keep the pace up I could reach my goal of a sub-3:25.  I couldn’t have any miles over 10-mintues. At the last aid station, fellow-ultrarunning Cory Johnson yelled out a greeting and took a picture of me.

Mile 25 was 9:05.  As we reached the one-mile to go mark, a guy next to me gave me a high five.  “One mile left!”   We were all excited and tried to kick it up another notch.   We spilled out on a long straight city road.  I was so pleased that this marathon only had one mile of city streets.   The last mile was tough.  It felt like I had a bad blister on the ball of my other foot.  I did my best to ignore it and just pushed ahead as hard as I could.   Mile 26 split was 9:13.   The finish line was now really in sight with big crowds on the left and right.  The guy on the loud speaker was mentioning breaking the 3:25 mark.   I did it, I finished in 3:24:49!

I was pleased.  Despite my injury and lack of recent training, I had set a PR by 11 minutes and requalified for Boston.  I finished in 6^th place in my age group (out of 75) and 149^th overall with a large field of about 1,800 runners.  I reached all my goals for the race---barely.  My foot felt fine and I managed to finish without any muscle pulls.   People who finished around me mentioned that it had been hotter than expected.  I really didn’t notice the heat and managed to keep well-hydrated.

I think I could squeeze another ten minute improvement on this course, but I really have no interest in chasing marathon minutes.  I would much rather chase ultramarathon finishes.   I next need to get my foot healed enough to attack trails.  Squaw Peak 50 is in only three weeks.

Recovery has been interesting.  My legs seem more sore than after a typical 100-mile race.  Probably from the lactic acid buildup or the lack of recent training.   But the big different is that after a 100-mile race, I am physically drained for a few days, loss of appetite, taste, sinuses whako, etc.   These marathons have no such effect.  I feel great but the legs sure are sore.  The injured foot was a little sore for the next 24-hours.  Probably only set recovery back a day or two.  That is good news.

Wow, I am still sore.  This is a big surprise.  Takes my mind off of the sore foot, which isn't very sore at all.   Looks like I'll be running again in a couple days.

Still pretty sore, but at least not walking funny today.  I was going to get up and swim before work, but didn't get to sleep until midnight, so I slept in.  Maybe tomorrow.

I swam 1.5 miles this morning.   Could have gone further, but I just lost interest.  Too boring.  My speed is increasing as my arm strength gets better.   My 400m splits were 10:40, 9:38, 10:07, 9:53, for a 40:18 mile.   I was pleased to see to splits under 10 minutes.  My final splits were 10:54 and 11:33 as I lost motivation.   I'm ready to try running dirt roads.  My foot still has some pain, but the marathon I ran Saturday didn't set it back.  I have less pain this week than last.   I'll first try running some smooth dirt roads with hills that won't have much risk of rolling the ankle.

The leg soreness from the marathon is greatly improved.  Calfs a little sore and a hamstring, but nothing terrible.

I'm encouraged about my injured foot recovery.  I know I can run roads again (Gee, I ran a PR marathon last Saturday by over 10 minutes!), but when will I be able to race on trails again?  I still can't see the light at the end of that tunnel.   Squaw Peak 50 is in only 17 days.   Bighorn 100 is now 31 days away.  I'd hate to skip Squaw Peak since it would be my fifth finish.   I guess I better start looking for an ankle brace that will work for running 50 miles.

After work, ran slow miles with the dog.  The calfs were still tight, so I took it very easy.  After a couple miles, things felt better.  I looked up into the hills and the legs begged me to take them up.  So I ran up a road and ran on some roads in the foothills.  I decided to really do some testing, and ran down on a dirt road.  The uneven surface immediatly started to work the bad foot/ankle.  It was discouraging at first but then things became better.   The weakness in the ankle is pretty obvious.  Will I ever be able to run trails with great speed and strength again?

Well, the legs aren't quite ready to boost long fast miles, so I'll hit the pool again in the morning.  It is pretty interesting that a 3:24 marathon takes me as long to recover from as a 10 hour 50-miler.   I'll be back in the saddle to run smooth roads on Friday.

I swam two miles in the pool this morning.  For the first time since I took up swimming again a few weeks ago, I broke 40 minutes for a mile.  I know, not blazing fast, but an improvement being seen.  400m splits were: 9:59, 9:50, 10:09, 9:56 for 39:54.  I took it easy for the 2nd mile, 11:26, 11:31, 12:09, 12:43.

The morning was beautiful in the outdoor pool.  I could see a crescent moon with Venus close by rising above the notch of Provo Canyon far away to the east.  With each lap, the glow in the sky increased and the moon and planet rose higher in the sky.

The injured foot has increased pain this morning.   I don't know what the deal is.  This is discouraging.  The summer racing schedule is getting closer.

During the morning I walked several blocks over to another building.  I was very discouraged.  The pain in the foot is similar to what it was two weeks ago.  Yesterday there was hardly any pain.  What is going on?   I do recall waking up last night after I stretched the foot in my sleep and feeling a little painful pop.  Maybe I need to sleep with the boot on again.

After the tendon warmed up it felt quite a bit better, but still, on the way back I opted to take Trax instead of walking.   I'm having visions of pulling out of Squaw Peak 50, Big Horn 100, etc.   All those race fees could go wasted.   Maybe it is time to find another sport, like synchronized swimming.

OK, after all the whining on this blog yesterday, by afternoon I had no pain in the foot.  Go figure.   One theory is that my dress shoes that I wear to work are bad for the tendon.  I'll go get some new ones.

This morning I forgot to set the alarm so didn't wake up until 4:45.  The foot was still pain-free, so I headed to the rec center to run the treadmill.  As I arrived, I thought to myself how stupid this was.  It was 51 degrees out and the morning was perfect.  Why not run outside?  So I turned around and drove home.  

I'm still not ready to run trails, but if I am going to run Squaw Peak in two weeks, I need to start doing more hill training.  So, what I did was run up a paved road called Grandview Blvd that goes for one mile and climbs 300 feet.   I ran up and down it three times.  I was tentative, because of the foot.  I felt more pain on the downhill but it was very mild.  My mile splits for the last two trips were: 10:52 (up), 10:22 (down), 11:15 (up), 10:25 (down).   The sore muscles from the marathon last Saturday are almost gone...just a little in the calfs and hamstring.

On the downside, the neuroma in my right foot is a problem.  It really flaired up during the marathon and still is a problem after five miles. Pavement flairs it up a lot more than trails.  A neuroma is a bunching of nerves in the ball of the foot that shoots bad pain up into your toes.  It can hurt terribly.  If it flairs up during ultras, usually after 7 miles is calms down, probably because the rest of the foot swells a little and protects it.   But right now it is about as bad as it has been.  Stupid pavement.   I wish I could get off it.

Tomorrow I'll go volunteer at the Sapper Joe 50K which is only a few miles from my home.  I was going to run this race, but instead I will volunteer.  This is the first race I will miss because of my injury.  I hope emotionally I won't be too bummed out.  I will make sure I wear jeans instead of my running gear to prevent myself from running with friends.

P.M.  Three more miles with the dog including up and down the Grandview mile (300 feet climb).  Splits 9:14 up, 7:20 down.   Felt pretty good to work the legs a little harder.

I  ran in the Sapper Joe 50K held at Camp Williams, Utah in Bluffdale, about six miles from my home.  Well, actually I ran 23 miles on the course during the race. I never entered the race, but I’ll get to this.  This is a new race run entirely on a military base on dirt roads normally closed to the public.  But thanks to Lt. Colonel Milada Copeland, a talented ultrarunner, this new race became possible.

My childhood friend, Jim Kern drove down and spent the night at my home.  He would be running in his second 50K.  As we arrived at the base, we were immediately impressed with the number of “volunteers” involved, guardsmen doing parking and helping all the runners get ready.  They were all dressed in fatigues. They had their huge military vehicles warmed up and ready to go out on the course.   There are a whole series of hills and valleys within running distance of my home that I have never been able to explore.  This race would open up these roads and trails to be experienced by the public.

But, I didn’t enter the race.  My foot injury prevented it.  I hoped to help out with the race and at least go out on the course.  I told people that I wouldn’t even bring my running gear.  However, at the last minute, I threw it in the car.

Before the start, I jumped in Phil Lowry’s car.  He was going out to the first aid station to take pictures.  I was thrilled to see these new valleys, hills, and ridges that were within sight of my home and my training territory.  We watched the sun start rising over the ridges and set up a location to shoot pictures.   I decided to go down to the aid station and help the military personel get ready for the onslaught of runners.  Runners would be arriving for both the 30K and 50K.  It was fun to hear them call each other “sir” and “mam”.  Milada as ranking officer was clearly respected and in charge.

I was surprised how long it took for the first two runners to complete the 5.7 mile leg.  But I would learn how difficult that first leg was.  It included a steep descent down a ball-bearing-like hill.  As they were running along the foothills, we could see two deer running ahead of them, as if they were pacing them.  It was quite the sight.  Phil was nearby and shot some nice pictures.   Karl Jarvis and Christian Johnson were the first two to arrive.  It was great fun to see so many of my friends arrive. I kept explaining why I wasn’t running.  The foot was feeling pretty good, but I knew it was the right decision to skip this race.  The aid station got very busy and I did my best to help, especially for runners I knew.  I wanted to give them special treatment.   I was very impressed how fast Craig Lloyd (jun) arrived.  Looking at the runners who arrived before and after him, I think I would have had a tough time keeping up with him. Jim was among the final 50k runners to arrive.  It looked like he was doing well.

After everyone left, I was impressed to watch the military efficiency as the immediately torn down the aid station and cleared out the area.   I drove back to the start/finish with Phil and we watched the first 30K runner finish with an amazing time of 2:42.

I then could not resist.  I went to my car, put on my running gear and headed out to run the course backwards.  This would be great fun to greet every runner on the course.  This was the first time I had attempted any serious running on a trail in a month.  I soon ran into Craig and reversed direction to run 100 yards or so with him.  He had an impressive race for a rookie.  Not far after him was neighbor Will Nielson.  I also ran a bit with him.  It was fun to talk with him for a few minutes and hear about the course.   I continued this pattern over and over again for any runner who I knew well.

After the long climb, I arrived at aid station #4 in just over an hour.  The servicemen there were surprised to see me and thought I was crazy.   I helped out at the station until the front-running 50K runners arrived.  Karl Jarvis was in first, followed by Christian about a half mile behind.  Christian mentioned that he blundered in only running with one water bottle.  It was starting to get a little warm.  After Christian left, I continued my run, heading  toward aid station #3 about six miles away.  

When I arrived at a steep hill, I started seeing many of my running friends.  I had fun doing “hill repeats.”   I would run down the steep hill until I found a friend and then reverse direction to run with them back up the hill.  It was a tough climb.   I probably did that about five times.   I was glad to get the hill training in.  The views were amazing.  I saw views of my home valley that I had never seen before from these military base ridges.

How was the foot doing?  So-so.   I did feel some pain with every step but it wasn’t bad.  I learned that if I put more weight on the outside of the foot, the pain would decrease.   I also learned that I just couldn’t run at top speed.  When I tried, the pain would go up, so I took it generally easy.

After fooling around, socializing with everyone, I noticed my one water bottle was almost empty.   I needed to get down to business and try to reach aid station #3 before Jim came through.  If they tore down the aid station before I arrived, I would be in a bad position without fluid.   Well, I almost made it.  With less than a mile to go, I found Jim.   I had no choice but continue on.  As I ran hard down to the aid station, I could see that they had already packed everything up.  They were kind and let me fill up and grab some food.   I then asked if I could hitch a ride back to catch up with Jim.  Even if I ran very hard, I probably couldn’t catch him for over an hour.   So, a kind volunteer gave me a ride for a couple miles until we found Jim who was the last of the 50K runners.   I guess I would play the role of being the course sweep.  

Jim was having some serious ITB problems and just couldn’t push the speed.   I eventually ran ahead to the aid station and reported that there were just two runners behind me.  (I had passed another runner struggling).   I almost stepped on a snake croassing the road, but it didn't look like a rattler. I scarfed down a bunch of food, felt much better, and waited for the two to arrive.  They were both thinking of dropping even though they made the cutoff by three minutes.  I encouraged them both to continue and they did.

Well, I had had enough of the slow running, so I kicked it into gear and ran the last downhill 5.5 miles as fast as my foot would allow, descending a beautiful desert canyon back toward Camp Williams headquarters.   I passed another runner and finished that leg in only 50 minutes.   Cheers were heard as I arrived, but I sheepishly explained that I wasn’t in the race.   Milada asked, “Davy, what are you doing?”  She knew I was injured.  I explained that I ran 23 miles.  She wanted to give me a finisher medal but I refused.

For the next half hour or so, I enjoyed talking to all the guardsmen about running and the fine day.   A few of the “volunteers” wished that they didn’t have to be there, but most seemed to really get into the experience.   Jim finally arrived after a tough 9:25 finish and received his finisher award.   I was amazed to watch that within five minutes, with military organization, the finish area was taken down.   Everyone drove away before us.   It was a wonderful day and and great success for a first-time race.   I really hope that it will continue.

How is the foot?  I know, I shouldn’t have done this.  Don’t yell at me too bad.   Both feet were sore by the end of my run because I ran in road shoes and the course was rougher than expected.  The tendon is sore but I’m not limping, yet.  Tomorrow will tell me how bad and whether this will set back my recovery.  It still was a good test.  This will help me figure out how to approach running Squaw Peak 50 in two weeks.

After feeling pain in the foot all last evening after my 23-mile trail run, I slept with my boot on to stablize the foot and ankle during the night. I feared that today I would be limping badly.  When I woke up early for me Sunday meetings, I tentatively stepped on the foot.  Huh, no pain.  I walked, no pain.   I later put on my shoes, no pain.   This really is strange.   The foot feels better than it has in weeks.   I have to only theorize that it has healed enough to allow me to put stress on it.  This will strengthen it and help it to heal faster.   I'm greatly encouraged.

I wanted to get in an early Memorial Day run, but with an evening downpour, I knew the trails would be slick and I couldn’t risk twisting the bad ankle. So instead I discovered that Striders was putting on a half marathon up in Syracuse. That would be a nice tempo run and wouldn’t do any damage to the foot, so I got up early and made the drive up north. It had only been nine days since I ran Ogden Marathon and two days since I ran 23 miles on the Sapper Joe course. Oh well, I would give it a try. The course is out on country roads and a beautiful paved parkway trail near Great Salt Lake. The morning had cleared up nicely and the temperature was in the 50s. It looked like there were about 150 runners out for the event. Away we went and three runners shot out ahead along with a 12-year-old who I had heard at the start talking about running a 1:30. It wasn’t very long until he started falling back, he had only been dreaming. I was running in 5th place. I could see that two of the runners ahead were setting a blistering pace that couldn’t be matched by a runner in black. By mile two I had passed the kid and wasn’t very far behind the runner in black. But my main challenge started hit me right away as the calf muscles started to tighten up, still not recovered from the Ogden Marathon. My first three mile splits were: 6:30, 6:53, and 7:04. I knew that I would need to back off the pace. The calves just couldn’t handle 7-minute miles. Another runner caught up, passed me and the runner in black. For the next few miles I would play leap-frog with the runner in black who would slow down and then speed up when I would pass him. Soon the heat got to him and his hot black shirt came off. The course turned onto the Parkway trail and rolled along. Another runner passed me with a young runner in tow, but I quickly was able to re-pass the second runner and he fell behind. When we reached Antelope Drive, the underpass was flooded and we had to bound in a long pool of water over a foot deep, splashing me clear up to my waist. It was great fun and I didn’t mind having wet feet. The heavy shoes did slow me down a little but they quickly dried up. My splits (miles 4-7) to the turn-around were 7:25, 7:29, 7:28, 7:32, pretty consistent. At the turn-around I was in 5th place overall. The runner who used to be in black passed me again as we turned around and headed in the opposite direction on the parkway trail. I could now see the runners behind, the next runner was the first-place woman. I didn’t notice any old guys like me close behind. After another mile, the woman runner passed me, running strongly. I pushed harder, trying to stay close. It worked because I passed the runner who used to be in black for the last time. My next few splits (miles 8-10) were 7:26, 7:37, and 7:51. I was able to keep the first-place woman runner in sight and at times would gain on her quite a bit but then would fade. The tight calf muscles just wouldn’t let me push much harder. I didn’t want to risk a muscle strain, so just went as fast as the legs would allow. I looked behind and the next runner wasn’t too close. The final miles took us back to the park and then we did a big final mile loop and then finally headed on the final mile to the finish. I could see a runner behind gaining on me so I pushed much harder. I didn’t want to give up my hard-earned placement. My final mile splits (11-13) were 7:54, 7:49, and 7:18. I was pleased with the effort on that final mile. I was also pleased to see that I didn’t have any splits over 8 minutes. I crossed the finish line in 1:37:01. Not blazing fast, but a very good effort on this course that had no real downhills. I finished in 6th place overall and won my old-fart age group (50-59). Not bad. In fact if I was 20-29, I would have finished in second, in the young-buck age group. I had a good time talking to some runners including the first-place woman runner who finished a minute ahead of me, telling them about my crazy ultrarunning. I think without the sore calf muscles, I could have improved about three minutes. I received a first-place medal. It was a fun morning and a good workout.

Two miles swimming.  400m splits were 9:42, 10:08, 9:45, 10:07 for a 39:42 first mile.  I then took it easy with sore shoulder: 11:31, 11:44, 11:43, 12:08.

Tested the foot with an early morning trail run on uneaven dirt roads and a stretch of single-track trail.   Minor pain was there just as a reminder, but I was pretty tentative and protective of the foot, always leading off with the other on difficult sections, and favoring sections of the road the sloped to the left.   The after effects are discouraging.  The foot is more sore today.  We'll see if it calms down by afternoon.   It sure was nice to be out on the trail today and watch the dawn arrived.  I even through in a bushwack up a hill and across a wheat field.   It was nice to run without a flashlight for a time before 6 a.m.  I did run in old shoes, need to get some new ones delivered.

I'm pondering about Squaw Peak 50 in only 9 days.   This will be my 5th year running it.  My finishes have improved every year, 60th, 57th, 49th, and last year 28th.  Not bad considering 280 entrants.  My best time has been 11:40.   I really want to get my 5th finish, but I may reinjure the foot that hasn't totally healed.  It is a big risk.   Much of the course is "foot fiendly" but some isn't, like the traverse around Baldy and the section around Windy Pass.  Even the early section in the morning going up Squaw Peak will be a challenge.   I can usually reach the top of Hobble Canyon Road in under 5 hours.   I doubt that will happen this year.

Yesterday morning's trail run seemed to leave my foot a little too sore.  But by evening there was no soreness (when walking...but can feel a little pain if I rotate it) and when I woke up this morning it wasn't sore.  So I decided to stick to the roads this morning. 

I did hill repeats up Grandview Blvd, a one-mile stretch that climbs about 300 feet.  I did that five times for ten miles.   My mile splits times on the uphill were: 11:10, 10:26, 10:48, 10:31, and 13:27.   My mile splits on the downhill were: 8:51, 8:44, 8:40, 9:03, and 11:53.   It was a good workout.  I didn't push it too hard.  The foot felt fine afterward.  I can tell there is weakness in the ankle.

I plan on running Gruesome Grizzley 8k tomorrow in Provo Canyon to test the foot out pushing the speed on a trail.   I think there is an 80% chance that I will run Squaw Peak 50 in a week.

This blog software is very lame.  I wrote up a good race report, hit submit and it was lost.  Maybe I'll write something later.   It was a fun race, I ran it at a typical 50-miler pace for me to test out the injured foot/ankle.   I enjoyed meeting some of the bloggers, jun, Twinkies, etc.  They ran very well.  I felt slow, old, fat, and out of shape.  But still beat my time from last year somehow.   They had non-standard age groups and I was in the 41-50 age group.  How offensive.  I've worked very hard to stay alive for 50 years and have earned the right to compete against the old-foggies, but here they put me in with the kids!  I still finished in 2nd.  They guy right ahead of me who I knew was younger, got first.  Bummer.  I should have reeled him in afterall.

I did have fun on the flat canal road up above the canyon.  I was finding some good foot speed, reeling in Twinkies and others fast.  I backed off once I saw the downhill coming, planning to blast down it like crazy, but it didn't happen.  I got within about 20 yards of Twinkies, but the foot pain became more intense and Twinkies did great blasting down the hill.   I maintained a good pace and eventually finished in 42:50.  This year I didn't take a detour near the finish.

The foot test was a failure.  By afternoon, the foot was sore and I was almost limping.  This is discouraging.  I'll bet it will feel fine tomorrow, but still, why can't it just heal up and go away. I'll start Squaw Peak 50 next week, but there is a 50-50 chance I won't finish.   We'll see. I don't want to miss it because it is a chance to run with so many of my ultra friends.  I'd rather run SP50 than Bighorn 100 which is only in three weeks.

I'm planning to stay off the foot all week and taper.   My uphill speed will probably be pathetic, but if the foot cooperates, I should be able to blast down the dirt roads next week.