Stalking 50

Quick update: My ankle is now nearly back to normal, which kind of amazes me. It looked like somebody had replaced my ankle bones with a marshmallow before; now I can actually see bones, tendons, etc. What a relief!

Also, I'm making good progress on my report. Fair warning. It will be l-o-n-g. I hope y'all find it worth reading.

I already commented in the race report section about your report!  So...now, how's things?

Hi, Dot! Yes, it has been a while since I posted something here, isn't it?

It's been a busy week, what with Alita starting a three-week summer school gig and work going back to normal for me. Writing that report also took up an inordinate amount of time- it was more than 4,200 words by the time I got done with it! Yipes.

From the ankles up, my legs feel great. From the ankles down? Well, they're 95% better than they were a week ago. I wish I'd taken a good photo of the swelling so I could post before-and-after photos. It's really quite a striking difference. I'm still feeling some tightness and twinges down there, so I'm holding off on a return to running a bit longer. No sense hurting myself now.

As I poked and prodded around down there, I decided that the main muscular offender was extensor digitorum longus, the muscle that extends all but the big toe and dorsiflexes the ankle. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a lot of the shock from those toe snags and foot jams, but I wouldn't be surprised if I had also worn the muscle prematurely out by landing too much on that part of my foot and using that muscle as a more of a shock absorber than ideal. Too much eccentric loading.

Anyway, if that's the case, I need to figure out what I was doing wrong (probably landing too far ahead of my center of mass and not engaging the big toe enough) and see if I can deal with it. Toe raises and drops, here I come!

I was using zero-drop shoes for the race, as well, so I wonder how much a role that may have played. I also see some runners with those compression sleeves on their lower legs. They look totally doofy, but I wonder what sort of benefits they offer.

This is a double-post from after my race report, but I wanted to make sure folks saw it if they didn't go back to check other comments.

There's an epilogue to my race report.

After I finished, I got curious about Mr. Western States. Who was that guy? And more importantly, how'd he do at the race?

It took some doing -- I had to go through hundreds of race photos before I found him (it's amazing the number of steely-eyed, square-jawed runners there are at a 100-mile ultra) -- but I finally found him.

His name is Brian Janecek. He's 36, lives in the Portland metro area and was on track to silver buckle at Western States (finishing 100 miles in under 24 hours) when he developed huge blisters on the ball of each foot. By huge, I mean HUGE. Silver dollar sized.

I can't even imagine how much they must have hurt. Yet, he pressed on for 12 hours with those mangled feet and finally walked/limped across the finish line in 29 hours, 51 minutes, and 31 seconds.

Of the 277 runners who finished before the 30-hour cutoff this year, Mr. Western States -- Brian -- was 274th.

I found the photo of him just after he crossed the finish. It broke my heart.

So when he helped me, he was speaking from experience deeper than anything I can imagine. And yes, he was right.

Surprise!

Walk: 3.6 miles

Weather: Sunny and warm. 76 degrees Gear: Altra Instincts

It was a nice day, so I went out with Alita and Alec for a walk on the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail. We took a picnic lunch and ate it in a nice shady glen, then explored up the Cougar Creek Trail, a dirt and gravel path, before turning around and heading back.

I took it very carefully. My ankle handled it pretty well -- downhills were more troublesome than uphills -- and I feel a little tenderness now afterward. Definitely glad I didn't do any more.

Mark B wrote:Surprise!

Walk: 3.6 miles

Weather: Sunny and warm. 76 degrees Gear: Altra Instincts

It was a nice day, so I went out with Alita and Alec for a walk on the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail. We took a picnic lunch and ate it in a nice shady glen, then explored up the Cougar Creek Trail, a dirt and gravel path, before turning around and heading back.

I took it very carefully. My ankle handled it pretty well -- downhills were more troublesome than uphills -- and I feel a little tenderness now afterward. Definitely glad I didn't do any more.

Woohoo!!!!!  Active recovery is good!

Yay!!  Glad to see that you are able to get out and about.  Even if it is just walking...You will probably have to take it easy for a while, but it will come...

Nick Morris wrote:Yay!!  Glad to see that you are able to get out and about.  Even if it is just walking...You will probably have to take it easy for a while, but it will come...

I'd love to do a little more, Nick, but it's pretty clear that I need to be careful. 

I am still getting a weird tingly sensation in my foot sometimes, and that lower leg muscle is tight, tight, tight! I've been poking at it, and it doesn't like it. The upside is, I'm getting all sorts of chores done.

Testing... testing...

Barefoot Run: 1 mile

Weather: Marine layer. Mild and muggy. 59 degrees, 94% humidity. Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T. Fuel: Coffee

A brief barefoot run on asphalt, testing my legs and ankles for the first time 10 days out from my 50-miler. I've had lingering soreness in my right foot and ankle (point source pain over the top of my fourth and fifth metatarsals that I think are just irritated extensor tendons), and I wanted to find out what happened when I worked it a bit.

I took it very easy, concentrating on form and paying close attention to feedback from my foot and ankle. As expected, the right foot and ankle complained the most. It eased up partway through the run but started to increase again when I neared the 1-mile mark. I decided that was enough stimulus for now. I'll see how my body reacts.

For what it's worth, the rest of my legs were totally on board with running. I just need to get this weak link resolved, and I should be good to go.

Average HR for entire run: 113

I tracked down Mr. Western States and sent him a thank-you note and link to my race report. I figured he'd get a kick out of it, especially considering how he's a major character in the story.

What I didn't figure is he'd post a response.  

You can read it here.

A quick physical update.

I didn't appear to be the worse for wear after yesterday's barefoot run. I'm still feeling some residual crankiness in my extensor digitorum longus, the tendon that extends all but the big toe and dorsiflexes the foot (I've discovered that this isn't uncommon at ultra distances. It's called "ultramarathoners ankle." Woot! Validation!), and I've got a bit of peroneal twitchiness that runs up the outside of my foot and back up my ankle and into my calf.

The rest of my body, as far as I can tell, is rarin' to go. I suppose these little annoyances will keep me from jumping back into it too quickly and ending up in trouble a couple of months from now. Been there, done that.

I was thinking about getting a walk in today, but it didn't work out. I hope to get out for another easy barefoot run tomorrow.

Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, mild. 57 degrees, 88% humidity. Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T. Fuel: Coffee!

Things felt good after Tuesday's experimental barefoot outing, so I headed out today to see what happened when I extended the duration of the run. I decided to run as long as it felt good, with a maximum distance of about 3 miles.

I felt a few twinges in the first couple of laps around the block, but they were only momentary and went away as I warmed up. I focused on form, working to understand how my right foot landing might cause tension in the smaller toe extensor tendons and trying to see what happened when I made my big toe take a little more of the work. That seemed to help.

In all, it was a good run. I kept it easy for most of it, staying in the mid-10s, but I was able to accelerate into the low 9s without any difficulty.

Average HR for entire run: 134.

Oopsie! I got on the scale after the run and saw I've gained a couple of pounds. Need to watch that, now that I'm not running so many miles per week.

Glad to see that you are able to get back to running!!!

P.S. I like the new avatar

I just volunteered you to do a Friday Thread, Mark!   C'mon!  Mark! Mark! Mark!   (crowd is chanting)

Mark! Mark!! Mark!!! MARK!!!!!

Nick Morris wrote:Glad to see that you are able to get back to running!!!

P.S. I like the new avatar

Thanks, Nick! I was worried when my ankle suddenly swelled up on me 24 hours after the ultra, but it ended up resolving itself without having to visit the doctor. Whew!

Glad you like the new avatar. I'm still not sure about it. I go used to the one with the bare feet and cheesy grin.  

Chris M wrote:I just volunteered you to do a Friday Thread, Mark!   C'mon!  Mark! Mark! Mark!   (crowd is chanting)

Hm. Yes, I see you did. Hm.

Nick Morris wrote:Mark! Mark!! Mark!!! MARK!!!!!

Sigh. You do realize it'll all be ultra- or ultra-malady related, right? Well, maybe I can ask questions about puking or something... I'll get on it. Is tomorrow Friday? I kind of lose track of time when I'm not on a schedule...

Low HR Run: 8.25 miles

Weather: Overcast, mild, a little muggy. 56 degrees, 87% humidity. Gear: Altra Instincts (broke 700 mile barrier!), shorts, T. Fuel: Grape Nuts and coffee. Carried nuun in handheld.

First run in shoes since the Mount Hood 50. All systems felt good, so I decided to head out to the Salmon Creek Greenway for a medium-length run. I didn't have a specific distance in mind, because I wanted to listen to my body. I erred on the low side of my target heart rate.

My body felt pretty good (if not particularly peppy) out to about 4 miles out, when I started to feel a little heaviness in my major muscle groups. Of course, as soon as I started heading back, my ankles started to complain. D'oh! Should have turned around at 3! Oh well, it wasn't bad, and it gave me a chance to try to figure out what I'm doing wrong and experiment with ways to resolve it.

It seems that I'm landing too far to the outside of my forefoot, maybe too far in front of my center of mass. I played around with adjusting my landing (it's harder to fine tune in shoes than barefoot), and it seemed to help. Now, if I can just get my body to remember it...

All in all, it was a pretty good run on the outer limits of what my body wants to do at this point. I'll take it.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 131

---

Speaking of heart rate, I went back to look at my average heart rate for the 50. It was... 137! Even with all the walking, it seemed that my body had its target dialed in. Crazy.

Watch out for that ankle! You're going to need it.

You really did dial in that 137, which is pretty amazing given the distance.

Michael Enright wrote:Watch out for that ankle! You're going to need it.

You really did dial in that 137, which is pretty amazing given the distance.

Oh, definitely, Michael! I am hopeful that I can refine my landing and improve my ankle strength over time. It's always been a weak link, thanks partly to my freaky foot anatomy. But I bet I can make it better.

What amazes me about the 137 is how my huge HR drop when I was slogging along seemed to be counterbalanced by higher intensity at other times. Of course, it may be part of the reason why the aid station people said I still seemed to be in good shape despite my ankle problems. I simply wasn't stressing my body as much as a lot of the other runners.

So, I surpassed 700 miles on a single pair of shoes on Sunday. That's quite a bit more use than I've gotten out of any other shoe, and it's a good advertisement for the Altra brand. The soles are a much higher density than other brands and (other than a bit of a worn spot on the heel), feel much like they did when I got them last year.

Not that they look all that hot, mind you...


Thank goodness they make duct tape in black, that's all I have to say. I have been patching the toe hole for at least 300 miles now. Once the tape peels off, I replace it with a fresh patch. I haven't tried to patch the hole over by the pinkie toes, because it hasn't grown much.



No toe hole on my left shoe, but the big toe side of my forefoot has totally worn out. I'm trying patching, but it's not working very well.



Here's the inside (be glad it's not smell-o-vision!). And no, I've gotten no blisters off this torn-up surface.



Finally, the sole. I think it's safe to say that, at least some of the time, I *might* come down on the back edge of my heel...

Yes, I'm probably about due for a new pair. Mostly because the uppers are falling apart. The sole has plenty of life left in it!

Walk: 2.36 miles on trails

Weather: Sunny, warm. 72 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts

I took Alita and Alec on a tour of a section of Whipple Creek Park they'd never hiked. We went up and down ridges through the forest, navigating around horse poo and a huge slug. My feet were a little uncertain about it at first but warmed up after a few minutes and were fine. It was a nice way to spend an hour, and it felt nice to have dirt underfoot again.

Here are a couple of photos from the hike.






A very nice day to be outside.

One thing, though, that could pose problems should I want to hit these trails barefoot again: About 200 yards of freshly quarried gravel has been laid down at the entrance to the trail system. Oh well, if I do it, it'll be great training for keeping my steps light.  

Pardon the double post from my race report, but this is worth it.

I got a package in the mail today from Charles Moman, fellow DFL ultramarathon finisher.

I had a feeling what it might be when I saw the box came from "TrophyDepot.com."

But I never expected this:



Too funny. Alita says it even kinda looks like me!

Thanks, Charles! I'm proud to be a member of the club. Thankfully, we've both already paid the dues.

Oopsie! I was planning to do a short barefoot run this morning but woke up with sore ankles and lower legs. Hm. I guess the terrain on that walk yesterday, the day after running 8 miles, *might* have pushed me more than necessary. Ah well. I may or may not take an easy walk on flatter surfaces at lunch.

Walk: 2.2 miles

Weather: Sunny and mild. 69 degrees

A lunchtime walk through downtown Vancouver and along the Columbia River. I can feel the parts of my feet, ankles and lower legs that gave me so much grief out there a few weeks ago. Guess they're not *quite* happy with me yet.

I'll keep it easy, even as I ponder whether it might be fun to experiment with going faster now that I've done this whole going slower thing so thoroughly. It might be a fun change of pace, maybe.

For starters...I think you need a new pair of running shoes!!!  Also, I think that you are definitely a heal striker

I love the trophy and yes...It does look like you

Lastly, it looks like you are not completely healed up yet from the pounding you put it through.  The doctor prescribes more rest, followed by taking it easy for a while.