Dirty Thirty 50K on the Horizon

For the next three months I intend to chronicle my preparation for the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50K race which takes place June 2, 2012 in Golden Gate Canyon State Park a bit to the east of Blackhawk, Colorado. I've never run an ultra before, nor a marathon, although I have run 27 miles and I have run for six hours in the mountains summiting three peaks. Most of my runs last an hour or two, but I occasionally I go for three or so.

I registered for the race last weekend after having let a month slip by without getting out once for a run. A combination of sniffles, snow, and snags made it an effort to get out, so I allowed myself a break. Last Saturday I inaugurated my training with a two hour and twenty-five minute excursion on sloppy snow, ice, mud, and hardpacked dirt. It took about four days to not feel the effects of the run. I had a pleasant run yesterday afternoon; for a little over two hours I ran up and down hills on the North Louisville Open Space. I felt good running, but can feel the effects today, although I think running for an hour today would certainly be within reason.

I do not intend to follow a training plan, although I do have a plan. I intend to do at least one long run per week, increasing in distance as time progresses. I also intend to run uphill climbs as much as possible since this race has 9000 feet of elevation with many of the climbs of significant length. I plan on three or four rest days per week, partly because of my schedule and partly because I think rest days, after a three or four hour run, may be of more value than a couple of five mile jogs. I'd also like to drop about ten pounds in the next twelve weeks just so that I'm not carrying the weight with me. I'm at the high end of my running weight and the low end of my sedentary weight which is 181 lbs.

Yesterday was an important day. I was amused at the ambiguity of being signed up for a 31 mile race and not wanting to run because it was chilly out. The temperature was about 42 degrees and the wind was steady making for a raw day; just going from the car to the grocery store entrance was jolting. About ten minutes into the run though I was already warmer than I wanted and pulled off a fleece top and ran the rest of the time comfortable with a thermal top and windbreaker.

At this point my goal is to finish, and looking at the times from last year I expect to do that in under eight hours, but I'd like to get in a position to amend that to something closer to seven hours as the date nears. The winning mens' time from last year was 5:01 and the last place male finisher came in at 9:44.

Weekend Warrior

Months have passed since my last post. The catalyst for the hiatus was simply a technical problem; the last post I wrote would not upload and I did not persevere in investigating the cause. I still don't know why; I hope the problem has resolved itself. I didn't return to posting because I wasn't running more than a couple of times a week and didn't have much to say about it.

I had another stress fracture back in August and spent much the rest of the month and some of September recovering. Following that I was busy with teaching and I also fell into a little business of making and selling firewood. I spent a lot of spare time splitting, stacking, loading and unloading wood so I had some good upper body workouts but not much running. I typically ran a two hour trail run on Saturday or Sunday and a 3 to 5 mile run once during the week. I kept hoping to increase my overall mileage but it just wasn't happening. I've had the last two weeks off from work so I've been able to get out more. We had a big snow storm the first week which impeded my running somewhat. This past week I need 55.2 miles to reach 1000 for the year. I ran 55.3 in six outings. Evidently, I was in shape for it, but I don't think my body is conditioned to maintain that level without risking an injury. This week will have to be a blip statistically. I had been averaging about 16 per week.

I'd like to run 1500 this year. To have a chance at that, I am going to try maintaining a 25 mile per week average until our daylight hours lengthen and then I'll work up to 35 or so per week. Another goal is to avoid an injury that would put me out of commission for any length of time. Weeks with zero miles are hard to make up. I also hope to complete an ultra-length event.

Fingers Crossed for Return from Stress Fracture

After having to stop running on August 10th because of a stress fracture of the third metatarsal I have ventured to test the foot with a run this past Saturday and this evening. I had been having pain and strange sensation in the foot a good part of the summer but after a hard run on August 9th I felt as if I was one run away from a complete failure at the fracture site so I decided it was time to give it a rest.

I didn't run at all, but went for a few walks between one and two miles and participated in regular activities in regular footwear. I tried to hasten my return to running on August 21st by going out for three miles, which was clearly an error. On Saturday, Sept 3rd I ran 5 trail miles with a fair amount of up and down terrain, favoring the right foot a bit, but it felt OK, but I still want to give it rest. I went out this evening for just 3 miles on pavement at about 9:30/mile pace doing a low impact heel strike and the foot felt fine. I am happy that on both outings I felt as if I had the energy to run for a couple of hours. Three and a half weeks of inactivity did not wipe out all of my conditioning.

I'm sure people who break arms return to many normal activities before the arm fully heals, but they don't repetitively do the action that caused the break as a runner with a stress fracture does. I speculate a stress fracture needs to be fairly close to 100% repaired before it can handle the repeated load that caused the fracture in the first place. I hope I'm close to 100% and for now when I run I hope I am able to change up the stride somewhat to not load the bone with the same stress over and over and over.

I plan to not run for the next three or four days and try a longer trail run this weekend.

Bones Heal Slowly

A watched pot never boils.

Waiting for the third metatarsal of my right foot to heal feels like waiting for water to boil. At least with a pot of water, one can see some bubbles form on the side or maybe a little water vapor rise from the surface; I don't have much I can observe.

As mentioned in a previous post, I believe I heeded all the signs of a fracture in process and was able to avert a complete failure at the site of the fracture just in time. I assume that it should heal in less time than the seven weeks it took for a stress fracture last year when there was a clear instant of bone failure.

Part of the problem is not experiencing much pain. I wore a post-op shoe for about four days, then I was careful to wear a supportive shoe with an orthotic for several days, and lately in the house I haven't bothered with shoes. I would like to put some direct pressure on it to test it, but if I do enough to cause some pain aren't I also doing enough to cause some damage? And could I even be causing damage when there isn't pain? That's how a stress fracture develops in the first place, damage occurring little by little, step by step without pain until there is enough damage that the nerves are irritated and pass this information on to the brain of the always-in-denial runner.

Meanwhile, in 11 days I'm 3 pound heavier. Hmmm, maybe I should go for a run; the load of an extra three pounds can't be good for the foot, right? Must work that off. Maybe I shouldn't have put butter on those pancakes; well, too late to change that.

The plan is to not run or stress it for another week and then try it out with some easy runs. The most optimist time frame for recovery that I read from authoritative sources was 3-4 weeks for an incomplete stress fracture. 18 days is about three week.

Avoiding Rehab

For the past three days I wore a post-op shoe to protect the stress fracture in my right foot from progressing. While the shoe was suitable for protecting the foot, it was causing problems in the ankle (turning), calf muscle (tightness), and knee(stresses). The shoe is probably designed for someone who's recovering from foot surgery and needs to get from the bed to the bathroom, not for going about ones daily life.

The doctor had suggested I could probably wear a sturdy supportive shoe, maybe something like a hiking boot, so I decided to kick the post-op shoe last night. I switched to the most supportive running shoe I have and inserted some orthotics that I have from years ago which seem to direct much of the weight to the heel. I am able to walk normally with this combination. There is no pain, but since there is some flex in the sole I need to be careful about what I do.

My brain makes me laugh. I'm sure a drug addict doesn't think much differently. As soon as the pain wasn't present I found myself thinking I'll run one place or another. An addict might do some self-talk about rehab when in the scary throes of a high or crash but once in the clear seeks the next high. I have to be strong; I have to keep coming to my senses or I will have that overdose; I will complete the fracture and there will be rehab.

Hmmm, I was thinking three to four weeks, but if I can already walk ok....

Stress Fracture Breaking Point

For most of the summer I've been cognizant of a stress fracture in the early stages of the third metatarsal of my right foot. Each week I have been taking more rest days, a couple of easy jog days, and a longer mountain trail run in which I don't do any pounding. Tuesday evening I felt that I needed to get out for a real run and did exactly the kind of running I told myself to avoid. I ran 7.8 miles relatively hard on hilly trails and some pavement. I felt great; it's what I've been missing. It was clearly what I needed to avoid.

My stress fracture analogy is that you take a piece of copper wire and you bend it back and forth in the same place. It eventually becomes so weak that it severs. The same thing can happen to a bone under the right conditions; mine being that the bio-mechanics aren't quite right in my right foot. The difference between a bone a a piece of copper wire is that a bone can fix itself, but the repair happens slowly so if the "bending back and forth" outpaces the repair there will be an eventual complete failure like with the copper wire.

The foot probably needed total rest but I seemed to be getting away with the above-described running routine of 20 or so miles per week down from 40 something. If I stick with the wire bending analogy, on Tuesday, instead of long slow bends, I frantically did quick concentrated bends and took it right to the point of a complete break. I didn't even notice that evening, but when I got out of bed on Wednesday morning I couldn't put any weight down on the foot. I think if I had run to the mailbox I would have completed the break.

I tried wearing a shoe but found it didn't reduce the load on the foot enough. I still had a cam walker (boot) and a post-op shoe from last year's stress fracture. I wore the boot for six weeks; the post-op shoe was useless. I gave the shoe a try and it seems to offer enough protection so today is the third day wearing it.

I had been avoiding any NSAIDs over the past few weeks because they impede bone repair and I'm continuing with that. I had been taking 1000 mgs of calcium with magnesium and zinc and I have doubled that. Already, if I step down gently and evenly barefoot there isn't pain, but if I apply focused pressure up under the third metatarsal I feel pain so I plan to keep go with the post-op shoe for a week and then try some other presumably supportive shoe options.

With a complete break last year I was able to return to some easy jogging after 8 weeks. My hope is that I can rest this for about three weeks and return to the easy jogs and longer trail runs while favoring the foot the best I can. I'll see; if it needs more time, I'll take it. I want to do a 50K the last weekend of September.

Another Light Week and a Green Mountain Ascent

Another week of low mileage has passed. My hope has been that if I limit my outings to short runs, incorporate three or four rest days per week, while allowing a long slow trail run on occasion the pains and twinges I feel as a potentially pending metatarsal stress fracture will be averted. The plan seems to be working. I went out for a couple of three mile jogs this week pushing Elliott in the running stroller and on Saturday Alex joined me on a run to the summit of Green Mountain from the NCAR parking lot in Boulder and back.

Alex was not in the running condition necessary for such a run but with overall strength and youth on his side he was able to tough it out and make it up and back. I felt great. I probably could have run the entire ascent in close to an hour but Alex, who was also suffering from strained cartilage around the sternum from parkour that made hard breathing painful, needed an occasional rest and to walk some of the steeper sections. The temperature was around 90 and although he brought a liter of water I don't think he had hydrated adequately beforehand. I had eaten a hardy breakfast, hydrated during the night, and downed a quart of Gatorade beforehand so I was prepared. I didn't even need a gel on the way.

The elevation difference between NCAR and Green's summit is about 2100 ft., but there is an ascent and descent before the trail starts up in earnest in Bear Canyon so overall gain is probably 2400 ft. I think the route is the most runnable of any of the climbs to the summits of the peaks on the edge of Boulder. There are no stretches where a well-conditioned trail runner would have to break from a run motion to a power hike. The overall ascent was 4.2 miles so there is roughly a 10% average grade.

We took in the view at the top for a couple of minutes, were awed by hundreds of dragon flies swarming, chatted with some hikers taking a rest and headed back down. I had assumed that Alex would let loose on the descent and that he'd be waiting for me but the irritated cartilage was even more painful running downhill, we assume because of increased arm movement for balance, so I was a bit torn between going slower and staying with my invited guest or letting fly. Once we were about halfway down and I found myself alone I just kept going; I figured Alex might be better off at his own pace without feeling he was influencing what I was doing or that he was having to push himself through pain.

My foot did not seem impacted by the run although there was some increased irritation of the Achilles tendon in the left foot. Today is the start of my last week of summer vacation before the school year begins so I'm going to try to fit in two long runs.