Unfortunately yesterday was meant to be, my right foot that I injured 3 weeks ago running bridge repeats reappeared at mile 21. It feels like a broken bone on the top of my foot but I was still able to push off and felt strong to mile 35, running 21 minutes ahead of last years’ time and on target for a sub 19 hour finish, having to tell myself to slow down several times. I thought about quitting at 31 at the end of the third loop as I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish but I pushed on hoping it would go away. At mile 41 my gait had been thrown off and both ankles felt bad, my right hamstring my right hamstring was tight and my right knee and glute were complaining. I wanted to quit but Luis who was crewing me wouldn’t let me and gave my foot a massage and put some icy hot on it and I went out again. It felt good for about 2 miles but I think that was because I sat down for 10 minutes. I thought about quitting again as I came back into the hub but decided to continue to get 50 miles in, some painful moments but I pushed through. At mile 51 the end of the 5th loop, I passed Jeff I told him I was done, I had ran 30 miles on an injured foot and it wasn’t getting better, Brian told me I was listing to my left pretty badly . When I got back to my cooler Luis had different plans and had my change of shoes and socks ready and some tape for my foot, David had turned up early ready to pace me for 2 loops, Cindy was also there for another so not wanting to let anyone down he taped me up and off I went again.
Luis was doing what I needed him to do, trying to get me to the end and making sure as best as we could that it wasn’t anything serious, I thank him for his dedication and support. I ran the first leg and then headed out for the longest leg but within ½ mile I could hardly move with the pain. I was only able to run for a few seconds before I had to walk, but even that hurt. After a few repetitions of that I looked at my watch to press stop and it read 55:55 miles, a good number to stop on but only 6 ½ miles short of a 100k which sounded better, a poor mans Long Haul 100. After a couple of very painful slow miles with lots of walking I found a bit of a rhythm and as I came into the hub, Luis, David and Cindy were walking up to see where I was. I told them that was it and I would run the last 3 miles with David, Luis said finish strong so I pushed as hard as I could. I had to walk a couple of times on the last section but then with the relief of knowing I only had 2 miles the ‘central governor’ allowed me to find my legs once more and pick up the pace finishing the 6th loop with a 10:09 pace and headed out for my last mile with an 8:30 pace. I was chatting during the last mile and when I sat down I wasn’t even breathing heavy, I was fit and felt strong but my foot wasn’t having it. I’m disappointed as I felt I had a sub 19 race in me, but it was the right decision. This morning I took my dog on our usual walk but 2 miles in my foot felt pretty sore, I couldn’t have walked another 38 miles to finish the race. 21 miles ran easy, 41 miles with an injury.
100K in 10:59:19 with a couple of ‘repair’ timeouts and lots of walking wasn’t too bad. I had a great time and it was great to see so many friends and also many new faces I hadn’t seen before including Stephen and Tyler that I ran close to for a couple of laps. Strangers and friends that had seen me running strong but then really struggled through the 5th and 6thlaps kept encouraging me, everyone is so friendly at this race. Thanks to Andy and Amy for putting on a great race, Justin for race timing, and to all the volunteers at the aid stations and check points. Congrats to all the runners that finished the race and the many that didn’t, running a 100 miles is never easy. I only ate 1 power bar, 1 granola bar and a banana during the race, drank 4 20oz hand-holds of Tailwind and half a gallon of Redmond’s Re-Lyte electrolyte mix, 1 salt cap and a small cup of whatever at aid station 2 each time I went through. Not sure what the issue is with my foot, hopefully it will clear up with a week off. Thanks Brian for the photos and videos that you captured of me, and to Ray also for joining David, Brian and I for many training runs. My hip replacement now 10 years old didn’t bother me at all.
Home › Forums › Dave – Long Haul 100 (K not miles)
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