TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK - WEEK 12 TRAINING FOR GRINDSTONE 100

I JUST CAN’T SHAKE THIS FOOT INJURY

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I’m training for a 100 mile race. I’m still trying to manage my load by using the bike but I have to get in some decent milage on feet and some long days if I want my body prepared for the demands of a 104 mile race with 20,000+ feet of gain.

This fact was even more evident after doing my big day last week on course as my quads were sore for three days having not had to handle that type of load for over 2 months.

My foot was also a little sore but very minimal and by Thursday I was completely pain free for the first time in 2 months! I was some happy and was feeling like this injury was finally behind me.

GRINDSTONE COURSE RECON PT2

So I decided to go and check out more of the Grindstone course. I also wanted to get some training in the dark to test out my lighting system which I upgraded from my last ultra where I had to slow down and get behind someone who had good lights because mine was so dim I couldn’t see the roots and rocks well.

For Grindstone I’ll be using the Ultra Aspire 800 lumen waist light and the Fenix HL32R-T headlamp. The waist light wasn’t quite as bright as I hoped but definitely an upgrade and it will get the job done. The headlight wasn’t quite a huge improvement from what I had and it is very comfortable.

The route was very runnable and I cruised down this 3 mile section and hit a gravel road. After running in the gravel road for about a mile I started to feel my foot hurting in the same spot. A few minutes later and I had slowed to a frustrated walk.

I tried to run on it but it just got worse so I was left to walk this gravel section. The worst part is that I was just past the halfway point when my foot started hurting so it was 14 miles back to the truck on a bum foot. NOT IDEAL!

I got back in the trail off the gravel section and had a 3 mile 2,000ft climb. The foot did fine going up this climb and I didn’t feel any pain. I got to the top and started back down and felt the foot again. So it was a long 6 miles down the mountain.

I struggled a bit mentally. If I can’t run 30 miles without my foot acting up how can I expect to run 100 miles on it? I contemplated dropping out of Grindstone so that I can take a month off from running and officially get my foot healed.

But I don’t want to do that. My foot has gotten better, and I’m hoping come race day it will be completely healed as we still have 4 weeks until then.

WEEK 12’s TRAINING

Monday: 3mi run, 7.90mi bike.

Tuesday: 6mi run.

Wednesday: 13.24mi bike.

Thursday: 8.21mi run.

Friday: 4.5mi run.

Saturday: 29.17mi run

Sunday: 8.94mi bike.

Total: 50.88mi running, 30.0mi cycling.