Cowboy Hazel

The 50 beat me up pretty bad. Today, five days after the race, I'm still grimacing whenever I go down stairs, and I still can't seem to run more than a couple miles without getting winded. I went out for a 10 mile loop over the Triboro and Queensboro with Antonio yesterday and instead of picking up the pace at the end as we always do, I had to hobble in with 7:45/minute miles. It probably sounds like I'm whining but that wasn't my intention; I just felt it was worth mentioning because I always tend to forget how much these things hurt and only remember the excitement. That's how my calendar gets too full.

In fact, I've already forgotten a lot of the pain from Saturday. While I was still down in Virginia after the race, I called Helen and in our conversation, I mentioned that I was having serious doubts about my upcoming 100 miler. But now, a few days removed, the amazing memory of crossing the finish line seems bigger than the struggle to get there was, and I'm completely back on board with my plans to run the 100 in August.

But, before I get there, I have two marathons that can't be overlooked. The Leadville Trail Marathon is just over three weeks away now and it demands respect. The entire course is above 10,000 feet and it maxes out at 13,185 feet above sea level (see elevation profile). It's tough just to breathe up there, let alone run trails. I've never been good at running in elevation, so this will be a real challenge for me.

By comparison, San Francisco's hills three weeks later are going to seem tame, but I'll still be beat up from Leadville and looking to run quite a bit faster. I doubt that sub-3 is a realistic goal considering the tight schedule and the fact that I don't really have time to taper, but I'd like to at least get close. Both of these runs are going to be spectated by my family (a first for me) so I'd really like to run well.

So, now the task at hand is to bounce back as quickly as I can without risking injury. I'm happy to report that my foot is doing much better. In fact, it was almost a non-issue during the 50, so that's good news. I've still been icing it just to be on the safe side, but I think that the tendonitis may be history. Let's just hope it stays that way and that no new issues pop up...


Sidenote: I put up a few photos on my race report after originally publishing it. And here's a link to a video Marco took of us before the start. There's a strange energy out there when it's still dark and you have a whole group of crazies getting ready to spend their whole day running.