Old Man Still running

Recovery update. Last night was brutal.  My daughter and family including grandson are staying over and keep the heat up high.  During the night my feet got so warm that all the nerves came to life.  The pain was terrible until my wife finally rescuded me with bags of ice.

I'm starting to move around better.   I don't think I have an ITB problem.  The pain in in the same location, but I'm detecting a creaking tendon.  That explains why the pain came and went.   The siezed upper calf muscles are starting to get loose.  My nearly bone-on-bone knee is calming down.  No swelling so I will live to run another day.  I should recover in time to do a little training before Rocky Raccoon 100.

That last 24 miles was the most painful and grueling I have ever done. I would just tell myself to ignore the pain as I was limping slowing, and then start running at 10:00 pace, despite the pain.  It surprised the runners around me who had seen me limping so slowly.  I did it over and over again....mind over matter.  I heard many comments that included, "you are one tough dude."  Maybe tough, but mostly stupid.

I lost about 8 pounds -- a great biggest loser workout.  It will be fun eating whatever I want for a few days.

Recovery:  All about sleep.  13 hours of sleep during the past 24 hours.  Seems like the body just wants to go in a coma to recover.  When I wake up every couple hours, it feels like I've been hit by a truck.  My appetite is still is still very low...I do forced feeding.

However, things are progressing.  My son-in-law said my speed walking has increased, doubled in speed from the day before. I still look like a 90-year-old man walking around.    But it looks like all the abuse I did to my body, was minor.  Tomorrow will be interesting.  Usually Day 3 the swelling is all down and the pain shoots up.

I'm still surprised I pulled off 175 miles in that heat.  For the Day 3 runners it was even hotter, getting up toward 80 degrees.   What I should have done is go off the track and spend some sessions in the air-conditioned car.  But I was so focused on reaching 200 miles rather than then the win, I knew I just couldn't risk long stops and still reach 200.  I had a sweet 11-mile lead which went away fast because I didn't care what the other runners were doing.  Live and learn.  This sport is great because with every race you learn so many new things.  I learned new things about foot care, race strategy, and time efficiency.

Early goals for 2012.  I would like to run my last Rocky Raccoon and go out in style with a sub-20 hour finish.  Cool weather there is key.   I also am really enjoying the fixed-time race format.  It feeds my competitive spirit, where you see your competition so frequently.  I will go run Northcoast 24-hour, the national championship.   I think I have a shot at a top-10 finish and age group win.  It all depends on who shows up.

Recovery making more progress.  I'm still sleeping on the couch because after a couple hours of sleep I wake up screaming in bad pain....don't want to bother my wife all night.  But things are getting better.   I could "jog" down the stairs this morning without holding on to the railing although it hurt pretty bad.   I could also walk from my car to my work building at a good pace without much pain.   And, best of all, I have an appetite back.   So I'm close to being human again.   It is amazing how the body recovers and heals.

Wow, four days without running.  When will this madness stop?  Looking back last year, I didn't run again until January 7.  Looks like same will hold true, although I'll probably start some power walking.  I can almost walk pain-free now.  Energy level is much better now.

I really am obsessive.   I'm already focusing on Rocky Raccoon 100, taking my pace at ATY and trying to figure out how I can map that on to Rocky Raccoon.  Perhaps if I just try to run the same pace for each 20-mile segment, I can bring home the sub-20 prize which would likely win my age group in the huge race.

10 more hours of sleep.  Around 7 p.m. I still feel rather exhausted.   I visited Dr. Crockpot (Me and the Internet) and diagnosed my leg problems.  Looks like I have a strained plantaris muscle, a small upper calf muscle, pain behind the knee.  Just takes rest.   On the outside of the knee, also lingering pain, a small tendon. Pain near the location of typical ITB pain, but not the ITB.  Explains why ITB stretches during the race did nothing to help.  This should go away within a week.  Also lower leg pain caused by limping and protecting the other pain.  I think in general, within a week I'll be fine.  Thanks Dr. Crockpot.  BTW, your fees are the best, but you medical facilities reek.

p.m. lunch power walk.  Not bad.   I think I'm about ready to start giving running a try again.  Last year I averaged 10.8 miles per day.   I'm falling behind just a bit.

Treadmill....rough at first, painful, but ended out OK, could even run 8:00 pace with little pain.  Encouraging, especially since I could hardly walk at all four days ago.  Energy level was pathetic, but it was good to get the heart rate up a little.

OK, what is on tap for this year?   I've sent a tentative schedule.  Believe it or not, the idea this year is more emphasis on quality rather than quantity.  September is up in the air.  Could be Virgil Crest 100, Bear 100 or Northcoast 24 (fall edition).   Notice the lack of tough mountain 100s this year.  Taking a break from that.

• Feb - Rocky Raccoon 100 (Texas)
• Mar - Buffalo Run 100 or Moab 24-hour
• Apr - Grand Canyon end-to-end Tonto Trail run
• May - Northcoast 24-hour (Ohio)
• June - Squaw Peak 50
• June - Utah Valley Half Marathon
• July - Laramie 24-hour
• Aug - End-to-end Skyline Dr Adventure run??
• Sep - Something 100 miles
• Oct - Pony Express Trail 100 Adventure run??
• Across the Years - 24 hour or 72 hour

I could substitute Laramie 24-hour with Black Hills 100 if I could swing a family vacation out there.

That is 6 100s+ and three 100+ adventure runs.

p.m. power walk on JRP during lunch

Treadmill.  Progressing.  Leg pain the entire time, but it has decreased down to the usual aching from my nearly bone-on-bone knee.  I know it just needs another week to calm down all the way.  Using it makes it recover faster.