Long Run Chronicles 004

Jan 12th - Jan 26th

ah another missed week of long run chronicles. Must mean one thing: I’m benched! Again! Fuck! That’s twice this month alone that I’ve had to take significant time off from training.

I started the year with a nasty flu. Out an entire week. I jumped right back into a 34 mile. Then I ALMOST nailed a 40 mile week.

I was having a great first week back after that flu. I hit a hill workout, did a strength session, and cruised through an 18 mile vertical run. The following week I was feeling a bit too fatigued to hit my speed workout for the week and traded it in for a 60 minute aerobic run. Thursday, I did my first ever double day. Ran in the morning and hit another run after work. As Friday came, I was feeling pretty excited about a back to back long run weekend. '

Saturday mornign arrived and I made the drive out to El Dorado to meet up with the rest of the ultra crew. This must’ve been the largest turn out so far. There were at least 20 of us. Freezing and eager to get our legs moving. I just LOVE how many people are passionate about this sport. I had a BLAST getting to run with some of the faces I’ve come to know over the last couple months of running with this group of crazies.

I finished my 3 hour run and fueled with about 230 grams of carbs. No GI issues. Yay! Felt pretty okay but my legs (quads) were pretty ready to be done.

Sunday was scheduled to be another long run. 2 hours. I felt solid that morning and didn’t have any fatigue or soreness, so I said “let’s go back out to the hills.” I’m really committed to getting more vertical in this training cycle, so the drive out seemed worth it. I was crushing it. I ran the fastest I have on some of those sections of Auburn. Even the most technical stuff felt significantly more doable. I had about 2 miles left in my run. I was fueling so good. I was feeling strong and so proud of the 40 mile week I was about to finish.

I was running on pretty smooth terrain when I came upon the bridge. I’m not sure how it happened, but all of the sudden, I lost my footing and began tripping forward. There weren’t any rocks or protruding roots. I tried to grab onto the railing but I couldn’t get my grip. I ended up rolling my left ankle and then hitting my right knee right into the ground.

It was all happening so fast, but even before I took the final blow, I already knew what this was going to mean: no running for at least a week.

My ankle made complete contact with the ground. It happened to be the ankle that I’ve sprained and rolled several times in the last two years. I usually roll my ankles when trail running or hiking, but it’s never severe enough to ever matter. This time, I knew for certain it wasn’t going to be a non-significant “oopsie.”

Once I finally stopped falling, I was wincing in pain. It was SHARP. I had to take a few minutes before I could get up. I limped over to the waterfall and rinsed out whatever dirt got lodged into my knee.

I still had two miles back to my car and it was all uphill. I was in tears. Both from the physical pain and the mental anguish of an acute injury that would force me to stop training.

I was trying my best not to limp, but I couldn’t hide the blood gushing down my lower leg. Some nice day hikers offered me wipes and neosporin. A couple of retired nurses offered me a ride back to my car. Yes, please! I was so extremely grateful for the generosity and concern of strangers.

This all happened a week ago and I haven’t ran since. I actually haven’t done much movement at all. I had to WFH a few days due to immobility. I’ve been wearing an ankle brace and letting the wounds on my knee heal up. An x-ray showed no fractures on my ankle. Thank God. Things are feeling much better and I’m hopeful that I can do some short runs this week. If I’m smart and diligent, I can still run my 50k next month and my big one: 100k in April. IF I’M SMART.

I am so thankful that this only seems to be a mild grade 1 sprain. I’m rehabbing it with some strength exercises. This is all I can do for now.

What I am proud of is that I didn’t let myself spiral admist the setback. I accepted the situation and let myself indulge in the things that I have to usually put aside during a training cycle. I’ve gotten injured so much a this point. I might as well start enjoying the forced breaks.

Instead of endless running this week, I was able to finish a beading project. I enjoyed a comedy show (and beer!) with a friend on a Friday night since I wasn’t running the next morning at 5 A.M! Instead of spending my precious Saturday driving myself to the trailhead before sunrise so that I can run 15 miles before 11 A.M., I slept the fuck innnnn. Instead of scarfing down pop-tarts for breakfast for my morning fuel, I got myself a coffee and bagel. Then I did a little retail therapy at Nordstrom rack. I went to the park, basked in the sun that’s been hiding all winter, and read more of Karamazov Brothers. I spend my Saturday evening with friends without feeling completely depleted from the usual morning long run. How lovely?!?! I usually have to wait months for be able to have that kind of time on a weekend.

I’m so thankful for the people in my life that I was able to rely on this week. Oscar was such a saint and got me food, some medical supplies, and rotted in bed all day with me when I couldn’t move much. My friends were there for emotional support and comedic relief. I felt so safe crying and wailing to them over this silly accident.