Can Lake 50's
October 12, 2013
This race report starts with my final hard training weekend before taper. On September 21, 2013, I ended a 23.8 mile run early. 18 miles in, a nagging pain in my lower left leg finally reached a point in which I was concerned about a stress fracture. I begrudgingly called my husband to retrieve me and ruled out the Rochester Marathon the following day. That would have been my 50 mile weekend, the final mental boost I felt I needed to start a 50 mile road race. The previous weekend I had completed a very conservatively paced 35 mile long run. I really did not believe I had done anything wrong in training in the previous couple of weeks except maybe running my weekday runs too fast.
I saw a sports medicine specialist during the week, who sent me for X-rays. Those did not show a fracture but my symptoms were indicative of one. He opted for a conservative approach and put me on crutches for 1-2 weeks. After 8 days the pain on weight bearing had subsided and I took myself off the crutches. I had my follow up X-rays taken and returned to the doctor. There was still no evidence of a fracture but I still felt pain at the site. He ordered an MRI for a definitive answer. MRI was clear of fractures, I was diagnosed with shin splints (Shin Splints?!? I though I was immune!), and on Thursday October 10 I was cleared to start the race two days later (cue epic freak out!)
Back up a bit to the start of the injury... When I first was put on the crutches, I was concerned about weight gain and figured I would not be running for eight plus weeks. At the time, it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with my diet. I started a Paleo plan and was about three weeks in at race day. I had a difficult decision to make. I would either have to return to my tried and true old habits and risk digestive issues reintroducing foods I was perfectly content without or try to fit carbo loading and race day nutrition in to the new plan. Having a relatively strong stomach when testing new foods on the run, I opted for a modified Paleo based plan. For the two days pre-race, I filled up on starchy veggies, fruit, potatoes and rice and fueled my run with fruit, dates, nuts, and natural sugar based "gummies" and soda. Fortunately, this strategy turned out to be a success. I acknowledge that could have just as likely been disastrous!
Hubby and I left for Canandaigua Friday evening. During the drive, I got a call from my sister who was watching Little One for the weekend. She had bumped her chin on the playground and was bleeding quite a bit. Ahhh, a little stress but my sister is a nurse so I knew the girl was in good hands. We found a great Japanese restaurant for dinner. I ordered a (very salty) rice noddle, chicken and veggie dish. During dinner I found out that Little One was on her way to the ED for stitches. A little more stress.
We finished dinner and went back to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express chosen because it is less than one mile from the start line. Sister called again to explain Little One was not holding up well and probably needed her Dad with her. Lots of stress now! It was almost nine. Time for me to settle in, watch a little TV and try to fall asleep at a reasonable time. I tossed and turned until Hubby and Little One returned to the hotel at midnight. Good thing I consistently got about 8 hours of sleep the entire week before!
The first alarm went off as scheduled at 4:30 am. The rest of this race report will be in Part 2... to be posted shortly!
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