Well hey there folks!  If anyone even remembers, I used to post here a few years ago.  Long story short, I completely obliterated my feet by training for a 20k in shoes that were a little too small in the early months of 2016.  This caused massive, insane swelling in the balls of both feet.  By mid-summer 2016 I realized I could not push through it anymore and put myself on the bench.  The rest of 2016 and all of 2017 were also spent on the bench, with very occasional attempts at running that always smacked me right back down.  Even with total rest, the swelling just would. Not. Go. Away!

(So just to reiterate that, I’ve spent TWO YEARS without running.  Don’t be like me.  Don’t buy shoes that feel even a little too small!!)

Early 2018, I went to my fourth foot doctor, and he seemed to hit on a helpful plan to get the swelling under control.  I’m still nowhere near where I used to be, but this summer, I’ve been able to tolerate running a handful of miles a week.  I found that running uphill feels best for my feet, and luckily I live pretty close to mountains.

So in July I learned about this race, the Mt. Rosebrook Ascent, which is literally a 2.1 mile race going up a ski mountain (gain of 1400 feet), finishing at the top (i.e., no downhill).  Perfect for my feet!  It seemed logical that to train for an uphill race, you need to run uphill…so I practiced run/walking up my nearest mountain (1.1 miles to the top, 700 feet of ascent).  I also did a number of workouts on the treadmill since that eliminates the need to go downhill at all.  I figured in ideal world I might be able to do this thing at around 15 minutes per mile (~2 miles, at a 12% slope).  I tried to do workouts that hit 2 of those, while moving closer on the third.  For example, 12% slope and 15 minute pace, working from 1 mile, to 1.25 next time, to 1.5 next time.  Or 2 miles at 12% slope, working from 20 minute pace (walking) to 18 minute pace (fast walking).  And so forth…

Race day was this past Saturday; it was a lovely fall day, about 50 degrees, partly cloudy, and leaves starting to change.  About 70 people had signed up, and as we gathered at the start, the race director informed us that water and refreshments would be available about 200 yards before the finish.  Why not at the actual finish?  Because the last part was so steep that the truck carrying the snacks couldn’t drive up it.  Shit….

At the starting gun, I definitely took off too fast.  That is not a mistake I *ever* used to make in my previous running life, but I guess I got overexcited.  This was not good for a mountain race, since of course we quickly started to climb.  I dropped back to ~16 minute/mile pace, but it was still pretty hard, and I started to get mad at myself for causing my heart rate to skyrocket right off the bat.  There was a big chunk, maybe half a mile, where literally everybody was walking because it was so steep.  I would have thought I was a fast hiker, and I was pushing since this was a race, but other people were hiking past me like I was standing still.  Hmmm.  The middle portion evened out a bit; still uphill of course, but more gentle and rolling.  I was so tired already but ran what I could, as slowly as I could, because it was still faster than walking.  Eventually, after an eternity, I saw the snack table as promised.  I looked up the slope that awaited and actually gasped.  It looked like a vertical wall.  I could clearly see the tire tracks where the snack truck had tried, and failed, to drive up it.  It was so steep I literally turned my whole body 90 degrees and crab-walked up it sideways, with my feet wanting to slide to the downward-facing side of each shoe with each step.  I don’t think I could have walked up it forwards, both from an ankle-flexibility standpoint, and a balance standpoint.  Never seen anything like it!!

Finally, finally I reached the top and tried to find a little bit of spark to dash into the finish, but oh god I was spent.  I crossed in 34:37, which was just inside my very arbitrary goal of 30-35 minutes that I set based on my treadmill workouts.  After a few minutes of gasping and groaning, I walked around a little to stretch and enjoy the beautiful view.  We were fortunate enough to get to ride the chairlift back down the mountain, but that required hiking down to the lift, so we all had to walk down that crazy slope to get there.  It was kind of terrifying walking down to be honest.

That was the craziest race I have ever done!  It was fun in that it gave me a good goal to work toward as I was slowly starting to run again, but in and of itself, I wasn’t a huge fan.  I much prefer road running, but I probably need to stick with small bits of trail (and soon snowshoe) running for now so that my feet can keep healing.

Thanks for reading!  Now I’m going to read what y’all have been up to….

That sounds like a crazy race. Next year try the Seward Alaska 4th of July climb - it sounds similar. I'm glad you're able to run again.

 

It's perhaps the strangest story regarding a running injury that I've ever heard! Glad you got it straightened out, you had some lofty goals that were certainly attainable. Hopefully you can get back to that.

+1, sounds completely terrifying. Glad things are improving and you were able to do a race.

Welcome back to running and congrats on your race.

Maybe you could learn to run barefoot - and then no more shoes problems!