Today was my spring goal race: 20 km (12.4 miles).  My winter training for this was going awesome, and I was feeling super strong up until two weeks ago, when the edge of my foot started aching.  I suspected peroneal tendonitis; an uncommon but not particularly awful running injury.  A lot of folks seemed to find that a week or two off was enough.  So I put myself on the bench and focused on cross-training: pool-running, swimming, cycling, a bit of elliptical, and strength training.  I figured I had three possible scenarios:

1. Foot fine, fitness fine = go for A goal of 1:37-odd
2. Foot fine, fitness a bit off = scale back to a B goal of 1:40 or even C goal of 1:45:38 (a PR for the 20k distance)
3. Foot hurting = this would likely trump any fitness issues, and all bets would be off. Walking and DNF on the table as possibilities.

My foot was up-and-down a lot over the past two weeks, though generally improving.  All the same, I was a ball of anxiety these past two weeks, and especially yesterday.  I bought some sports tape and taped up my foot yesterday.  Then I got so anxious about the possibility of doing it wrong and making things worse that I peeled it off a few hours later.  Well that was worth paying $18 for.

So anyway, we found ourselves with race day conditions of 35 degrees and a howling northeast wind.  I did dynamic stretches but didn’t even bother with a warmup run, so worried I was about my foot.  We took off and I quickly found myself next to Ryan, a guy from my running club that seems to be about my pace (we quite frequently find ourselves together in races, though I seem to have more endurance and he has more out-and-out speed).  He said he was looking to run low 8s, and I thought that sounded good so I stayed with him for the first mile.  Though I felt ok, I did not think I had it in me to crank down to the 7:48 I needed for my A goal.  So I suggested that we work together and he agreed.

We didn’t say much but checked with each other occasionally as we clicked off the miles.  8:10, 8:05, 8:08, 8:08, 8:11, 8:07…I started trailing at the 10k point and told him to go ahead.  He protested but I insisted.  My calves were tight, my legs were heavy, and I did not think it was a good sign that I was feeling this way this quickly.  I expect that stuff at miles 10+ of a 20k/HM, but this was too early.  I took a quick 15-20 seconds to stretch out my calves and quads, then got moving again.  But I could tell that I was in trouble.  That coupled with the fact that I was just reaching the turnaround point and thus facing the frigid wind made me consider what I was doing.  I could keep busting my butt and try to get the C goal (B was already out of reach I felt), risk aggravating my foot (which miraculously was doing just fine so far), and serve myself with a longer recovery this week.  Or I could back way off, just finish the race with no thought toward finish time, and potentially save my foot and shorten my recovery time.  I chose the second option.  So the remainder of my race was jogging, with stops every mile to stretch my calves and quads.

Final time: 1:48:20.  It is discouraging that I worked SO hard on training smartly for this race (including being good and not pushing through the foot pain), and I have nothing at all to show for it.  I mean I didn’t even PR for 20k; I actually ran slower than last year (when I used this same race as a training run and did 10k easy + 10k at goal HM pace).  That shouldn’t have been a high bar to meet.  I guess the two weeks off really made my legs lazy.

There were some good parts to this race:

• No foot pain!!  Not a single bit!

• Unlike the past two years, I didn’t get lapped by the leader.  Typically the winner completes the 20k in about 65-66 minutes. With this being 2.5 time around a 5-ish mile loop, that means if your ass isn’t past that part of the loop (approx. 7.5 miles) by then, you’re getting lapped.  I noted that I was 1:03-odd when I passed the finish line.  Safe!
• I scored for my running club’s team.  I am nowhere near one of the fastest girls on the team even on my best day, but not many folks signed up for this one, so hey, my time was good enough to count.

• Ryan did well and came in at 1:41-odd; great pacing, I wish I could have stayed with him.  Another guy on the team was aiming for sub-1:22 and nailed 1:19-odd and was giddy with visions of a BQ (3:05 for him).

So what now?  Well my legs are sore as shit already so I think the next few days will be a drag.  I had a backup race (an April HM) in mind even before this race, in case it went poorly, but honestly I don’t think I’ll bother.  I don’t think there’s much I could do between now and then, and I don’t really feel like plunking down $65 to get my ass handed to me again.  I am not a 20k/HM gal, plain and simple.  I do one of them per year as a goal race to mix things up, and then in the middle of them I remember why I don’t like them.  I just do not like running for that long.  I think I’d rather turn the page and get going on 10k, 5k, and mile, all of which I’m planning to hit in May and June.  All those long runs I did to prepare for this race with portions at 8:06 (M) and 7:48 (goal pace for this race) pace won’t help my mile, but they will surely help my 10k and 5k times….I think.

Thanks for reading and for the advice and messages of support on my foot aching.

Glad to hear the foot at least cooperated, but sorry it did not go as planned. Don't discount the effect wind has--any time you didn't have a tailwind, you had to work that much harder. For me, my legs feel heavy in cold conditions, cold wind, ugh, I definitely have to work a lot harder.

If you have a Marshalls around they sometimes carry K Tape for way less than running stores.

...and then in the middle of them I remember why I don’t like them.  I just do not like running for that long. 

I can relate to that!

Good news on the hoof at least. Interval training will be a cake walk now!

Thanks Zelanie; you are right, the fact that my foot held up is a very good part of all this.  And yeah, I am glad to be on the other side of it so I can start focusing on other things.

Thanks for the tip HC on the KT tape.   Yes, it was really hard to hold the pace when facing the wind.  And it made my face feel frozen.   March might be a little optimistically early for a race of this distance, at least in this part of the country.

Thanks George, that is good to know!  I am excited to do the mile again.  I need to start getting some mile-pace intervals onto my schedule.  I think I may keep the quality long runs on the schedule too though; even though my race sucked, I feel like those were making me a lot stronger in general.

Haha LRB, yep.  Sometimes I feel like the only runner in the world that doesn't want to do long races.  HMs and longer are "in" I guess.

Thanks PR; if nothing else I contributed 12.43 race miles for our team this week!

Ugh, I'm sorry the result wasn't what you would have wanted... but it IS good news about your foot!  I always view things like that as a positive.  Crappy time + healthy > great time + injured.

 

 

Can I have a great time AND not be injured? Or is that asking too damn much? 

YOU can.  I, apparently, cannot.

 

You may be pleasantly surprised at how much those runs will help your mile. The mile is still primarily an aerobic race, so building your endurance is a big plus.

Yeah, this deserves repeating. All that work you did definitely won't go to waste. Even though they're faster, those shorter races you're looking to run are endurance races and you'll benefit from the mileage.

Good job getting through the race when it wasn't feeling very good.  Sorry it didn't go as you planned or hoped, but it sounds like you learned a few things along the way.  Mixing it up and doing something we aren't necessarily "good" at would help us all from time to time.

As Damaris said, sorry it was not your day.   However, as you said, there was some good, and glad your foot cooperated for you.

Good luck with your upcoming races.