Well, it's been well over a week since the Bear Chase and I can walk without pain again. I'll probably lose my pinky toenail on my right foot still, since it's black, but it doesn't hurt at least. My blisters are pretty much healed up too which were never really a bother for me anyways.
Monday and Tuesday after the race I could hardly walk. Getting out of bed was challenging (sooo tired and sooo sore) and stairs were almost impossible. Not surprising I guess since I've never pushed myself physically (and maybe mentally) that hard before - ever. Going down stairs backwards is a little trick my wife taught me, and works. Much easier. One strange thing that was going on was a severe pain in my left ankle. It wasn't there race day at all, but it sure was there on Monday. It's a sharp stabbing pain on the outside of my foot just below and slightly forward from my ankle bone. Never had that before.
Wednesday was a little better aches and pains wise and Thursday better still. By Friday I was ready to try a recovery run, though my ankle still was bothering me. Well, I went out with Chris who was going to do an EZ 7mi lunch run and figured I'd tag along for 4mi and call it good. As Gump says; 'Stupid is as stupid does' and I did the whole 7mi with him. Seemed OK at the time, and my muscles definitely felt better for it - but not the ankle. It was even worse now. So, I figured I would just take more time off until there was no more pain.
Good news... Monday, no pain! So, I managed a 5.5mi EZ run on Monday and had no issues. The legs felt decent and tested them out on one short hard effort and really, overall, had no issues. Back in business!
Looking back at the race and trying to figure out what I could have done better, I really can't think of a whole lot. I feel that I was very lucky and had very few problems. No sunburns; minimal chaffing; no real feet issues; fueling, salt, and food was good; Drop bag worked well. Maybe I could have done better on the hydration portion. Conserving once and once running out was a bad thing, but I don't think my performance was hindered much by it. I think if anything, I definitely could have trained more. My biggest week leading up to this had been a mere 51mi. I did have intentions of getting a few 60mi weeks in and as much as 70mi, but it just never worked out for various reasons. I'm amazed at the people that can put in those kinds of big mileage weeks, week after week after week. Very dedicated indeed. I do suppose that everyone is at different stages in their lives, have different jobs and careers, etc., but still - It's a huge time commitment, especially when you get your miles as slowly as I do.
What's next for me? Well, I've got the bug now for sure. I'm enjoying some rest and recuperation time, I'm sure to the delight of my wife. I've gone 50 miles and achieved my 'Ultra' goal, but onward and upward! So now I'm thinking about either a more difficult 50mi race, a 100km race, or even a 100 miler. I'm giving the Moab 100 Mile Endurance Race, that takes place at the end of March, some consideration (11,000' of climbing), but Diana is not too keen on that idea. There is also the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 Mile in May that is a possibility and would be much more difficult than the Bear Chase with about 9400' of elevation change. For now though, I'm gonna ease back into it, though I am thinking of a 26.2 mile effort this holiday (Columbus Day) Monday. March and May are pretty far away and I'd like to do something sooner, but I do need to ramp up my miles and get some speed work in there too. I would like to get a little faster.
Another interesting thing which I'll end off with - is how hungry I was for about a week after the race. My body was craving all kinds of things and I would devour whatever it wanted. The body knows best I figure. Diana baked some peach raspberry pie and blueberry pie - which didn't stand a chance. A tub of chocolate ice cream (which I don't even really like) was a goner. And, broccoli with hummus. I can't seem to get enough broccoli...
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