The Toe

I am in the third week now of having a painful, swollen left pinkie toe after stubbing it on June 3.  While I usually shy away from seeing doctors, the pain was so bad that I was sure it was broken so I went to an urgent care center two weeks ago.  They X-rayed it and said it was not broken.  They buddy taped it to the one next to it.  

Here I am three weeks after stubbing it, trying to run on it because who rests for over three weeks for a hurting toe?  I got some advice today from a doctor friend of mine to rest it until it is not painful to move.  I don't think I am going to totally rest it, but I will continue to buddy tape it and hope the swelling will go down soon.

Look at these pictures of my feet if you dare!!

left pinkie toe swollen

comparison to the right foot---
and an ugly big black toenail's new toenail growing in (see the deep ridge in it?)

Ouch!

swelling evident from this angle

And there you have it.  I have ugly feet!

Less Than One Week to Go...

With less than a week left to go before Mountain Mist, it is time to post about my strategies, time goal, and tapering.  I don't have posts ready on any of that!  I am feeling the usual mix of being unprepared.  The waves of self-doubt are washing over me.  But the fact that this is a really busy week for me is helping me to have less time to stress out!

All I can manage for now are a few bullet points.

• The black toenail on my big right toe is REALLY black now!  I am hoping I will not feel it at all in Mountain Mist.

The toe as it looks now

•  I LOVE my five year old son.  Here is his note to me one night at dinner.  Try reading it by sounding out the letters before seeing the caption for what it actually says. 

"You are wonderful, Mom."  Right back at you, kiddo!

Many of my friends have asked me, "So what exactly is an ultramarathon?"  I assumed that it was any distance over a marathon, so technically it could be a 26.3 mile race.  The 50K is the next common distance over the marathon distance, so, naturally, you hear about those a lot.  Then I started to wonder if I was right after all, so I looked up the definition of an ultramarathon, and I was right.  I liked reading about the two kinds of ultramarathons.  Read the link to find out more. I both love and fear the "informational email" we get this week about the Mountain Mist 50K.  I wrote about it near the end of this post last year.  This year, the part about what's available at each aid station struck me as something pretty funny to newbies or non-ultra runners.  I think most people assume that you don't eat while you run or that you only drink fluids to replenish.  NOT true for ultra runners.  They eat anything and everything!  This is from the informational email from the race directors: "The aid stations are well stocked with pretzels, chips, candy, Gu, cookies, coke, mellow yellow, and more junk! You should have no problem running this race without a personal aid crew. There will be a variety of food at each aid station!"  I personally love the M&Ms and grab a handful at every aid station.  Good fuel!   Wish me luck during the taper!  I hope to have a couple of entries about the race before the big day up here so check back!

The Difference a Week Can Make

If you are discouraged about how your weekly long run went, take heart!  I find it fascinating that my long runs can vary so much week-by-week and also that the effort level can feel so different between runs too.  Take a look at my last two long runs below.

On Saturday, January 7, I hobbled through a painful 12-miler with my hurting big black toenail.  I didn't need 12 miles to know that it would be a hard run; I knew in the first mile that this run would be tough.  I grimaced and stopped often (while also stopping my Garmin, usually a big "no-no" for me).  It was NOT fun at all. On a level of 1-10 with 10 being the most painful, the toe was really only a 2 at the most, but it was just an ever-present annoyance that I could not get out of my head.  I struggled to get an 8:52 average pace.

I took a couple days off from running to do the elliptical machine on Thursday and Friday this week, and I guess it made me very eager to run.  On Saturday, January 14, I attempted another long run.  I ran 20 miles on a whim with an average pace of 8:01, my fastest 20-miler in a long while.  And it was done without any thought the night before about food, hydration, anything.  It may be that Mountain Mist is quickly approaching and the need to get one more quality run crept in, or it may be "all" of the trail running that I've been doing that makes road running seem easy!  I can't really figure it out, but it was nice to get a last 20-miler in at that pace before Mountain Mist. 

Thoughts on Mountain Mist With Two Weeks To Go

I'm pretty nervous about running Mountain Mist with only two trail runs as training, but it'll have to do.  I've done the Rocket City marathon and two 20-milers since then, so I have done enough distance (for me).  I don't think it's possible to try to shoot for another course PR for me with so little trail running this time around.  The big black toenail is actually a benefit now, since it cannot hurt during the run.  And not running many trails prevented me from twisting an ankle, like I did last year during training (also see here).  I guess I am playing the "pros and cons" for my training this year, trying to justify it and to feel confident about the upcoming race. 

January 14, 2012

January 7, 2012

Mountain Mist training runs

Don't prepare to be impressed, people.  I have only done 2 trail runs in preparation for my 7th Mountain Mist.  Both were the second half of the Mountain Mist course, a distance of about 15 miles each. 

The importance of the second half (Why not the first?)

I always smile a little when we decide to do the second half, since five years ago I was eleven weeks pregnant with my daughter and dropped out at the halfway spot on the course.  I never saw the second half of the course that year.  It's very fitting that I should get to run this second half many times since then!  Also in this section is the spot where Rick proposed to me eight years ago (at the top of McKay Hollow).  But it's not just for sentimental reasons that I like running the second half.  It also makes sense to use my time wisely.  I don't get many opportunities to train on the trails, and the second half is MUCH tougher than the first in terms of terrain and climbs.  It's better to get more experience on the second half while you feel good, so you will be mentally prepared for the challenge on race day when you are tired when you get to it. 

*

I was lucky enough to run with some great trail runners on Saturday, December 17--Rick (my husband), Eric C. (Fleet Feet team captain), DeWayne S. (previous MM winner), and James F. (fellow FF team member).  Needless to say, I was VERY out of my element with this group of men.  Little old me was still recovering from the marathon the weekend before.  No one else seemed phased by it at all (Eric had run a 3:10 and was still sailing in front of me the whole time!).  We all had a moment where we sat at the crest of Waterline (I would say the steepest climb of the race--you actually climb on all fours up a waterfall).  We just all sat down on this log and the steam was rising off of us as we recovered from the climb.  It was a pretty neat moment--and one I felt proud of myself for hanging in there long enough to experience!  I was complimented by the guys for my footwork on the big sharp rocks that lead up to Waterline and for my speed as we headed into McKay Hollow, though I quickly ran out of steam after that.  I told the group that I hadn't been on trails since the cancelled McKay Hollow the year before!  I didn't feel too rusty out there, just tired.

It was great having DeWayne along since I felt like I was getting secrets from a pro!  He also climbs Waterline on all fours instead of trying to balance on two legs (he calls it "four wheel drive!").  He also commented that the REAL race begins at Mile 18.  I plan to take that to heart on race day and to try to pace accordingly.  He told us about some really good road racer that just completely dropped out of Mountain Mist because he couldn't (or didn't want to) continue into those last few really tough miles.  I loved hanging with those guys that day and learned a lot from them. 

I ran with Rick on New Years' Eve morning, again on the second half.  He and I talked about how to pace yourself when you don't have a Garmin up there (I will only have my watch, and there aren't mile markers).  The obvious answer--and the one I will try--is to use the aid stations (about every 5-6 miles apart) as indicators.  I will write down my previous times (probably on my arm) and use that to gauge how I am doing.  More about race strategy later.

Unfortunate effects of trail running are LOTS of mud covering your lower half and BLACK TOENAILS.  I got a big black toenail from the trail run on New Year's Eve.  It hurts much worse than the little toenails when they turn black.  On Thursday of last week, I could almost not stand it anymore and was contemplating using a hot needle to pierce the nail to relieve the pressure or having Rick "drill" my nail (manually turn a drill bit into my nail).  You know it was bad if I was contemplating those two solutions!  Luckily, icing it and a good night of sleep helped me make it through the worst of it.  I am on the mend now and will be running in 9 1/2s now, not 9s!

Muddy legs!

New big black toenail

Lovely.

Some tough miles (Rick's times on the Garmin, but similar to mine).  Can you tell where the climbs were?

Black Toenails Update

I have had many people find my blog by searching "black toenails," and, as sad as this is to admit, my post titled "Black Toenails and the Cookie Dash Run" is my most popular post ever (Okay, that's kind of really sad for me.  Not a marathon post.  Not even a training post.  A post about black toenails.  Sigh.)  I can only conclude that this is a topic you want me to keep talking about!  And I aim to please!  This is the fourth post in a series of posts about my poor, ugly toes (see here, here, and here).

Most recently, I lost my middle toenail on my left foot while wearing shoes and socks.  It was really gross.  I came to take my shoes off after work, and I felt something that I thought was a small twig in my sock.  I thought it was weird that it had gotten inside my sock.  That's when I realized that it was actually my toenail just floating around in my sock.  Yuck.

Here is my vacant middle toenail with one to the right that is just growing back. 

Middle toenail fell off

My right foot's toenails have been hurting when I run.  I wish they would go ahead and fall off.  They are very ugly and are very hard to conceal.  I even tried to (see the nail polish!), but you can still see the black around the edges (toe next to big toe).  The toenail next to my little toe is about to fall off now.  I can raise it up and wiggle it around, kind of like when you would have a really loose tooth as a kid.  I know it's gross, but how else do you talk about black toenails?

Black toenails in different stages

Well, that is all I have for now about my black toenails.  I know you are all very jealous of my beautiful feet!  Hopefully I will have something more substantial for you next time!

Three and Five Days Out And MORE Black Toenails

Can you find A) The 2 old black toenails (they appear white) and B) The 2 new black toenails?

Answer: A) 4th and 9th from left
B) 3rd and 7th from left

Recovery from this marathon has been great so far and much easier than normal.  I have no idea how or why!  As usual, we walked a lot the day of the marathon after the race.  We did sightseeing and didn't sit too much.  On Monday, we rode for 10 hours in the car.  I kept taking Advil throughout the day, but I got stiff and felt soreness in my legs.  Tuesday I returned to life as normal, so I had school drop off, grocery shopping, dance practice, etc. to run around and do.  I felt very tired by the middle of the day and lacked energy, but I wasn't too sore. 

I took those two complete days off from running.  I felt good enough to meet my friends on Wednesday morning and ran 7.3 miles with them without any major pains.  The tops of my feet were very tender when I put on my running shoes.  I think I tied my laces too tight during the race?  And my two new black toenails were hurting.  Remember how I wrote here and here that they start out hurting a lot but don't turn black immediately?  Well, these two were black right away but didn't get as tender.  So I guess there are lots of ways they can turn black.  But they sure are ugly, and don't even look at the rest of my toes!  Ugly feet!

On Friday (five days out from the marathon), I ran 11.5 miles with my friends, just because we were all having such a nice conversation and the pace was so relaxed.  It is freeing to not be following a training schedule for the moment.  We had the funniest conversation about the word "explosiveness" and how it relates to cheerleading, running, and other sports.  Isn't it a fun word?

For the week, that puts me at almost 45 miles with only 3 days of running.  Today I ran the Liz Hurley 5K.  At one point in the race,  I thought I might be able to get a marathon PR and a 5K PR all in less than a week.  Then reality set in and I changed my mind about the 5K PR!  I will have a race report up here soon.