(me at the finish line but not with my official race time -I just wanted a picture under the banner)
Training has been going fairly well these last few months and I feel like things are coming together well. I did however, sprain my ankle a few week ago during a dusk trail run. I wasn't paying attention and for some reason, went over HARD on my right side. I've tried to brush it off with lots of ice and massage, a protocol that seemed to be working well up until Tuesday. I was flying down a trail, happy as can be during a sunny evening run, when I really messed it up bad by rolling it again. The tendons and ligaments are now fully stretched, I lack stability big time and every little rock that I seem to misplace my foot on lets me know. However, we are now just 2 weeks away from the big 100km race in Australia making last week and this week key training time.
(my 1st place finish prize - LOVE it - they must have known I was coming)So what did I do?? I got a massage on Friday by Laura, went and got taped by Lindsay at SkyHighLifestyles that afternoon and then drove down to southern Washington in the evening so I could camp out and take part in yesterdays Capitol Peaks 55km Ultra. I didn't want to miss out on a final tempo paced run of that length so instead of the RICE principal, I thought that the MICE protocol would be a better (mobility, ice, compression, elevation.)
Perhaps not one of the most brilliant things that I have ever done but I knew that I wanted one last hard workout and some trail distance before this race and it had to be THIS weekend. I had a good run overall, but the 14hours of training during the week caught up to me around 40km. I was pretty tired as I dug deep with lots of self talk to re-find my motivation and zip in order to make it to the finish line. It was a good thing I had gotten my ankle taped as I jammed it about 6 times during the run. I was forced to cruise the downhills so to not twist my ankle. I completed the race in 5hrs12mins, a lot slower then I had hoped but given the circumstance, I won't stress it too much. I finished 1st for women, 2nd overall. Oh, and I think after now re-looking at the race website, I broke the womens course record as well by 10mins or so.
The highlight for me was getting to meet one of my athletes that I am coaching for Western States this year. Jerry Peters, a Washington runner, hit up the 50miler. We ran the first 30km of the course together (having never met before, he just looked "for the girl wearing salomon" - I had to laugh - at the start line.) He has been training very hard and with so much focus, I feel very confident as Western approaches in just over 6 weeks. Congrats Jerry on breaking your 8hr goal time (7:52 is solid.)
Team Salomon leaves for Oz this coming Thursday. We will arrive with plenty of time to rest up and nuke the time zone bug. I ran with my new Lab pack at this race but don't think I will be able to use it in Oz as the mandatory gear requirements are pretty heavy. I'll be bringing both the Speedcross (which is the shoe I just raced in at the Capitol Peaks race) and the S-Lab with me and will decide when I get there which shoe to use.
More updates to come in the final days before we leave. Life at the CBC studio is getting really busy as I try to find that balance between my work that I love and the trails that call my name.
Onwards.........
