The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Muench

Aloha Athletes and Friends,

Somewhere along the hard, hot highway on Saturday, reality "finally" set in. Rex, Muench and I had been doing a relatively short, slow Saturday training, when "Knock, knock...is anybody home?" resonated inside my overly thick skull. It all started when Mike complained that "his" feet were hurting. "Hey Mike, that's supposed to be my territory...I'm the one with foot problems", I thought. Anyway, the discussion that followed made me closer to understanding where I'd gone wrong with my training.

The fact is, myself, Mike and most all my running buddies are "trail" ultrarunners. We do long distances, even 100 miles, on trails, NOT roads ! In fact, the longest "road" run I'd ever done before Badwater training was 52.4 miles...a double Honolulu Marathon that Cheryl and I suffered through together a few years ago. And yes, we suffered. So, take heed 'O Majestic Runner of Trails, the roads will beat you up, if you're not careful! Granted, I needed to train on the roads...but, duh...not 75-100 miles a week, for three successive weeks, on asphalt and concrete. "Don, did it ever occur to you that you might be putting too many road miles in...too soon?"..."uh, no". Didn't you realize that those seemingly endless hours, week after week, of the same, repetitive "tap, tap, tap" might cause problems. Ever heard of carpel tunnel?

So, with only a few weeks left on the training clock, I'm sitting here with two very sore feet and one foot neuroma. But guys and gals, I'll be the first to admit that I love a challenge, and like my buddy Leon told me today, under these conditions, "I will savor crossing the finish line even more". I like Leon's attitude! Looks like The Best Laid Plans will require a little more tweaking. Such is life. Hmmmm??, where did I put my tweaking tools?  Have a great week ! Don

Comments

[Bob McAllaster]

Hey Don,
I almost called you for an update. Thanks for sharing how your day went. We wouldn't want it to be easy, would we?? Aloha, Bob

[devon webb]

I just wanted to say good luck to you and your quest i will be keeping updated while i am in california. i hope your training goes well and keep putting those road miles in.