A PR and a Fractured Foot

I ran the Pengelly Single Dip last year and it reminded me to be grateful to this sport I love so much and for my ability to participate and endure it.  I remember getting to the race and thinking I didn't quite fit in with the other athletes.  It was like when I first started running and felt like an imposter.  But I found my zone and it became my favorite race of 2013.

This year I was excited rather than nervous for the race.  I'd made the route one of my regulars and I knew I could run it strong.

We started off for the base of Mt. Sentinel and slogged up the side of the mountain, already feeling the heat of the day (my nemesis).  I took it slow until I made it down the fire road.  Remember running around as a kid, those times when you just went as fast as you could?  As I came around a turn, I decided to do that.  I just wanted to have fun, so I stopped pacing and ran as fast as I could down the trail.

I passed people, jumped over the dips in the trail, and had a blast.  I let go of all the training and seriousness of trying to maintain X minutes per mile.  I slowed down again once I reached the road, but for those few minutes on the mountain I felt free.

Sam met me at the finish and we watched the Douple Dip finishers and sat in the grass.  I checked my time and saw that I had PRd.  It felt pretty damn good.

Pengelly Single Dip 2014

A little over a week later, I fractured my foot.

I woke up that morning and my foot felt sore, but it felt like the regular soreness of marathon training.  I figured it would fade like the other various kinks do once you start your day.

When Sam and I started, it was drizzling, which was a good thing.  Without having to deal with the heat, the run should have gone mostly smoothly.  A few miles in, I told Sam I was uncomfortable.  I adjusted my stride and tried to take it slow and steady.  It started to rain harder, but I like running in the rain.  My foot still hurt.

At 16 miles in, I had to stop.  I stretched my foot out and tried to put on a brave face.  I told Sam it felt like if I were to take off my shoe and sock, my foot would be black and blue.  But, yes I was fine and yes I wanted to keep going. 

At 17 miles in, I had to stop again.  I'm not a person that cries when I get hurt, I'm more of a suck it up type.  So, I stood there with Sam in the rain and held back tears.  He asked me what I wanted to do and I said that I didn't know, that I wanted to keep going, maybe.  I told him I didn't feel rational.  Could he just decide and I'd do what he said?  He said let's quit and I said two more miles.  Like it would resolve itself in that distance.

So we did two more miles and went home.  When I took off my shoe, my foot was red and swollen.  I couldn't even touch it to the ground, it hurt so bad.  We iced it and I felt stupid, but I cried.

I hoped it was minor and would heal on it's own, but after two weeks of limping around, it didn't.  I went to a specialist, they took x-rays, and told me that it was a stress fracture.  Goodbye first marathon, hello ugly black shoe.

My new nemesis

At the moment, I'm mid-way through the healing process.  I haven't run in almost a month and I'm ready to pull my hair out.  My foot doesn't hurt anymore, but I know it's still healing.  And the fear of re-injuring it worse is enough to keep me out of my running shoes.  Sam and I go on short walks and we kayak and try to stay active, but it's not the same. 

It made me realize something - I'm not, and never was, an imposter.  My race times never mattered.  I woke up before dawn, ate the bagels, and put in the miles just like other runners.  And I miss it.

But watch for the neon shoes, I'll be back soon. 

Running on the Fly

Do you have one of those runner friends that can talk about running all day?  Is that person possibly me?  I promise when I'm talking about knee anatomy and injury prevention, I'm not trying to be a smarty pants.  But if you ask a question, I can and will ramble on forever.

When I was a newbie to the sport, I had a lot of questions and I Googled a lot of things.  I asked the kind people at The Runner's Edge here in Missoula and the very limited number of people I knew that also ran.

And now I know some stuff and I want to share a bit of the running dictionary I've pulled together along the way.

Running on the Fly Part Two: Terms that make you go, huh?

5K - Any race that equals 3.1 miles.  K stands for kilometer, which is 1,000 meters.

10K - Any race that equals 6.2 miles.

Bonk - Basically, it's when you feel like you're gonna die if you go any further.  It happens when your body has run out of glycogen to burn.  Instead, it looks to fat and protein, but converting that to energy takes longer and gives you that I'm-going-to-fall-down feeling.  Carbs are a runner's friend!

Chip time vs gun time - Your chip is a little timing device set with your specific info.  You attach it to your shoe and it records the time you cross the starting and finishing line.  The gun time is the time the race starts.  If you've ever done a race with a lot of people, you know that you don't necessarily cross the starting line in the same second the gun goes off.  Chip time can be a few seconds to a few minutes faster than your gun time.

Fartlek - A form of training where you mix slow running with fast bursts of speed for any distance you'd like.  And yes, it's pronounced the way it looks.

Half marathon - Any race that equals 13.1 miles.

Lactic acid - You know how sometimes the day after hard exercise, you don't want to move because it hurts so bad?  It's because of lactic acid.  It builds up in your muscles when there is an incomplete breakdown of glucose during exercise.

LSD - Not the drug.  It means long, slow distance.  It's where you do a long run/race at a slower pace, can be helpful for endurance.

Marathon - Any race that equals 26.2 miles.

PR - Personal record.

Shin splints - Pain in the length of your shin, can be caused by running on hard surfaces.  Rest and/or cross training for a few days is usually a good idea if you have shin splints.  If the pain is severe or doesn't go away, see a doctor!

Split time - How long it takes you to run a certain distance over the course of a longer run.  For example, my last split at mile three of a five mile run was 25 minutes.

Ultra - Any race that is longer than a marathon.

VO2 max - The maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in and use.

I feel like I should be wearing my glasses.  Anyway, I hope that was helpful and I swear I didn't make anything up!

Running the Mountain

"Don't take this for granite."

- David Pengelly

The Pengelly Double and Single Dip is the only race I've heard of that gives out growlers instead of t-shirts.  It's because you're going to need it.

2013 Pengelly Double Dip Races, 10 Years Old and Not Getting any Easier

The Double Dip is a half marathon that covers ground on both Mount Sentinel and University Mountain.  Also, there's that little matter of a 2700 ft. elevation gain.

The Single Dip, which I ran, is a 10K that starts with a short run to a steep climb up the face of Mount Sentinel.  The view of Missoula is beautiful, but you have to get there first.

Mount Sentinel

This was a race I had to do some training for.  I would make mid-week attempts at running up Sentinel, followed by running up and down stairs to recover.  I did okay if you didn't count the wheezing at the end.

I was nervous enough about this race that the night before it I actually had the thought, "I could just not go."  But I had registered and worked pretty damn hard, so I was going.  This was going to be my bragging rights race.  I'd never run it before and had no time goals.  My goals were this: finish the race and don't fall down.

Sam and I got to the starting area on a sunny and bright Saturday morning.  I have a bad time psyching myself out so I thought, "Crap, it's gonna be too hot, I should have worn shorts," and "Good Lord, everyone here is in really good shape."  A woman walked past me in a sports bra and shorts while I hugged my new growler and hoped to get through this.

The Dip races are smaller than a typical road race because we're insane and also because the Double is capped at 200 runners.  So when we lined up I was suspiciously close to the front.  Before I knew it, the gun fired and we were off.

I ran to the base of Sentinel too fast, always my problem.  But I more than ate up time on the power hike up the trail.  I could hear the wind and the sound of people breathing hard.  One of the runners had a watch that talked; it told her (and everyone nearby) the distance and current pace.  Most of us were quiet, concentrating on the grade of the trail and our next step.  The guy behind me tripped and fell and we all paused to help.  He dusted off his knees and laughed.

Once we made the turn that would take us to the fire road and the longer trek down the mountain, people sped up.  They started talking, laughing.  The volunteers pointed us in the right direction and cheered.  I thought, "Okay, that was the hard part.  Just five miles left to go and I didn't have a heart attack.  This is good."

I tripped on a rock, but stayed on my feet.  I reached the rolling fire road that cuts a downward diagonal across Sentinel and there were butterflies on the trail.

This was the point where I finally hit my zone.  My nerves were gone and in its place was overwhelming gratitude.  I get to live here and I get to do this.  This is why I run.

I tried to remember everything.  The way the breeze felt and the happy look of the volunteers at the water station.  On the final downhill I learned the funny, half scary feeling of "controlled falling."

When I got off the trail, it felt weird being on a road again.  The breeze dissipated and I got hot.  It slowed me down a little, but I didn't mind.  When I got to the last hundred yards, I was spent.  It was a good race.

Closing in on the finish

The Pengelly Double and Single Dip honors David Pengelly, an accomplished climber and fellow Missoulian who passed away in 2003.  I like to think that his favorite saying, etched into a rock on the Pengelly Ridge Trail, was about gratitude.

I was grateful to run this race and for those few miles where I could stop taking it all so seriously.  I was grateful that I only tripped once and that the volunteers told us exactly which way to go because I worry about getting lost.  I'm grateful for the people that make these races happen.  And I'm grateful for the growler, which Sam has enjoyed very much.

The growler is mine, the beer is for Sam

 Next up - The Missoula Half Marathon in July!