10 weeks left, 42 miles and a niggling injury to the top of my left foot

The plan for this week was to cover 40 miles between Tuesday and today, hopefully include a rest day in this time and not cover more than 10 miles on any day. Unfortunately this never came close to becoming a reality.

I started the week with 5.4 miles on Tuesday and caught my left foot awkwardly when running on uneven road near a tree stump as the road had raised from the tree’s roots growing. This was noticeable for the rest of the run but didn’t alter my gait so I didn’t think too much of it. I wasn’t in any sort of discomfort but was very aware I had turned it wrong. The good thing about that route is that I have done it so many times I don’t tend to think about any parts of it being hard and the 2 hills in it are manageable regardless of how far I have ran beforehand

I did the same route on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday without any real issues. I was conscious of the foot not being right but it didn’t affect my speed or comfort level too much. Saturday was an abomination considering the amount I had drank the night before and I had intended to do 10.8 but abandoned it after finishing the first one of the 5.4 mile laps. I tend to allow myself to do this every so often with midweek or shorter runs as long as I have at least one long training run each week. This left me without an “out” for today.

Taking into account the time I spent training for marathon races before moving up to ultras, it is at least once every couple of months over the last 5 years that I have done 20 miles as long training runs. The main difference between doing these in preparation for marathons and ultras is pace. I had this down to just over 2.5hrs at my fastest in marathon training and couldn’t dream of getting near that pace now (certainly if today is anything to go by!).

I set off this afternoon with an adamantine mindset that I was doing 2 of the 7.5 mile loops and one of the 5.4’s. Even though I had the flat keys in my hand, there was no way on earth I was coming back without completing that distance first. Throughout the first and 3rd laps I was very focused on the pain in my left foot. It didn’t affect my ability to run, just felt like my foot was being stood on for long periods!

I had spent large parts of this week listening to the Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson. In this there is mention of a reality distortion field. Essentially this is an ability Jobs’ had to shape the reality around him regardless of any impracticalities that would limit others ability to do so. An example of this in the book is best highlighted from his convincing Mike Scully to leave a secure highly paid job with Pepsi to work for Apple instead with the line “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

I relied heavily on the idea of creating my own reality distortion field in which I could run 20 miles with my foot hurting as much as it was!

The injury is not serious as I can weight bear on it and it doesn’t hurt to walk on it but I will need to monitor it in future weeks. I’ve done too much in the last 15 weeks to let it get in the way of my race. Hopefully this time next week I’ll be reflecting on another 60 miles and it will have been less of an issue.