Well, I officially entered the 50 Mile ring, I sent in my registration yesterday for the Helen Klein 50M. I've been waiting to enter until I was able to run a couple of long runs in the last 10 days or so to see how my calf was holding up. During the Reno Tahoe Odyssey one of my relay legs consisted of running 6 miles from Virginia City (Geiger Grade). That's 6 miles of downhill, on pavement, as fast as I could. My calves were very sore after the race (I used a fast turnover to prevent my quads from getting trashed), my left calf healed, my right didn't. So instead of resting, I then ran 16 miles in the Marin headlands (as part of the Marin Crossing relay race with my husband, he biked), and then did my first 50K, the TRT. I saw my doctor just before that race to rule out a stress fracture. She diagnosed a calf tear. I was pleased there was no fracture, I could still run the TRT with "just" a tear. I actually did better than I expected in that race but didn't run again for 6 weeks. Now I'm just starting to rebuild my endurance and it's going well. My rehab coincided with Scott Dunlap's and he just ran his accidental 60 miler so it gives me hope.
I'm running HK50 to try to qualify for the Western States 100 next year. It's very difficult to get selected with the lottery so there's a good chance I won't get in and I'll start the 2 time loser program. I don't have the running base and build up I'd like to try my first 50 miler but I'm feeling good enough that I know I can finish, however it may be a suffer-fest.
Yesterday I wanted to try some speed work on tired legs from the long run. Due to my schedule as a firefighter I end up doing some of my training on a treadmill. So I did 6x400 at 6:40min/mi pace and it felt pretty good. In addition to training for the HK50, I'm also getting ready for a local 5K that I want to do well in. The top 2 finishers in each age group receive a beautiful Sierra Club calendar and I've won one the last 2 years and want another one. So besides doing long easy runs and long tempo runs, I have to do short speed work and hill repeats. Because anyone who has been to Nevada City knows the only flat terrain are the NID (water) ditches. It's a hilly course.
The body feels good this morning but I'm looking forward to a rest day with my family.
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