buckle at western states

last night i had a long talk with a good friend, who pretty much told it to me straight. he knows my running abilities, both when i’m running strong and when i’m not. my foot still hurts, and even a slow 20 miler flares it up. so there are two big problems: it hurts to run and i don’t have the training i need.
if i’m very lucky, and let this thing heal, i will make it to the starting line. but a sub-24 hour time is not in the cards for me this year.

_{wipes away a tear}

that this is not out of reach, even though i am discouraged. my foot is continuing to slow me down..it is frustrating to be in pain when i run. i continue to wish away the pain, but am not doing much to take care of it.

if i can stay focused in the next 2 months, this may still be a possiblity, but it has to be my main focus.

the question is, is it?

by the big boys. fun: going on miles and miles of new trail for me..buckhorn from rancho laguna, then skirting ramage peak, then down to the chabot golf course (we were a sight, i’m sure) and back to bort via redtail and soaring hawk.
not fun: losing steam with over 2 hours to go.

that to buckle at states you need to break 5 hours at cool, and around 11 at miwok. i have a lot of work to do.
georgia has me on a plan: 1.5-2 hour tempo run, track workout of 12 800 repeats and hill repeats. 3 days of 100% effort to get strong and fast. and then, of course, my long runs on the weekend.
i think my foot can take it. this will be week #1.

that i can start training for this. i just read my entry, 6 weeks ago, about my foot. i could run 2 miles.
i called errol (the rocket) after my race saturday, and said… _{bring it on}

graham cooper in bort meadow yesterday. what a humble guy, for being such a stud, and local hero.
talk goes to “what are you running this summer” and i am starting to believe that i’ll be back to full training soon, and healthy for states. sub-24 is the ultimate goal…a lot of work to do…

2:28. first longer run in 2 months, almost to the day, and my sixth run since i started back (2 miles, 2 miles, 4, 5, 3). felt good, except my hips burned, not used to the pounding, and i had to go home and nap after. foot felt pretty good, i will know more tomorrow.
fitness-wise, not bad. i couldn’t keep up with andy and celeste, so errol stayed back with me, and we finished a few minutes after they did. thank god for all that pool running and swimming i did, and i suppose, a healthy dose of muscle memory.

http://www.skirtsports.com
i think this, paired with the brooks cascadia, could shave at least an hour off my time

for my foot to heal. ugh. time is ticking….i got a cortisone injection in my heel on thursday – thanks sam! and then decided to boot my foot until it calms down. i am a true gimp now, but, at this point, i see no other way. i already skipped a 50K (last weekend, john’s epiphany birthday run) and i’ll be missing the wildcat to diablo 50 miler on feb 3 (a small bandit run) and the bandit point reyes 50K. my goal…running well enough for coyote 4 play, end of february.

i printed my entry and qualifying time and wrote the check. now it’s time to start running…