Tonight is the Badmarsh 50k and I am so unready for this event.  My running has been very off this year.  This is two off years in a row now. Last year was bad and now this year.

I’ve had injuries this year like I have not experienced in many.  If it’s not my feet, it’s my calves.  If not my calves then, it’s my right hip.  Or, it’s been all of the above simultaneously.  And also, I’ve struggled with allergies like never before this year.  It’s been a rough year, indeed.

Last weekend’s 20 mile run really battered my feet and right hip.  The balls of my feet were blistered and the callouses I have on the bottoms of my feet became very sensitive with all of the pounding from the run.  And then, to make matters worse, as I searched for some comfort during the run I would shift from fore-front landing to heel-strike.  It was the heel-strike running that alleviated the discomfort on the balls of my feet but exacerbated the ache in my right hip.  And then, if these foot and hip problems were not enough I ended up getting sick at the beginning of the week and I have not fully recovered.  So, I’m running an ultra this evening where I am very far from being 100 percent.

I am approaching this run tonight as a training run rather than a race.  Actually, I am not looking at this event at all as a race.  I just want to get out there and do this run at a very leisurely pace and complete the distance when I can.  I am definitely not racing.

Because of these foot problems and sudden illness my monthly mileage is very far from where it should be.  Yesterday, I ran 6.24 miles and earlier in the week I ran a very painful 3.23 miles on Whitemarsh Island.  My feet and right hip again ached a lot.  People that were running the Whitemarsh Preservation trail caught up with me and left me behind.  And, those people that passed me were runners that I usually leave behind.    Yesterday’s 6.24 run was no different.  I was aching from the start of the run and continued to ache after the run.  My right hip is definitely inflamed and the bottoms of my feet are not happy with me either.

I’m thinking that if I can keep a ten minute pace through-out the run I should be able to finish it without much discomfort.  I’ll probably be the last person to finish running at that pace but that’s fine.  At the end of it all this truly is a training run for the BIG event which is the Cremator Ultra 50 next month.

run stats:

• run log
• total miles on NB mb10′s: 124.04
• total real miles for 2012: 570.54
• total treadmill miles for 2012: 57.24

Bad Marsh 50k details:

1. It’s at the Marsh Golf Course in Lady Island, SC.  (that’s about 51 miles from Savannah).
2. Race starts at 6:00pm.  I’ll get there by 5:00 pm.

My gear for the run:

1. New Balance Minimus NB mb10
2. hand-held water bottle.
3. waist belt with water bottle
4. 2 gels
5. salt stick electrolyte pills
6. two bottles of zero powerade
7. 3 hard-boiled eggs
8. 1 baked potato
9. blue moon beer for after the run
10. head light
11. camera
12. extra headlight batteries
13. mosquito repellent
14. callous cushions (I hope these work)
15. moleskin
16. my gps Timex gps run trainer
17. I might take my iphone so I can listen to music or watch a movie as I run (not certain about this yet)

I know most of the ultra runners that are in tonight’s event.  So, that will make this event a very fun one.  Ultra runners tend to be a very friendly lot.    So, I’m looking for to seeing a bunch of good people and running with them…well, tagging along behind them…way, way back.

I’ll start off with the 10 minute per mile pace and hopefully keep that going the entire run.  If that pace becomes uncomfortable then I’ll have to walk.

All in all, this will be a fun event and will be a stepping stone to the Cremator Ultra 50 miler next month.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

All the best to you and yours.

Take care and God bless.

peace,

dh

06/23/2012

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