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Lessons in Calcaneus Eversion

In solid Tim fashion, I pushed my last 50K a little hard, and my right hamstring started giving me issues the following week. Despite all my stretching, the soreness was a little much to run hard so I dialed down the intensity a bit. The weather helped me out a bit the next weekend, with a solid late spring snowstorm, forcing me to run some different terrain and give my hammy a break.

Sunrise over Arvada Reservoir on a morning run

It still blows my mind that I am running a marathon and a half-marathon distance run every weekend. My brain is finally to the place where the thought of 25-26 miles is not a huge deal.

April "Showers" run with Chris on Magnolia Road in Boulder
I met with Junko, my pseudo mentor, this past week and talked through some more Leadville race strategy. Nutrition, training, how to stay awake all-night, and lessons learned topped the list. She did say something that got to me though. She asked how far I run before I start feeling fatigued and pain set in. I answered 18-20 miles. She looked at me, and said, “That’s great progress. For Leadville, you need to get to the place where 50 miles feels somewhat easy”. What the? I can’t even fathom that right now.
Apex Trail run scenery
Working on figuring out my hamstring issues, Julie and I headed to her friend’s office where they have an Optigate machine. I have to admit, I’ve never liked Chiropractors. I feel like most of them pop your back just to tell you to come back and spend more money without ever addressing the root of the issue or cause of your pain. Courtney Conley from Total HealthSolutions was different. Running me through a functional analysis, her and Julie (Elevation Physical Therapy) examined me like I was a new science experiment.

I hopped on the Optigate machine and started running. This machine is one of the coolest pieces of equipment I’ve seen. It’s a high-tech treadmill that has full video and gate analysis built in. It gives you live feedback on biomechanics, left/right foot strike balance, flight time, cadence, etc. After taking a baseline, it was easy to spot the issue.

My right calcaneus (heel) was not everting causing my foot to slam down on my front metatarsal. The hamstring is working overtime to slow down my foot strike since my foot isn’t doing its job. Okay, I have no idea if I’m saying that right, but we will be working on getting that heel to evert, start digging into that hamstring and get the inflammation out and get more mobility in my hips. With a combo of PT, chiropractic and massage, I should be able to get it figured out. The goal is to get to the startline healthy and apparently be able to run the first 50 miles without working hard!

I ran long last weekend and paced a little differently, power hiking all the climbs at 16-20 minute mile pace and running the rest. Over 25 miles with 5,500 feet of vert, I held a 12:20 average and felt like I could have ran further at the end of my run. Yee haw!
Getting after it on last weekend's run.

Next up is the Quad Rock 25 in Fort Collins. I plan on starting in the back of the pack and going easy the first ½ of the race. The goal is to come out of that race healthy and ready to run my 15 the next day.

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