Ouch - my poor, poor feet!
Okay, so I'm never ready for a 25k trail race this early in the season, but what's a little pain the next day? Unfortunately, my feet took a real beating this time - I've been getting blisters on my left arch all season, in longer runs, but I thought I had that worked out. Not so. Plus both feet hurt quite a bit after the race - I looked later, and both arches are actually swollen and lumpy looking along the inside edge. Very weird. They don't hurt as bad today, and look less swollen, but I'm a little concerned. Maybe I need different shoes? I have fairly high arches, so maybe I need more support, but then maybe the blisters would be even worse? I hate to scrap a pretty new pair of trail shoes. And we don't really have many options for shopping around and trying on a bunch (did that when I got these, on a trip to Appleton).
All in all it went well. Slower than the first two times I did this race (2:28:43), but not that far off. I was running with my friend for the first 15k or so, and then headed out alone to find my "zone" - I think it's easier sometimes to run a little faster if that pace feels more natural. Early on we try to stay together (yeah, it is a race, but that is way too far to really race), and I'm faster on the downhills, so I end up waiting a lot, and she's lighter & faster on the uphills, so I struggle to keep up (so the rests after the downhills come in handy). On the flats I just sorta feel bad for a long time. She's really faster than I am, but is more cautious on the downhills. This course becomes a more gradual downhill trend in the second half, so it's easier to open it up a little, and my extra weight is less of a detriment. I did end up with some alternating upper & lower calf cramping, along with my achilles (is that even possible?). Frequent short walks toward then end, but my longest runs have been two 2-hour trail runs (about 10 miles), so adding about 50% in one fell swoop isn't going to feel good. Anyway, I can barely walk today, so I guess I'll be biking until my feet return to their normal shape and size. My quads are killing me - we came home today, and the 2-1/2 hours in the car helped me seize right up! I just went downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer, and had to go down the stairs backwards.
Jan