Ready for the Rocky Raccoon 100

I just wanted to post a quick note.  Over the last several months I used a "Train by Racing" approach to preparing for the Rack Raccoon 100.  Following the Lookout Mountain 50 Miler race one week before Christmas I ran a couple of easy recovery runs.  The first was on Dec. 24th, 2 hours, 41 minutes with 4 very hard hill repeats.  The second was on Dec 31 and was a 4 hour run at Oak Mountain with a bunch of hill repeats, but I didn't record how many.  Following that run I had a very sore spot on my shin that I assumed was a bruise caused by the top of the ankle brace I always run in on my left ankle.

There was a bit of swelling and it was pretty sore so I iced my leg most of the week to prepare for the only 8 hour run I had time to do in preparation for the RR100.  On January 7, I ran 8 hard hours at Veterans Park. The RR course is flat so I figured I needed to do my long run on a flat course.  At the end of the day my leg felt OK but a little sore.  I ran two hours the following day at Veterans and this time my leg HURT.  At the end of the two hours it was really swollen and I ended up walking with a limp.  That is when I decided I had a tibial stress fracture.  My shin was extremely sore to the touch in one spot on the front of my tibia.

I kept it iced or used a hot pack most of the next week and the swelling decreased.  On the 14th, what should have been a 5 to 6 hour taper run ended up being a 4 hour bike ride.  By the 21st, the swelling was about gone and I decided to try a 4 hour run on the flat "Lake Trail" at Oak Mountain and try out some new Brooks Trail Shoes I purchased from Fleet Feet here in Birmingham.  The shoes were great and my leg was fine.  No pain so I guess my first analysis was correct.  It was a bruise.  I ran another two hours Saturday with no problems except a minor crash that resulted in a scraped up chin.  I had an option of a "face in the dirt or a collision with a tree."  I took the dirt.

The final analysis is, I think the training by racing idea worked because I think I am really ready for the RR100. Making myself pace the entire race at a 15 minute per mile pace will be another story.  That is going to be tough in the early miles.