Changing Plans of Mine

As I type this, the last runners are still making their way down the final miles of the Diablo 50. This is my third year in a row of not running the race. In 2007 it was only peripherally on my radar as I had my sights on my first 100K at Miwok that year and Diablo was less than a week prior. Even now that would be a big stretch. Last year, as this, I signed up for the race. I didn't really check the schedule first and it turned out to fall on a weekend where I was to celebrate birthdays for 4 different family members. This year, I thought I had it set. My son was supposed to be heading to Colorado with his basketball team for a tournament. I wasn't planning to travel with them so I would be able to run the race. A little over week before race date and the coach switched the schedule up on us. Given the expense of going to Colorado he decided to switch it for a local (Sacramento) tournament this weekend and head to Vegas next weekend for a bigger tournament. With the tournament in Sac, I couldn't miss it so Diablo was dropped once again.

In a way, its probably not a bad thing. My running has been very sporadic since C2M having spend 2 of the 5 weeks ill. My mileage has basically been as follows:

3/15-1/22: 0 miles (sick)
3/23-3/29: 40 miles
3/30-4/05: 12 miles (sick)
4/06-4/12: 52 miles
4/13-4/19: 32 miles

It's been sort of fits and starts without a single week reaching my 60 mile goal. I had a chance this week as I reached my mileage by Friday. However, I've been dealing with a bit of Plantar Fasciitis lately and opted try to let it heal this weekend rather than try to squeeze the mileage in around all the driving. The PF is due to a problem with my orthodicts that I put off dealing with for far too long. After I got them adjusted and re-covered they feel a lot better during my runs, but I don't think the foot is going to heal itself without a bit extra rest and TLC. So, instead of 50 miles of steep climbs and descents in the scorching heat, I did an hour on the exercycle and lots of time on ice.

Boring injury and winey lack of running post aside, I have made some new plans that should still keep me on target for a big month of May before the taper towards States in June. I decided to join my son in Vegas next weekend and will be getting up early Saturday morning to head to the west for the Labor of Love 50K. Unfortunately, it is mostly on road, but it is out near Red Rocks so it should be beautiful running. While it looks relatively tame in terms of climbing it does start at 4500ft and top out around 6800 so it should give my lungs a descent workout. Also, it will be fun to try something totally new in a different locale. I am also planning to run the Quicksilver 50-miler. This has been on my radar for a couple of years, but has been too close to Miwok for me to put it on my schedule. If I keep to my schedule that will be a good forcing function to get my mileage up. After that it is two weeks until the Western States camp. I only signed up for two days of running allowing me to spend Memorial Day at home and not overdo it before the Ohlone 50K the next weekend.

That is a pretty big month of May. After that I may do the Mt. Diablo 50K as a last ultra training run before States. There are still some unknowns in the equation as my son's basketball schedule is not set for that month. I will definitely have to miss some games, but I'll be taking the month of July off which is when the big tournaments are. After that, my race plans are pretty much up in the air. I have some things in mind, but that will wait for another time as right now I just need to focus on getting into perfect health and preparing to up the mileage.