Spokane River Run 50k

I decided to run the Spokane River Run as a "recovery" run from Umstead. I would love to keep my mileage up a little higher this year, to push a little harder this year. Umstead was two weeks ago. It was a decent effort for me. I recovered well but had a little left over soreness in my adductor that kept me cautious last weekend when I ran 12 miles over two days. I rested the rest of the week and yesterday, took a literal run around the block to see if I should toe the line at the River Run. I felt ok, so I gave it a go.

I ran this race last year. It's a gorgeous two 25k loop course on mostly single-track trails. There are flats and climbs and rocks and in some places LOTS of rocks. The weather plummeted over the week to a chilling 24 degrees by this morning. We had snow and clouds and then sun throughout the day. If you were dressed right though, the weather was actually quite nice.

I didn't know what to expect with running a 50k just two weeks after a decent-effort 100 miler, so I took it real slow the first loop. The key to reminding oneself to keep it slow and easy and not get caught up in racing...is to carry a camera. That I did, and it helped to remind me that my finish time didn't matter, just my recovery and staying injury free. I reluctantly wore two - yes, two - ankle braces, one on each foot of course, to protect myself from repeated ankle injury. Try as I might, and rehab as I did - and continue to do - I can't seem to keep my post-surgical ankle from rolling. I was so reluctant to wear the brace, which I've had forever and was told by my surgeon 2-1/2 years ago, that I should wear whenever I was out on the trail. I did for a while, then tried to get by without, and after several more significant sprains, I gave up and stuck primarily to the roads. And when I WAS on trails, I ran in fear and carried with me a PTSD-type feeling of dread for the next ankle sprain.

So, anyway, I wore the ASO braces, and I am sooo glad I did! They freed me to run and enjoy the single-track rocky trails like I used to.

My legs were notably fatigued on the uphills, but instead of giving in to the fatigue on the second loop, I figured it would be good to run a little harder instead. So, I did, and ran a negative split by about 20 minutes, finishing in 6:09. After a healthful post-race meal, I am tired - that good tired feeling - and ready for bed. Back to work in the morning.

Go here for a few more pics.

[There was apparently some trouble with the chip timing system. Hopefully, the official results page will be corrected... or not... :) ]

It was a busy race weekend, so I hope that all of you who ran had nice races or training runs. Good luck to all Boston-ers tomorrow!