I knew, coming out of a high-mileage March, that I was likely going to have some lingering effects in April.  What I didn’t know was that the effects would be painfully felt the day after I made the previous post.

I set out for a mixed-surface run.  Nine miles on the sidewalks and bike path to Parkside, 6.2 miles around the trails, and nine miles back.  I figured it would be fun, long street miles with a fun traily center.  That’s not what happened.

The run started slow and only got slower.  I managed to catch a curb and blow my big toe right through the fabric.  My Camelbak kept rubbing on my lower back.  Everything felt heavy.  I managed to get to Parkside and do my two laps, but almost immediately upon leaving, I knew I was in trouble.  I couldn’t run.  I hobbled another mile before I did something I’ve never had to do before: Call for help.  My wonderful neighbor Kim drove up to the north side and rescued me.

Distal fourth metatarsal, left side.  Distal second and fifth metatarsals, right side.  Right lateral ankle.  Right lateral hip.  In my head, the words “STRESS FRACTURES.”  Looking ahead to my races, the words “$400 gone.”

The following Thursday, I’m at the podiatrist Joy works for.  He pokes and prods my feet, no pain.  We discuss running in FiveFingers (which he’d never heard of), and to my surprise, he sees no problem with it.  X-Rays show nothing - other than that I did in fact break my fifth metatarsal on my left foot at last year’s Grand Island Marathon.  The other doc comes in.  He’s heard of FiveFingers and is *thrilled* to meet someone who runs in them.

The verdict?  Keep running.  Let them know how it goes.

I made the decision right there to stop training for the Wisconsin Marathon on May 1.  I need to focus on my 50k in Virginia and the MC200.  I decided that April is going to be a trail month, working back into high miles with some recovery time.

Here I am at the end of April.  The weather hasn’t helped.  It’s been scattershot chilly, overcast, windy.  I’ve only managed a few runs - but they’ve been quality.  I ran an awesome 20k the other day where miles 7, 8, and 9 were all under 8 minutes.  I wanted to do a 30k this weekend, but the weather’s been lousy.  Maybe I’ll try tomorrow night.

The Wisconsin Marathon is less than a week away.  I still don’t know if I’m going to be at the start line.

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