Sunday, November 8, 2009

Things Didn't Go As Planned

I had big plans for this weekend.  The plan was to run 9 miles with MIT on Saturday, which went according to plan, and then run the Mohican 50k course on Sunday for a total of 40 miles.  I planned on mapping the entire route with my new Garmin so Rob could post the course on his race website.  A group was planning to meet at the Covered Bridge at 8am, so I planned to start earlier at the START/FINISH and run the course to the covered bridge.
I got to the MTB parking lot at 6am ready to hit the trail, the weather was perfect for a trail run.  I did encounter an early problem though, about a mile onto the trail my headlamp went out - I think the battery simply died and I hadn't brought spare batteries.  I decided the best thing to do would be to head back to my car and wait for the sun to come up.  I managed to make it back just fine and about 10 minutes later there was sufficient light to head back out.  In retrospect I should have stayed out on the trail and waited for the sun to come up instead of backtracking.
I was now behind schedule and not wanting people to have to wait too long for me at the Covered Bridge I was covering ground quickly.  About two miles into the run I hit a root or rock and went down on the trail.  I wasn't able to get my hands under me to break my fall and my right knee hit a rock, taking the full impact of the fall.  I stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes in some pain, trying to stretch the knee out before hitting the trail again.  I got up and proceeded along the trail.  Although my knee was very sore and stiff I tried to push through it, sure that the pain would subside after a couple of miles.  That wasn't the case and a mile later I was having difficulty running at all.  I knew that I would neither be able to run the entire 50k course or make it to the Covered Bridge in time to meet the 8am group.  I called Rob and asked if he could come pick me up at Hickory Ridge.  A few short minutes later Rob and Michelle came to the rescue.
Although my knee was really hurting me it wasn't bruising or swelling so I assumed it wasn't too big a deal and decided to try and jog easy with the group and give the lodge loop a try.  It didn't go very well.  After really struggling to keep up through Little Lyon Falls I decided I would walk the rest of the purple loop, while the rest of the group continued onto the lodge.  It was slow going and it was especially tough making my way down Big Lyon Falls but I was able to make it back to the Covered Bridge right at the faster runners were finishing their 9 mile loop.  Instead of doing 31 miles I barely managed to log 10 miles for the day...not what I had in mind.
I was pleased that my dad, who had some down from Medina to run, had decided to call it a day at 9 miles because I needed a ride back to my car.  We decided to grab a bite to eat at Mellors before we headed home, the home of the $1.99 all you can eat pancake breakfast.  It was a long uncomfortable ride back to Columbus.  I'm pleased that after icing my knee and taking a nap I'm feeling pretty good.  The knees still sore but I have a feeling I'll be ok to go in a couple of days - if I had to guess I would say that I have some bursitis and nothing more.
Whether or not I'm able to run Bills Bad Ass 50k next weekend is very much up in the air.  We'll have to wait and see...

3 comments:

  1. Ouch! I hope that your knee heals up well. Good luck at the 50k if you make it to the start line! Take care!

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  2. Rest up Mike! There's thousands of miles ahead of us this winter!

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  3. Hope you are feeling better- that sounds painful! See you tomorrow at Highbanks.

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