The Long Road Back

"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have time"- Steven Wright

I knew going into Tahoe that post race and post training cycle it was going to be a long road back.  The amount of shear volume, climbing, etc. really just takes a huge toll on the body.  

Maybe I was naive, maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I signed up for a fall marathon and ultra with the belief that I could snap back to true form pretty quickly.  

I took the week after Tahoe super light running just 12.8 miles in the 6 days following the race.  My energy levels bounced back pretty quickly, so I jumped up to 55 the following week and 65 the week after that.  While I still had some aches and pain, some of which I had before Tahoe, I just continued to compartmentalize them and push through.  

A few weeks later, after 4+ weeks above 60 miles, it all came crashing down.  My hip / hip flexors were killing me and I simply lost the will to push.  

Tahoe was my third race of 100 miles or more and I am now 0 for 3 in recovering from a long ultra without injuring myself.  

After an easy week and a half (with included a work trip to India), I attempted to my birthday run (44 this year), and barely survived the back half.  

I have been running daily for nearly 11 years.  I needed to figure out how to get out of this and for only the second time in my 17 year running career, I went to physical therapy.  With help of the folks Professional Physical Therapy, I was diagnosed with a strained hip capsule, and underwent 5 weeks of stretching and strength training.  

Over that same period of time, I slowly worked my way back up to 60, then 70, and ultimately 80 miles a week.  While my hip is doing much better now, my fitness is still far from where it was pre Tahoe.  

Newport Marathon
Location: Newport, RI
Date: 10/13/2024
Distance: 26.2 miles
Goal: < 3:15
Actual: 3:24

My first race back was the Newport Marathon on October 13th.  

With the training I had going in, I knew a sub 3:15 might be a stretch.  Last year I ran a 3:12, 3:13, and 3:16 in 22 day span, so I was holding on to a bit of hope.  

This was another fundraiser for NF Northeast and I wanted to do my best to represent.  Becca also was running it, so I wanted to do my best to keep up for as long as I could.  

We went out at 7:15 pace and everything went great for the first 10 miles.  The course was beautiful, specially with the sun rising over the ocean.  

By 12 miles in, it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to be able to sustain that pace.  While my cardio was great, I could already feel the inflammation building up in my legs and joints. 

I went through the half in 1:36 (7:17 / mile) and decided it wasn't worth getting re-injured for and shut it down for the back half.  Even after slowing down, I still took a beating on some of the late course hills.  

I finished the day in 3:24 and was happy to have completed the race.  

Thankfully, I bounced back really quickly and was able to fully resume training only a couple days later.  

Marine Corps 50k
Location: Washington DC
Date: 10/17/2024
Distance: 31 miles
Goal: < 4:05
Actual: 4:16

My next race was only two weeks later and was even longer.  Becca, Joe, Dave, and I went down to Washington DC to partake in the Marine Corps Marathon / 50k and visit Shannon who had moved
down their from Belmont last Spring.  

My original goal for this was to see if I could beat my PR (3:58), but once again with the training I had going in, it was pretty clear that wasn't likely, so I moved on to my B goal of 4:05 (~ 8 min / mile).  

Thankfully, I had Dave to keep my company in this race, who was fresh off a 2:50 marathon at Sydney, and 2:54 at Steamtown, and was a little beat up and not looking to push this one too hard.  

Dave and I started out around 7:50 pace for the first 5 miles before having to take a quick bathroom break.  We pretty much sat at 7:45 - 8 min pace for the next 19 miles before fatigue / inflammation started to set in.  

Those last 7 miles were a struggle, and I think I am mentally just not ready to push that hard yet.  We got it back together with about 1.5 miles to go and passed somewhere in the vicinity of 75 runners in the last stretch reaching in the finish in 4 hours and 16 minutes.

Shout out to both Becca and Shannon for running 3:04 (Becca's new PR).

What's Next

All and all, I am slowly getting back to my old self.  Making progress week over week and week so there really isn't much more I can ask for. 

Before we move on to 2025's goals, I am shooting to get my speed back up before the end of the year.  I have a 4 milers on Thanksgiving and I'll probably run a 5k in December and hopefully re-learn what it means to really push myself pace wise again.  

Oh, and I still have 509 miles to run this year to hit 4000 for the first time ever.  

Scot