And...We're back...?

This past Sunday, I got out for my first workout since the Blues Cruise.  Sunday marked the 5 week anniversary of my injury.  It also marked my first workout in my new trail shoes - the Brooks Pure Grit.  I'll give them a review eventually, but my first impressions are positive (with the exception of the stupid strap over the top of the foot).

Unfortunately I don't have GPS on my workout from Sunday, but repeats on the course will become regular fare in my training for Leadville.  I had to make a call in the morning to Nataly to get some information for Cuevas, so I powerhiked up out of the valley to get some cell signal.

Since that specific trek is going to be featured often in this journal, I am giving the location the name Dissertation Ridge.  Nataly used a couple of locations above the waterfalls in Cuevas to investigate whether there was a connection between hillslope angle and nutrient availability.  I didn't understand much beyond that but...

What I do know is that the climb up to Dissertation Ridge gains 600 feet in less than a 1/2 mile.  That's a good grunt on any day.  A 5xDissertation Ridge workout would be a tremendous effort. I expect that'll be a goal as I prepare to prepare for Leadville.

I actually ran today too.  A short loop here in Kilometer 14.  My foot hurt.  It probably didn't help much that I wore my Bikilas, but the pain never got worse.  My conditioning is way off. It was hot.

We'll see how my foot is tomorrow.  It hurt during my power hike up to Dissertation Ridge on Sunday, but Monday felt much better than in many days preceding the effort.  I wonder if working the foot is what's best for it now.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your training.
J

Going to have to add a new tag: LT100

Holy crap what have I done.

Yesterday, I signed up for the Leadville 100.

That's not really the scary part.  What I find scary is the content behind the first link on this google search: "Splits for 25 hour LT100".

I'd read Brandon's account of what transpired for him during last years Leadville 100 and for some reason that only made me want to line up for the start more.  What I hadn't seen was his sister's tale: the race from the crew chief's perspective (the first link in the search above).  That's some compelling reading which drives home the magnitude of a 100 mile race; it's not just a huge undertaking for the racer, it's a huge undertaking for all around him.  Whew.

The finality of dropping the better part of 300 dollars on a race leaves very little option other than to begin thinking about training, thank everyone around me and apologize in advance for those times when I will offend someone.

In re: Training.  I've decided my foot wants 1 more week.

At this point I can balance on the ball of my foot and even do multiple sets of calf raises, but Monday while pacing out the fence-line, I stepped, with my bad foot, on a small stump (1.75 inches in diameter, 3 inches tall) while wearing my Minimus trail shoes.  That rewarded me with some stabbing pain and induced some new swelling.  The swelling was gone Tuesday morning and I've been walking confidently without a noticeable limp for the last several days (Monday excluded).  I can really feel that my foot is getting healthy.

I want a couple more days for it to heal up before testing it out though.  I'm thinking now that next Monday will be my first run post Blues Cruise.  I could go out today in all likelihood, but there are times where discretion truly is the better part of valor and I would think this is one of them.  Wouldn't want a lingering injury to keep me from making it to the start in August.

Thanks for reading, and wonder if a race takes 30 hours to cover 100 miles, is that really running?
Jay

Race Report--Blues Cruise 50k: Lesson Learned.

Getting Up and Getting There
[Note - all photographs were provided free of charge by the race organization, funwithphotos.smugmug.com, and iultra.smugmug.com]
From Erik's house, the race start for the Blues Cruise was about a 30 minute drive.  Packet pickup started at 7:30 and we wanted to eat a bagel and drink some coffee before hand so Erik set an alarm for 5 AM.  I figured I'd hear him puttering around so I didn't bother (I was on the couch in the living room).  When finally I did hear him, I took a look at my phone and discovered it was quarter to 6, a much more reasonable time for waking in my humble opinion.  It turns out Erik had had similar thoughts and decided 5 AM was a bit early and had set his alarm for 5:30.

Bagels were consumed, coffee drunk, and deposits in the water closet made.  We girded ourselves against the inclement weather that decided to arrive over the course of the night.  When we got up, though dark and impossible to see it sounded like it was pouring rain outside.  It was cold.  The rain eventually cleared out before the race started, though there were a couple of instances where a gentle shower passed overhead.

We left at 7, and got to the race start promptly at 7:30.  We'd checked in and had our numbers and pins no later than 7:35.  That left the better part of an hour to hang out and chat.  We went back to Erik's car.

Eventually the clock ticked over to 8:25 and the race director was marshaling the racers to the start.  Erik and I said good luck to one another and went our separate ways.  I took a position about 3 rows back and Erik chose more middle of the pack.  The race director said, "Ready! Set! Go!"

Really.

Race Start to Aid #1

I'm in the right middle of this pic to the left of the tie dye - white shirt, black (almost knee length) shorts.
Interestingly enough, the guy I crossed the finishing line with is right behind me.

The race went out faster than I was happy with, but not too much.  My first glance at my Garmin showed a low 7 minute pace and I was wanting something more along the lines of 7:45 so I eased off the pace.  The course quickly turned left onto some single track and tipped uphill.  A bunch of folks passed me, but I wasn't worried about placement at mile #1.  I was warm and into a sustainable groove.

By the time we arrived at mile 2, I'd warmed up enough that my shirt was uncomfortable and I'd hung it through the back of my visor.  Also by mile 2, I'd started hearing a bit from my stomach.  It was saying, "Dude, you know what?  I'm kind of hungry here.  Think we could get some fuel?"  This dialog would continue throughout the race, but I don't think it cost me any time.  At the start I ate a barely ripe banana, and wanted to grab a couple of gels, but I couldn't find any.  Obviously, I was pretty was anxious to get to the first aid station where I could get some sugary goo down my gullet.

I may have been one of the only people in the top 50 or so to stop there, and I took a moment to appreciate the aid station workers:  Jake and Ellwood Blues.  It actually didn't hit me at first; I was so focused on obtaining gel. By the time it did, I was just through the aid station.  I stopped and requested a song, but perhaps I should have asked if they had any rubber biscuits on the table.

Aid #1 to Ski Slope Hill
The remainder of the first third of the race was flat and relatively fast, but mud kept it from being really fast.  I was pretty efficient at the second aid station to the point where I neglected to appropriately acknowledge the workers there.  Darn it: Race goal #2 - Fail at mile 6.5.

The organizers had a number of folks on the course pointing out hazards and directing traffic.  Many of the bridges were quite slippery.  I was pleased with my Bikilas at how well they performed on the wet wood, but in the mud they weren't ideal.  Not sure any shoe would have fared well in that slop.

The first 10 miles featured three of the seven aid stations on the course.  That's right: seven aid stations for 31 miles.  Truly a well supported race.  I had actually considered running the race without a water bottle, but ended coming down on the side of caution.  Running dry would have had much more dire consequences than a sore shoulder.

Throughout this portion of the race there was always someone close by.  Either just in front of me or just behind.  A little positional shuffling occurred, but no great shakeout happened.  That changed on Ski Slope Hill.

Ski Slope Hill to Aid Station #7
The third aid station was located right at the base of the first real obstacle on the course.  I chatted with the volunteers and thanked them for being out in the crappy weather.  I grabbed a banana and a couple of gels, I also topped up my water bottle with lemon lime Gatorade.  That's the only time I put something other than water in my bottle and also the last time I'll ever drink that stuff.  It just tasted awful and I was in fluid avoidance mode all the way to the 4th aid station.

A young guy pulled up to me here who I'd alternate back and forth with for the rest of the race.  He noted that this was his first ultra, later he noted it was also his first marathon.  He had logged a couple of olympic distance triathlons, but good work young dude - at the finish he declared himself bitten by the ultra bug.

We left the aid station pretty much together, and I settled into a solid power hike.  Young guy tried running the first bit of the climb, but quickly dropped into a walk.  Power hiking was absolutely the right decision and I ended up blowing by a whole bunch of folks.  I don't know precisely how many, but by the top of the climb I was tucked into the position I would stay until pretty much the finish.  I think visiting it the day before with Erik really helped on this key section of the course.

I played leap frog with a few folks between Aid 3 and Aid 4; they'd pass me on the descents and I'd pass them on the climbs, but for each climb it would always take a bit longer for them to catch me.  By the time we went through mile 12, I was in 30th place.

Once through Aid 4, it seemed to take an eternity to get to aid station number 5.  Aid station 4 was at mile 13.5 or so and Aid 5 came after mile 18, I think that is the largest gap on the course.  I pretty much ran out of water and I had only taken 2 gels so by the time I got to the 5th aid station, I was fantastically glad to see the volunteers.

I ate a good sized chunk of banana here and this time I asked how far it was until the next aid station so that I would know how many gels to grab.  The aid workers didn't know off the top of their heads, but were kind enough to dig the info up quickly so that I had it when I set back out on the trail.  I took 3 gels with me and went back out.

The next part of the race I recall running large chunks without being able to see anyone either in front or behind me.  I eventually caught up to a guy who used to live in the area and had regularly ridden his mountain bike on the trails of Blue Marsh Lake.  He and I ran a mile or two together, and I commented to him that somewhere around mile 5 I realized I was running the race without medical insurance and really needed to take it easy on the descents.  I probably should have just kept my mouth shut.

He and I arrived at the stream crossing together at mile 19.  The water was cool, but not freezing cold.  It actually felt really good on my tiring legs.  I was a bit nervous, wading through the water, that there would be some hidden rock or danger that would send me sprawling, but I was able to cross without misadventure.

On the ensuing climb I left my companion behind and started thinking about how I'd go about finishing the race.  When would I start looking for the energy to kick for the finish.  I was actually feeling pretty good.  I knew that my 4:30 goal was gone, but the muddy conditions really took that off of the table for me before the race even started.

I did think that 4:45 was still possible and I decided that I'd try to get as close to that time as I could without totally cratering and losing even more time.  At the next aid station I took on board 3 more gels, thanked the workers and set out chasing my revised stretch goal.

Until this point I'd been taking extra care on the descents.  I tried to avoid big piles of leaves and run where I could see there was clear footing.  Along a descent somewhere around mile 25.4 there was no clear trail, just leaves, and I absolutely tattooed a rock hidden in the leaves.

My toes were curled up, so I hit the rock with the head of my third metatarsal on my right foot.  The pain was truly remarkable and I thought I'd broken the bone.  I limped to the bottom of the little descent and hung my toes over the side of a bridge.  I was happy to see that I could wiggle them fairly freely and continued on - not that there was much choice, the next aid station was one mile further along and I wasn't about to sit down on the trail.

Aid Station 7 to the Finish
I got to the last aid station sporting a rather pronounced limp, but I was sure I could finish.  They were serving perogies, and brats (I think), and had a jar full of pickles.  The Eagles were playing so I requested some pickle juice.  The volunteer laughed and poured off me a shot.  Mmmmm...Salty goodness.

I hit the trail for the final bit and started giving what I had left.  4:45 wasn't going to happen, but maybe I could still beat 5 hours and pull a few places back.

The young guy from the Ski Slope Hill aid station passed at the aid station, so I de-greeted the aid station workers and set out in pursuit.  I could tell I was slowly reeling the whippersnapper in when my foot made this wonderful, cracking/crunching sound which was accompanied by a grinding sensation.

I bleated a choice expletive and lurched to the side of the trail.  I stood there for a minute and thought about dropping.  I had a mile or so to go back to the last aid station and 3.5 to finish.  I decided I'd grit my teeth and press on, hell or high water I'd finish this race.

After a minute or two, the endorphins took the edge off and I was able to manage a "log" - part limp part jog. I even realized that while touch and go, I could probably finish in under 5 hours.  And I did.  It was painful and I had a while where I didn't know where the course went, but eventually I got there.  The guy I'd left behind at the water crossing helped point me in the right direction and asked after my well being.  I'm glad he came by when he did, because I was about to go off course.

At the Finish.
I crossed the finish line in the 59th minute of the 4th hour after the start of the race.  I ran this race faster than I ran the first half of the Steamboat 50, while finishing on a severely damaged foot.

My first stop after the finish line was the buffet table where I took on board a couple of raspberry tart kind of  cakes, a brat and a potato pancake.  I then went over to the paramedics who were kind enough to check the pulse in my foot and provide me with a bag of ice and some gauze to keep the ice in place.  I don't know if my foot is broken, but we're 5 days out now and the swelling is almost gone so I expect I just messed up some tendons.

Erik came in about an hour later.  He'd beaten his goal time of 6:30 by a full 11 minutes.  The Blues Cruise was also his second ultra in 4 weeks and his second ever ultramarathon.  You can read his report on his blog, it seems he's been bitten by the ultra-bug too.

I ended up finishing 30th overall and took home a rock which said Blues Cruise 5th place 40-49.

Lesson Learned.
Over all I enjoyed the race, but I don't see myself ever running a race in Five Fingers again.  Had I had more protection, I would have been able to run the descents more aggressively and I would not have suffered the injury at mile 25 which almost took me out of the race.

My Vibrams will still be my primary road shoe, but as long as I'm racing (not just out for a run) I won't be using them on the trail.  With a burlier shoe, I'm certain I'd have been in the top 20 of this race.  So, while I had a great time out there running the Blues Cruise, I'm packing a fair load of regret as well.

Oh well.
Thanks for reading, and consider "choosing your protection rather than your correction" (Eric Orton).
J

Race Report Preamble

I haven't seen my friend Erik since 1987 when I moved to Vermont, but we've done stuff like this before.  From the 1985 Clinton sprint:

I'm trailing and Erik looks like he's going to take the win from my brother Charles.

Today:

I'm the one wearing the squirrel on his face.

Anyway, on to the tale of the weekend.  It started out with something of a bad omen. 

I had a bit of an adventure picking up the rental car.  Turns out that the foreigner with the Colorado drivers license wasn't welcome to rent an automobile with the presented plastic.  The problem sprung from the fact that I didn't bring an actual credit card from Bolivia, just the debit card I used to make the reservation.  I should have thought about that, but hindsight is 20/20 - something which will repeat itself in this report.

Fortunately, my Mom had taken me to the rental location and offered to rent the car herself and loan me her car for the weekend: Problem solved.  Thanks so much, Mom.  Without Mom, none of this could have happened.

Once I was with vehicle I drove to Ithaca, NY where my Dad was waiting to take me out to dinner.  I'd loaded the directions to his house into my phone before I left my Mom's house; that was a good thing too, because I couldn't find WiFi on my route (essentially: Interstates 87S and 88W).  My intention had been to get a sim card for my cell phone with a data plan, but when I asked after it (at a Radio Shack in Fort Lauderdale) I was told that no such "pre-paid" plans existed.  Um, I think somebody ripped me off...

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant in Ithaca named Lucatelli's.  My Dad recommended something called Combination Casserole a la Parmigiana (click through and you'll see the menu).  He said something like, "I ordered it once and it brought me to my knees."  I ordered it then ate some bread, soup, and a salad.  What I was presented with had more cheese than I was expecting total food.  I ate it all.  When she came to clear my plate, the waitress noted that, "I've worked here 6 months and have never seen anyone finish that dish before."  I had a bit of trouble breathing for a half an hour or so, but overall was pleased with the meal - the breathing problem was my own fault (perhaps another instance of foreshadowing).

After the meal, we returned to my Dad's place and I plead tired/full and hit the couch.  I wish I could have had the fortitude to keep myself up, but I was thinking ahead a bit too. 

I slept really well and the next morning Dad, his friend Erik and I went out to a breakfast at a greasy spoon where I enjoyed an artery clogging cheese and bacon omelette, some toast and home fries.  Dad and I then bid Erik adieu and we went to procure a hand bottle for my race and a little wooden airplane for Deneb.  Once that stuff was aboard the good ship Honda CrV, I hit the road for Berk's County, PA.

It rained for much of the drive, but overall it was easy getting there, though it took the better part of 4 hours.  I ate some salty snacks and powered back a bunch of water while driving, but didn't really have a formal lunch - not that I really needed it...

When I got to Erik's house I had to call because I was unsure which was their house, there were 3 stone houses all right in a row and I was unsure which one I had the doorbell I was supposed to ring.  Good thing too, when Erik answered he suggested I turn around - I had been wandering around and looking into the windows of the wrong house...

I brought my bag inside and was promptly introduced to Erik's wife Jane and his two great kids, Connor and Maddie.  Maddie was a bit shy at first, and I think Connor was hoping I'd join him for some Lego Star Wars - sorry man, next time.  I hadn't run since my morning jaunt in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday and I was starting to get a bit twitchy. 

It worked out pretty well actually because, for all the cycles being spent on Lego Star Wars, Mr. Connor had a birthday party to go to which happened to be on the way to Blue Marsh Lake, where the race was being held the next day.  Erik and I dropped Connor off and headed over to the most significant obstacle on the Blues Cruise course, "Ski Slope Hill".  

Erik lead out, and we were quickly onto some pretty sweet single track through the trees.  I was wearing my Vibrams and deemed the trail soft enough that I could run in them for the race.  Sure there were some rocks, but there was also lots of leaf litter to help cushion the impact and it seemed an easier surface than the road on my Bella Vista route.

Ski Slope Hill itself was runable in a short race, but I power hiked it with Erik.  It came 11 miles or so into the Blues Cruise, and I knew that I wouldn't be running it on race day, so it would be best to power up it.  Erik and I knocked out a half an hour and then headed back in the direction of the birthday party.

Erik and I picked up Connor, then headed back to his house.  Dinner would be at the Kutztown Tavern with Erik's parents.  What a treat!

Erik's dad coached a softball team for which both Erik and I played.  We were surrounded by girls.  We didn't really know what to make of that.  We played for the Yankees.  Ugh.

Erik back left, me back right and Erik's Dad back dead center.  The Yankees.

Anyway, I enjoyed a good old American Bacon Cheeseburger for dinner with a glass of birch beer to wash down my tasty meal.  Erik's mom chatted my ear off and I answered a bunch of questions about Bolivia, Deneb, Nataly and life in general.  Really good to see them...

After dinner we went back to Erik's house and chatted a bit while the kids got ready for bed.  They were settling down around 9 and I felt my battery was essentially discharged too and suggested I might be ready for a sleep as well.  I don't think it took me more than 10 minutes to fall asleep and I slept like a rock...

Thanks for reading and the real report will come tomorrow.

Jay

Running Sunday

After 2 days of travel I've arrived in VT.  The damage from Irene is really quite remarkable; it's amazing what a flooding stream can move.  I'll put some pictures up next week, but today I'm thinking about the Blues Cruise.

I'm picking up my rental car this afternoon and driving to Ithaca where I'll crash at my Dad's.  I've got to pick up a hand bottle for the race, so I expect I'll hit this store tomorrow.  Afterward, I'll drive down to Reading and start getting into race mode with my old friend Running Moose.

Speaking of race mode, I've been nurturing a "playoff beard" ever since I decided to come up here and run.  I absolutely have no problems growing hair on my head, but the face - that's another thing entirely.  It'll be good to shave.

It looks like the weather for the race will be touch and go.  Temperature wise, perfect, but with a chance of rain on top of already muddy trails.  I'm going to go with short sleeve tech shirt, shorts, buff, gloves, and my Bikilas.  I brought my Trek Sports, but they have a tendency to rub the outside ball of my feet much more than the others and given the wet trail conditions, I'm going to try and minimize my chance for blisters.

The trail conditions will also rather significantly impact my goals for the race.  Priority #1 will be to maintain a positive outward appearance (smile).  After that, well, I'd like to knock over my time goals, but muddy trails with steep hills may make that difficult.  It's a bit weird to write this, but it will probably be good to be near the front in the second half of the race - hopefully that's some place I'll find myself.

Thanks for reading, and don't count all of your chickens before they hatch.
J

Next Post will be from the States.

Sunday, I'll be running in the Blues Cruise 50k.  That's in Pennsylvania.  In the United States.  Where it'll be cool.

The forecast for today in Santa Cruz calls for 97 degrees with sun.  I guess we officially entered Spring sometime in the last week or so, but 97 is a bit out of hand.  The 10 day forecast puts partly cloudy and 58 for the high on race day in Reading PA - that's absolutely perfect weather for running.

Not sure how the race will go.  I put together the image above so that I could compare the elevation profile of a course I know well (Bella Vista in green) with the approximate route of the race (Blues Cruise in blue) on Sunday.  The vertical scales are the same and each segment represents about 15.5 miles.  In the case of the blue lines, the top represents the approximate first half and the bottom the second half.

Obviously, my Bella Vista run involves long steady climbing, but the second half of the Blues Cruise course is repeatedly punctuated by short steep climbs.  Many are steeper than anything I've been training on regularly.  Were this race run in the opposite direction, I'd know precisely how to run it, but because the easy miles come first, I have no idea.

Assuming the trails aren't too muddy, I'll suppose I'll run the first few miles on a pace which would set an insignificant marathon PR.  I know I can crack 3:30 at the distance on the road now and expect that 3:15 isn't out of the question.  I logged a bunch of miles this year with the hope of running a low 3 hour marathon in November, I'll call on those miles during the first half of this race.

This is an "All-In" strategy.  I'm hoping to log good miles in the first half of the race and then hang on in the second to get to 4:30.  The problem with this approach is that there is a tremendous opportunity to blow up in the second half and fail to reach my race goals entirely (sub 5 hours, smile, sub 4:30).

We shall see, now it's time to pack.  I'll get a short run in this afternoon in the heat, tomorrow is a day off spent in an airplane then Thursday I'll get out for a quickie on the beach in Ft Lauderdale and hop a plane to Vermont. Looking forward to some foliage, a good race and some quality time with the family.  Hopefully VT will even grant my request and provide a bit of snow while I'm there...

Thanks for reading, and try not to over analyze.
Jay

Recovery Week

Coming into zero hour.  The Blues Cruise is something like 10 days away and I am feeling as ready as I can be.

On Tuesday I got out for my last long run before the race.  It ended up being 15.5 miles and took 2 hours 28 minutes.  I did it without food and drink and took an long break in the first mile to try and help some poor bastard who was having car trouble.  That first mile took nearly 20 minutes.  I posted the run on Garmin Connect (been doing that with all my GPS files recently).  Once again I ran the rollers out toward Bella Vista.

I've said it before, but I really love that road for training.  In the 15.5 miles I logged, there's 2,250 feet of climbing in 4 discrete chunks.  There are stretches where I have to power hike. That's something which I've never really worked on, but I hear people saying it's an important tool to keep in the proverbial drawer.

Anyway.  I really gave a solid effort.  A race quality effort, I thiiink, less the water and food.

I don't really know the Blues Cruise elevation profile, but what I've seen doesn't scare me as much as the one above.  It's got a couple of hills which gain a couple hundred feet in a short distance. Those I expect will require power hiking, but the rest looks runnable.  We'll see, but right now I'm convincing myself that going sub 4:30 is entirely doable.

Ok, that said.  One consequence of running Tuesday without food and water was that it left me trashed.  I got back to Cuevas and immediately had to run off to Samaipata to pay a bill: the bus was leaving and I had to be on it.  I grabbed a couple of cookies and filled a water bottle and off we went.

I put up a big calorie deficit on Tuesday and really felt it yesterday.  Tried working in the yard moving a sand pile, but I had no energy.  Ended up spending much of the day going back and forth from the computer to playing with Deneb.

Speaking of my little star.  He's discovered Kung Fu thanks to the movie Kung Fu Panda.  Would it surprise you that as far as I'm concerned, that's all good?  He's started working on his horse stance.  He says, "Hor Tance!"  Ahhh. Proud Father here.  Did some frog jumps yesterday too.  My garden will feature some Plum Blossom Posts for us to work on balance...

Thanks for reading, and if you learn the secret, perhaps you too can become the dragon warrior.

41st Trip

Yup.

I should be crazy.

Just now starting my 41st trip around the sun.

How do I celebrate?  A fine local pilsner and a 9 mile run.

The run had me thinking that 4 hours and 30 minutes for the Blues Cruise may well be possible.  At my 7.75 mile point, I was at 1 hour 6 minutes and thought, "I could do this 3 more times no problem..."

We'll see.  It's all about eating at this point.

Thanks for reading and don't count the end, count the beginning...
J

Pain in the top of the foot.

Saturday I logged my first ever Vibram clad marathon.  It was a training run and I kept my effort easy throughout.  I rested for 15 minutes in Samaipata and walked a good bit in the last quarter of my run.  I wouldn't call it an easy marathon; it was by no means flat, and there were no aid stations (except for the corner store where I took my break).

Cuevas-Samaipata-Cuevas elevation profile.

Anyway, I woke up Sunday morning with pain and swelling in the soft tissue on the top of my foot. I've whined about top of foot pain before, but it's been some time since I've been bothered by it, and this is different than previous manifestations.  The pain I've previously experienced has seemed to resonate more from the bones of my feet than the soft tissue.

If you google pain in the top of the foot, you're bound to find a bunch of information, but one site seems to describe my condition fairly well.  The author attributes the condition to an imbalance in musculature in the calves and top of the foot, resulting in inflammation and pain.

Why would musculature balance in the top of the foot and calves matter?  I'm thinking out loud here, and don't really know the answer, but if I were guessing...

The calves are much larger muscles and therefore more easily adapt to when new loads are applied.  The nature of running in Five Fingers (in my case) results in me curling my toes back through my initial foot strike.  Try curling your toes back 10 times, think about how it feels, then consider doing that 20000 times per foot: an entire marathon.  In my case, my calves were ready to handle the load of the marathon, but the little muscles and tendons on top of my foot needed a couple more long runs to get ready.

Oh well.

Today the pain is better, but not gone.  I'm taking another whiny day off.  Tomorrow I'll be back at it though with an hour in my Cascadias.  2 days off isn't going to make a difference in my finish time at the Blues Cruise.  I just can't really afford to miss my long run this weekend.

Thanks for reading, and consider the math (it's actually more than 20000)...
J