the very short version: after almost 19 rain-soaked hours and 78 miles, the combination stress fracture and burst blood vessel in my left shin gave me my very first dnf. for the 100 miler. when the race official told me that, on the bright side, i'd get credit for the 50 miler, what went through my head was, "wow, that was a lot of work for 50 miles!"
the shin split/stress fracture happened at the start of the third loop, just after mile 25, probably as a result of switching from trail shoes into road shoes. more on that in the race report. after 6 laps, 75 miles, i noticed the second bruise, above the original one. after starting the 7th loop and completing the airport spur, i decided to head back to the main staging area to have it checked out. that's when i got the bad news.
it wasn't the stress facture that concerned the medical official; instead, they were focused on the hematoma - a/k/a burst blood vessel. they pointed out, diplomatically, that if i went back out on the course, i could finish the race or after a mile a clot could travel to my lungs or heart and i'd die. that was my easiest decision of the day. again, will write up the details later.
i just got off the phone with emmy, meredith, and anthony. they were all together, driving back to the hotel from the race site. emmy finished just under 25 hours, 9th woman overall! hurray for getting her first 100 miler in the books!! meredith finished in just over 26 hours! hurray for completing (what i think) was her 4th 100 miler!! they also told me that this year had the highest drop rate of any year of the race. that was probably a direct result all the rain. i'm looking forward to reading emmy and meredith's race reports, and anthony's pacer's report (have done the last 2.5 loops of the course with meredith)!
i write this with my left leg elevated, ice pack over the injuries. we have a 6 o'clock flight back to laguardia. tomorrow i'll have to assess what impact these two little bruises will have on my near term running plans.
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here is my race report.
here are my race photos.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
umstead 100 update: rr and photos to follow
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9 comments:
Thanks for visiting my blog. No, I live near Rome, on the west coast. Abruzzo is on the east coast, a little far from here. I am sorry for the injury, all the best and good luck.
what a photo -can't believe how swollen that leg is. you are going to have to cross train...you'll need to get a monthly membership to NY sports club..have been hanging out in the hotel room with merdith and anthony and eddie -saw Adamas --she finished!!!in the pouring rain and cold..you ran 2 loops in pain!
your blog is up now -just showed everyone (including Durt, mandy and all those supporters of Meredith your swollen leg. They couldn't believe it:(
Frank,
That looks incredibly painful, cringe -worthy, just looking at that photo. Take care of that, and hope you are back running again soon.
pete
Frank:
I am so sorry you had ot dnf. After all the training and our own expectations, it is disappointing but...we still like you.
Hope you heal soon and please, I know how hard this is but give yourself some time to heal.
Dude - two things...first, I can't believe you stayed out there that long suffering...second, after seeing you around mile 70 (and your leg), you did the absolute right thing by putting on the brakes. Smart decision. Feel better.
I hope you mend quickly. 50 miles on that must have been rough.
Frank,
I admire your pain tolerance. I can't even imagine what that felt like running or what it even feels like now. 78 miles is still pretty dang far. Be proud of yourself and stay positive! Heal fast!!!
thanks everyone, i'll be posting as walkgingerly for a while - haha. but seriously, thanks for checking in on me. right now in recovery mode. the next few days will see how bad the foot really is. hopefully i won't be out of commission for too long.
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