192. Quietly Tackling a 50K Training Run (while injured?)

In 5 weeks I run back to back ultra's in Iceland. The last 5 weeks I've been very quiet on here while battling a calf tear, knowing I'm in Iceland soon. Those who've followed me the last few years will know that I wrecked my chances of initially running my 300km challenge when I tackled a 100Km with an ankle injury 4 months earlier. This put me back a year. You can imagine my surprise that 4 weeks from tacking on 50Km of Lake district ultramarathon, I tore my calf muscle and ended up with it locking up for the month of May in response. "Standard" my mate Graham would call it. You can also imagine my choice whether to go for the 50km which is an important step in my training for Iceland. May saw an intense treatment set from my sports therapist Mandy, who has been phenomenal. I'll add that she is a true sadist, seeking out the most painful means of torture. The more she laughs while doing it, the more brutal the treatment you know is happening. A true and beautiful sadist. After the Needle Torture (something that was surely outlawed in the Geneva Convention) which came after an ominous "you're really not going to like this" warning, I was amazed at how much it helped. Huge shout out to Mandy of MC Sports Therapy, for being the only woman to willingly go elbows deep in my bare ass (and quite literally), to help fix the long standing hip problem I had developed after my 300km run.

That said she made a huge difference. A week out, it was then a matter of intense hot water bottle treatment and some deep tissue work on my remaining knots. But there was still the worry that on the mountains at the weekend, that my calf would fail. This was a dilemma. I made sure I fuelled to perfection. Sweet calories every 30 mins, constant electrolite mix in my water, and taking an easy pace with NO RUNNING UPHILL. But managed to tackle the 1700m of climb with zero issues with my muscles. Only a swollen ankle from the diabolical path conditions underfoot, and my irrational decision-making to jog down hill on a few descents. The biggest isse was blisters. The rocky trail, the nonstop rain and rapidly trench-foot-inducing conditions, as well as not securing my left SpeedGoat shoe properly left me with some epic blisters. But I can live with that. The muscles held out. This gives me some huge confidence going forward that I'll successfully navigate both days of Iceland and have one of the most stunning running challenges I have yet faced.

I am excited, and feeling far more confident now I've completed the Lakes 50K. It should be an epic adventure for Garahm and I, who are 'tenting' in a small group to tackle this challenge. Rest assured there will be pics and video, but for now I go into the last weeks of training with a 30+20K back to back in a couple of weeks, while getting back on my training after the 50km recovery week in the week ahead (while mindful of my healing blisters). A video of Lakes 50K will follow soon, but for now, thanks for reading.