Back up the mountain

For the second year in a row GNRC has been selected to participate in the annual Mount Washington Road Race!  We're heading back to the Promised Land!  Or at least the summit, I'm not sure I would call New Hampshire the "Promised Land".  Apparently I did not learn my lesson the first time so I am heading right back out there to rekindle that feeling that can only be described as "it hurts so bad!".  Good times on the mountain, good times.  The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that my profile picture is from last year's race.  I am almost smiling in that photo because I could finally see the summit and realized that the hill did, in fact, have to end.  Contrary to what I had been thinking for the previous five miles.

I'd been hoping to bust out the VFFs for the race but we will have to see.  It has been eleven days since I last ran in the hopes of fixing my foot problem for good.  There is still the occasional pain but it is markedly better due to my strict regiment of not running on it and loafing around.  God, I gotta get out and run soon or I'm going to go crazy.  The 80 degree weather isn't helping my morale any either.  But I think I shall start back up soon.  I have noticed that wearing tight shoes flares up the pain so I think it was a combination of too much too soon, and VFFs that are a bit snug.

So I have modified my plan, more barefoot and only use the VFFs for kicking around in (and at work!).  I was only able to go about a mile and a half on pavement with barefeet so it was a great way to limit my distance.  It would just get too painful on my soles for me to do any damage to my feet and legs.  Birthdayshoes.com seems to agree with this idea.  So back to basics and time to focus on quality.  Slow and steady wins the race; I found that one out on Mount Washington last year.