Please be seated with your seatbelts fastened...

Just this Monday we found ourselves flying back from a fantastic vacation in the Wasatch Range in Utah. As we were taxying the runway the pilot got on the intercom and said that he would be keeping the seatbelt sign on the whole trip to Denver because of turbulence. I've traveled enough to know that this is fairly common on these short flights and attribute it to a flight attendant conspiracy to not have to sprint up and down the aisles giving out drinks and peanuts only to run back to pick up all the trash. However, before the landing gear had lifted I realized this was not a joke. We were bouncing up and down and I thought to myself, just hold on for eight seconds. The kids behind me started off by laughing and giggling which quickly turned in to whining and then all out crying. I don't blame them but I have a little trick in these situations: I close my eyes and let my mind drift off to being on a mountain bike bombing along a singletrack high in the mountains. It almost always works, except this time when I closed my eyes something else popped into my mind.

Training for an ultramarathon is not much different than this current plane flight I was on. The base building (taxying out on the runway) is never that fun, usually takes too long and is often filled with the excitement (and maybe fear) of what lies ahead. As we begin to ramp up our miles (take-off to 30,000 feet) we hope for a smooth ride with no issues but often find ourselves like the kids behind me, laughing and crying all at once. Rarely does this portion go smoothly. Eventually, after holding on tight and gritting it out, we hit a stage where running along the trails no longer feels like effort but more like flying at cruising altitude. This is probably my favorite part of high mileage training (on par with the actual races). The mileage is high, the running is easy and reaching race day in fantastic shape is becoming more and more of a reality. Finally, we begin to taper and as we descend on race day the hours and days seem to drag on as our energy and excitement build for the big event. Hell, after writing this down I guess training for races is just one big vacation! :)

I am currently in the take-off to 30,000 feet stage in the training and yes, I have hit some nasty patches of turbulence. Mostly, my right knee is acting up on me again. The good news is that I have really taken care of myself and have learned so much about my body and how I react to certain stresses. The bad news, all the acupuncture, massage, yoga and ice-baths have not seemed to overcome the problem. Initially I thought my issues were from tightness/weakness in the hips. After four weeks of intense hip-opening yoga and strength training I am confident my hips are solid and flexible. Next, I thought my issues were due to an imbalance in my quads; specifically my right leg was much weaker than my left leg. I spent roughly 3x per week targeting single-leg workouts in the gym and am stronger than ever both in leg strength and balance. However, my knee issue was still there. I finally contacted a running friend of mine here in Raleigh who recommended I go to his chiropractor. I've never been a fan of chiropractors but was willing to give it a shot since I was out of ideas for a root cause. 

Finally, today, I found out that my right leg is one full inch shorter than my left leg. The great news is that I finally might be 5'8" :) AND I now have a reason why my knee always hurts me as I start ramping up my miles, especially when I am forced to pavement pound. The repetitive 'limp' over the course of a 30-mile run is enough to piss off any ligament or muscle. My fix is going to incorporate a 1" spacer on my right running shoe to compensate for the short leg. Ultimately, I won't know if this will fix my issues but it is a very good lead and I look forward to getting the data to prove this hypothesis correct. Until then, i am tentative on running the Xterra half at the end of February but am not giving up hope as my base is very solid and if I can get back to 20-30 miles over the next couple weeks I may give it a shot. If not, I will still go and get some Karma points for volunteering. 

Happy Running!