Lowi has been updating you on her training for our upcoming adventure. Her progress is steady and on target, while mine has hit a delay.

But let’s start with the positive. As the new year began, I was already running on track. I had a great training schedule, and even though it was challenging, I was feeling strong.

I had a 50K on the horizon that would lead me right into the 24-hour race with Lowi and the gang. 

Then about mid-February, a forgotten and postponed dental surgery came back into view. As with procedures like this, there never really is a good time. I decided just to get it over with as soon as they could schedule me. I took the rip-the-band-aid-off type of approach.

I knew this meant that my training would be put on hold for three weeks, but again, is there ever a good time? I figured I had a few more productive training weeks ahead of me before I ran the 50K and then plunged into a prescribed hiatus. 

In early March, John and I went to Tennessee and cranked out what is quite possibly my best 50K to date. While all races on the longer side have ups and downs, I felt strong during this one. I handled my low points well and committed to sticking with my fuel plan. I ate when I needed to, regardless of whether I felt like it. And it paid off.

The high that I felt coming off that race quickly took a nosedive into what every liminal space of healing and recovery feels like – borderline depression.

My training went from high mileage and a successful race to eating mashed potatoes and binge-watching Netflix. It may be some sort of record for how quickly someone has gone from 50K to couch. It took five days.

Being cleared to return to regular training sounds fantastic, but this whole process feels like running at full speed, hitting a brick wall, lying on the ground for a little while, and then getting up with the idea that you can pick up where you left off. It doesn’t quite work that way. I don’t know why I am shocked.

Now I am on the slow climb back to some semblance of fitness.

Here we are, friends. My 50k to the couch to … 24-hour race in 4 weeks is going to be an absolute slugfest. I don’t know how it’s going to go, but I feel relatively confident that it’s going to leave a mark.