Making adjustments...

Since most of us are pretty stubborn hard headed ultra runners, making adjustments to our running plans is normally not an easy decision to make.

Unfortunately, when I went out for my run today I still experienced a small amount of pain/discomfort. It was much better than before, but was still there. I told myself that if I felt ANY pain at all when I ran today that I would not run the Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon this weekend.

Of course when I got back from the run I had already decided I was going to try and run Athens this weekend.

All it took to change my mind was a few texts from a good friend, and reading back through a post from Larry.

So, with that said, I went ahead and sent the email to Joe to pull me out of the Rocky Raccoon 100, and sent another email to Lynn to put me on the volunteer list for the DamNation aid station.

To cut straight to chase here, I'm going to take the month of January off completely, and not run until the weekend of Rocky Raccoon or the week after. I seriously doubt that I'll have any time to run while working Rocky, but if I get a chance to run Friday night after helping set up I will.

Volunteering at Rocky is something I am really looking forward to. I've volunteered in plenty of short distance triathlons, but nothing like a 100 mile aid station that gets hit about 10X by EACH runner! Not to mention the 50 mile traffic. Having done a few ultras myself now, including a 100 and a double Iron, I'm hoping that I'll be able to really help in those late hours of the race. I know I'm gonna get worked hard out there, and expect nothing less! (Yes, that's a challenge Lynn!)

The last time this issue with my foot came about I took 42 straight days off from running and was good to go when I returned. This time I'll take 32 days completely off, plus the 9 days before today. That's only one day of running in 42 days.

While taking time off is always difficult, I can't help but remember there are bigger fish to fry later this year including running a Hardrock qualifier, and the Leona Divide 50M which I've already signed up for out in Cali. My favorite running all year is in the heat of our glorious Texas summers. While we don't have mountains out here, we have heat that will seriously mess you up if you don't know how to run in it.

I want to thank all of you that sent encouraging message, facebook comments, emails, etc. It's been very uplifting and motivating. It's helped me see the positive and to remember to look ahead.

I will do my best to update my status as the month progresses, but for now I'm going to get back on my cycling trainer in the garage and get my cardio fitness in the best shape I can before Rocky. This month will be all about staying fit and strong, so that when I get back on the trails I'll be ready to go.

I've also decided that another great way to take my mind off of the injury is to start commuting to work on my fixed gear bike! I've been thinking about this for awhile, but always knew it would mess with my running schedule.

Today I took it up to the bike shop and put all the finishing touches on it, and it's now ready to go. Below I've posted a few photos:

"Custom" brake lever

I also finally got a chance to run in the Brooks Pure Grit trail shoe and cannot wait to review this bad boy! I bought it a few days ago, and only got todays run in it, which was a mix 5 mile mix of rocks, grass, road, mud, and of course plenty of dirt. While I'm no expert on the shoe, I do plan on doing a quick preliminary review for anyone that is interested!

Clean out of the box!

Check out that outsole action!! Grip-tastic.

Unfortunately (just because I'm not gonna be running for a month) I'm getting my New Balance MT110s in the mail tomorrow!!! This saddens me and excites me all at the same time. I've been waiting to run in these since Hardrock, and now it looks like I'll have to wait an extra month. On the upside, I guess they'll be so clean I can wear them to work for the month of January!! Even though I won't be able to run in those yet, I'll be posting a "Shoe Porn XXX" photo shoot with all my spare time not running.

Just like I said in my post a few days ago, I know I'm gonna come out of this stronger than I went in, I've just got to sit back, look at the big picture, and know that I'll back to doing what I love in a month.

So with that, let the countdown begin.

_El Jacobo_