• Monday: Let my ankle continue to rest
• Tuesday: Tested the ankle with a shitty tape job. 3.3 miles up and down bear hill
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: 7.7, testing a better tape method, using Leukotape instead of standard cloth tape. Worked quite well except the tape really bit in where it was against bare skin.
• Saturday: Decided the ankle felt good enough to try for a fatass 50k I had signed up for, the Blue 2 Blue Challenge. In its inaugural year (this year) it was already branded as "the toughest 50k in Connecticut" which is probably true because of there not being many 50ks in CT, and it was stinking hard. Lots of very technical trails, running along cliff edges, gnarly rock filled descents. It was a great example of what a New England 50k should be. Jimmy (the RD) has plans for next year already, making it a more official race. The race itself went ok for me, made it to the turn around in ~3.5 hours and was feeling ok, but then at about mile 18 or so, I could feel cramps starting to develop. The slight stiffening happening in muscles as they contracted. And the continued to get worse. I was using poles and could feel my triceps cramping. Anytime I had to lift my leg up, my flexors cramped. At one point, to climb up a rock chimney, I had to push down and in doing so, caused one of my abs to cramp up. All in all, not a great last 12 miles. But I finished, in 8:44 and change. And my ankle seemed strong the whole way.
• Sunday: Resting again

Total: 42.8

Thoughts: While I wish my ankle was healing faster, it's good to know I can still run on it if I'm careful. Not sure what my plan will be for next week. I need to keep pushing my fitness up, but I also need to let the ankle recover fully. It still feels better today than it did yesterday morning, and better still than the day before that, despite running on it.

Photo: Pic of the large cliff / rock right at the start finish line of the Blue 2 Blue challenge.