Day 4,531—2 Runs until the Run Rabbit Run 100 and more Pain Returns?— Start time: 4:37 a.m.

 

Weather: Mid 70s wind 4.3  mi/h, Humidity 77%

        As soon as I thought the elevation might not be as much of a problem as I thought, my right foot erupted in pain near the top of my foot. I stopped and walked some, and then got back into a running stride, and the pain stopped, but the experience made me focus on the other pain in my arm and neck that hasn’t gone away. I wonder if I get scared as I did in Florida; it will make the pain go away, but I don’t know how I would recreate that experience, except talking to my pain and telling my muscles to relax, which does help but not as much as I would like.

        I might be the most prepared ever for leaving this far from the race, but I leave tomorrow, and I have gotten a lot done. It was so slow going yesterday, but I re-laced the shoestrings on my new pair, and went through my socks and underwear. The good news is that I don’t think I will need to go to the store for anything tonight (I hope not), but I have something on hold at the library that will be gone by the time I get back. I am thinking of just letting the hold lapse; that’s the problem when it takes months to get something you requested: you stop remembering why you requested it in the first place.

        I filled up on gas yesterday, which is nice because it means that I should be able to leave whenever I get off work Tomorrow. I would like to leave before 3:30 because I am likely going to struggle to stay up past 10, and with no caffeine, how am I supposed to stay up? Today is the day I am going to have second thoughts on everything. Why am I doing this race at all? Why do I even run ultra runs? It is hard not to be suddenly negative about all my choices in these moments before I leave for the race.