nothing as powerful as imagination

The last two miles of the race, in the dark, I couldn't see much, and I was limping on my left leg, but here's the insane thing: I felt that, if it weren't for the limp and the temporary eye problem, I could have done another twenty miles or so. I mean, right there and then - I could have done two more loops, maybe.

Of course, that was sheer theory, after all I couldn't do away with the pain in my calf. I was barely walking. But I reasoned that, if the course were flat, I wouldn't have the limp. From here it was just a small leap of imagination to the next statement: I can do a 100-miler. Provided it's flat.

Before my first 50 I have admitted to myself, a few times, that I didn't actually know what would happen and if I would finish. After this race, I had no doubts: I can run 100 miles.

I seriously considered this. At the airport, before we left Wisconsin, waiting for the plane to take off, I was looking up flat 100-mile races.

left vs right

The day after the 50-miler I was limping, not because I was sore - I was - but because my left leg, the calf specifically, hurt much more than the right.

I had read that running uphill is hard on the calves.

Two days later my right leg wasn't sore anymore, but the left one still hurt, and it hurt for two more months afterward, or even longer.

Not sure why the difference - give or take one, I took the same number of steps in this race with both the left leg and the right, and I didn't strain or stretch one more than the other.