2017 Massanutten 100: Thoughts From The Pain Cave
What if I flip my bib upside down? Photo by Mike OGrady “Pain is only weakness leaving the body…..Pain is only weakness leaving the body…” I was only at mile 44 when this mantra started flowing through my mind. With every step, I felt small needles digging into the bottom of my left foot. This exact pain was not familiar, but I knew it was more than scree and sand in my socks. Normally, I would keep running and diagnose the pain later, but with this being my first 100 miler, and so early in the race, I decided I needed to check it out. I sat down on a rock next to the trail, and took off my left shoe to survey the damage. It didn’t look good. I couldn’t tell if my skin was blistering or not, but it was puffy and starting to form deep crevices. As I started back down the trail I thought, “Oh well, I’ll get to Indian Grave in a few miles and figure it out there. And I have socks at Habron Gap, so suck it up buttercup.” Little did I know how much suck...