Minimal

 I'm doing a couple of experiments tomorrow.

Regular readers have already begun to cringe.
They know something horrible is coming.

My factory seconds body has once again crapped out on me, in both old and new ways. My right knee is still sore from the hockey tournament three weeks ago, my left hip/hamstring/lower back/whatever is still utter junk, and my right ankle has been super cranky again for the last month. My fibulas may also be a bit jammed up. Oh, and I caught some kind of sinus infection at the stupid hockey tournament as well, which stuffed my head with goo for almost two weeks.

For once, I actually went and looked for some medical attention for at least some of these things. I took hours off from my job that I couldn't really afford due to my workload, and braved some of the worst weather this month has had to offer taking transit down to and back from my sports chiropractor/physio.

Through this.

End result: no adjustment, despite it being confirmed that at least my right fibula is stuck. A supposedly sprained ankle that he won't touch. No treatment, no relief...but wanted me to come back the next week.

I was delighted.

So, I tried some other things. 

Including some rather extreme ideas

Yes, I took some time off running. With one thing or another, I've only done something I classed as a "run" on 17 out of the last 29 days, and some of those involved less than 5 minutes of actual running.

Though all of them had a non-zero amount

..and many of them involved hills of varying heights and complexities.

I've tried to work out the best way to tape my ankle to protect it..

While having slightly less chance of blistering the heck out of me than white trainer's tape

..and I've also done some more damage. I tweaked my ankle trying to skateboard a shopping cart through a parking lot, because I'm five. I took a chunk out of my toe and had a giant chunk of tree stump whack me right where my ankle hurts while doing yard work to try to reclaim our overgrown backyard.

I went pure herbicidal maniac

In a last-ditch effort to try to rest up after all of this, I only went for a pure walk on Monday...and ended up with a painful blister deep in the flesh of the bottom of my heel.

Though I did see some of the first of the season's magnolias, so maybe worth it?

Then add in a good dose of stress as I had to re-caulk our bathtub - not once, but TWICE within 48 hours. A chunk had popped loose from the surround along the back wall, which would allow water from a shower to pour straight down behind the tub. I stripped out the centre back section and re-did it on Sunday, but it turns out the silicone I used was expired and wouldn't cure, so I ended up having to pull out the entire bottom bead and re-do the whole thing on Tuesday.

Apparently I can play fast and loose with food and supplement expiry dates, but not sealant.
Who knew?

So what does all this add up to?

I'm exhausted, have only "run" a little more than 100km this month, have multiple injuries...and have a 50k at a ski hill tomorrow.

In my defense, I wasn't quite so broken when I registered...two years ago.

I thought about dropping down in distance, but since Tank will be volunteering at an aid station all day I might as well go get my money's worth. I'm also curious to see how it will go, as it's far from a sure thing that I won't just end up with a big, fat DNF. So, the experiments I am conducting tomorrow are:

1. What is the minimum effective dose of running to be able to finish a 50k under the 9-hour cutoff?
2. Can I actually manage it at all with the multifarious damage to my ankle, knee, and hip?

I'm absolutely prepared to be pulled off course for failing to make the cut off to start loop 4, or just to shut it down after 1 lap if it feels like I might properly cripple myself. I can always go help out at the ski hill aid station, or just go for a long nap while I wait for Tank. However, I'll never know what's possible until I try, so I'll crank myself out of bed at a thoroughly absurd hour tomorrow and go give it a whack.

How bad could it be?

See you on the other side!