Time to Meet El Diablo, 2009 edition

After agonizing over this decision and 5 weeks of torturous shin splint pain since Napa, I've decided to run the Diablo 50. Although I lament the training time lost, I also know that with the base I developed in January through early March, I should be ok fitness-wise. What I really want to know is where I'm at based upon where I want to be. With my hybrid approach to training (ultra endurance with marathon speed work), I have a number of key targets to hit in the marathon and San Diego 100 to try to give me a better read on meeting my goals for Badwater. I feel good about making an attempt at Diablo and hopefully if there is any discomfort, it won't be too bad and it won't be related to this recent injury. I'm really not sure exactly where this injury came from, but I've looked at everything from shoes to stretching to muscles imbalance to muscle tears. I have never been injured like this in a long time and hopefully won't have to deal with it again. The biggest loss hasn't been the exercise since there are other ways I've been trying to do it (elliptical/bike/etc.). No, the biggest loss has been the stress relief; I've been more tired and more stressed without an appropriate physical outlet. Although I've tamed my expectations for this race, I will nevertheless push it if I feel good and the opportunity presents itself. I hope to show enough discipline over the first half of the race to put myself in good standing to finish strong.

And as a quick reminder once again, we're raising $18,000 to build 6 wells in Uganda to serve over 7,000 people. If you can help, go to http://seegundyrun.com/How_To_Give.html. Please help if you can! :)

Wish you all the best and God bless,
Gundy