Amie Lynne

Last year, Adam and I attempted the East Fork 100K and took the unofficial 50K finish. We got home, ate, and immediately knew we’d made the wrong call. We had more in the tank. We could have kept going.

So this year, we came back stronger, better prepared, and genuinely believed we could finish the 100K.

Then race week did what race week does.

Heavy rain made the river crossings unsafe, the course changed at the last minute, and race day brought brutal humidity, some rain, and an epic shit ton of mud.

And somehow, we were having the best fucking day! I felt good, I was moving well, and my mood was great.

Around mile 24, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my heel that shot upward into my ankle/Achilles. It happened twice and stopped.

By mile 29–30, my ankle was throbbing, but I kept moving and made it to the 50K mark about 95 minutes faster than last year.

I sat down, took my shoes and socks off to get ready for the next loop and saw that my ankle was bruised and swollen.

I spent more than two hours trying to convince myself to stop. I wanted this finish so badly. I spent an entire year thinking about it.

But going back out meant another 33 miles of mud, climbing, descending and slipping without knowing what I’d injured.

Eventually, I made the decision I didn’t want to make, I stopped and took my DNF. To say I’m not upset would be a lie.

Afterward, a persistent headache, nausea and vomiting landed me in the ER. Thankfully, that workup was reassuring and my ankle X-ray showed no fracture.

An MRI finally gave me the answer:

Achilles peritenonitis with superficial edema, no tear or rupture, and a Grade 1 ATFL sprain.

So I wasn’t imagining the injury, but I also stopped before we got to find out what another 33 miles might have done to it. I’m still disappointed. I probably will be for a while.

For now, it’s recover and then onto the next…

I have a feeling East Fork and I aren’t finished with each other yet…

#eastforktrail #ultramarathon #trailrunner #dnf #ultrarunner