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Day 5: The beginning of the end

It started like most of the other mornings. Except there was a stunning sunrise. The vibrant orange and pinks made getting up to be a pleasure. Surprisingly, my legs were feeling much better and I was super optimistic. Suunto and I cruised the first 14km together which were absolute bliss. My foot and ankle were still sore, but I had been managing the pain well for the last few days. We ran through "Walters Falls", which was swollen and stunning. After that we met back up with the Van. I dropped off Suunto and picked up Lindsay for the next few kilometers. Lindsay was running 4 minute intervals away from me, and then back, and recovering with me for 2 minutes. This made the next 7km zoom by.

We met back up with the Van where a local film crew had come out to document some of the run. I was feeling good and running a good pace still (approx 9min/km). I headed out on the next leg alone, which was to be 16km. About 4 km later a switch went off in my leg. The pain levels went from being a constant ache to excruciating shooting pain with every step. Running became out of the question. I quickly messaged Lindsay and Matt to come meet me at the next location. I hobbled along to meet them, then sat down. I told them what happened and I was completely disheartened. I really wanted to keep going. after a lengthy discussion, we decided it was time to reassess. We went to my local friend's house, where he set up a quick physio appointment.

The Physio looked at me and said "go to the hospital". She was sure it was not tendinitis (as I thought), but was some sort of infection or a stress fracture. I went to the hospital and got checked out. They X-rayed me and put me on an IV. They said it was a blood infection and pretty serious. Not good. Running was out of the question. The pain was still very high and I concurred, thus putting and end to the Bruce Trail record. I was disheartened, as I was having such a fabulous time, learning lots about myself and the beautiful province we live in.

After all the great support from fans and friends I felt like I had disappointed a lot of people (myself included), but that I knew I couldn't go on. I know that this is all part of something much bigger (Project 150, and myself as an athlete and person), and that i'll live to fight another day.

Keep following this blog to learn about how i'll be training for my upcoming trail efforts.

Thanks to everyone!

--Ryan

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