Training Week 3/5/12

The saga of my right heel issue is still ongoing.  I've had moments of healing and then I do too much or something bad happens.  I'm no opposed to taking time off but I am conflicted about "losing" the fitness I started the year with.
This week is a race week.   We are participating in the Autodrop Ltd. Double Shot.   This is a 2 (6 mile lap) mtn bike followed by a 13.2 mile road bike ending with a 2.2 mile Cat 3 climb up to the top of Hanging Rock.
3/6/12 - Went to the gym and did the spin bike for 40 minutes and ran 2 miles on the treadmill in my Five Fingers.  Later in the evening Gina and I rode our mtn bikes in Fishburn Park.
3/7/12 - Ran the 6 mile loop in 41:20.  Ankle felt OK.  Pace was good.
3/9/12 - Mtn Biked 6.5 miles on my typical pre-race loop to get the legs in order and make sure the bike is functioning OK.
3/10/12 - Participated in the Double Shot at Hanging Rock State Park in NC.  This was a le mans style start that had me on my bike in about 15th position.  We did a loop around the parking area and hit the road for about 300 yards before hitting the trail.  I should have entered in a little better position but didn't want to redline before we hit the trails.  I continually come away with the thought of "it is best to hit it hard and the trail in good position rather than go in at a good pace and ramp it up from there."   It take a lot of energy to get around mtn bikers, especially early in the race when no one wants to give up a position.
     Anyway, I didn't get passed any on this 13 mile mtn bike section, made the transition and hit the road for a very hilly road bike leg.  This is the first time I've raced on a road bike.  It was fun.  At about the 10 mile mark of the road section my legs started to get spent and I worried about the climb to the finish.  The climb to the top and finish wasn't as bad as I had thought.  I needed all my gears but was able to transition from seated to out of the saddle pedaling all the way to the top.  I hit the line in 11th place and at about 2:02:34.  I was happy with the effort and ended up about 2 minutes behind Kenny Palmer.
     The race was a good training race for the 6 hours of Warrior Creek on 4/7/12.
3/11/12 - My legs were pretty tired and sore following the race.  Gina and I did a mtn bike loop at Montvale to check on the trails there for our race in two weeks and then I did an easy 4 mile run later that afternoon.
12 miles running, 29.5 mtn biking, and 25.2 road biking.

Training Week of 2/27/12

2/28/12 - Did 40 minutes on the spin bike and 2 miles on the treadmill in Five Fingers.  Road biked 18 miles up Mill Mountain to the BRP and then came back on Starlight, Merriman, and Brambleton.
2/29/12 - Did the step mill for 30 minutes and then 1 mile in Five Fingers on the treadmill.
3/2/12 - 4 miles of mtn biking marking the EYL course.
3/3/12 - 5.5 miles of course cleanup after the EYL races.
3/4/12 - Ran 6 miles on the road then went to the gym later on and did 40 minutes on the spin bike and 1 mile on the treadmill on Five Fingers.
Total for the week - 13.5 miles running, 4 miles mtn biking, and 38 miles cycling.

Training Week - 2/20/12

2/20/12 - Ran 2 miles in my Five Fingers on the Treadmill.  Had a "new" pain at my right cuboid.
2/21/12 - Did 30 minutes on the spin bike and 15 minutes on the stepmill then at night did a hard road ride to Green Hill Park.
2/22/12 - Ran 6.25 at the cove.  Ran in on the road, songbird, comet, and out on the road.
2/25/12 - Ran 220 to 311 on the AT in 3 hours and 36 minutes (3:25 in moving time).  I use this as a Time Trial to gauge my fitness for Ultras.  I've only done this section under 4 hours a couple of times with a PR of 3:55ish.  Today I ran with Jason Captain from L'burg.  He is a fast guy and just finished Holiday Lake, a couple weeks ago, in under 4 hours.  We hit it pretty hard.  Everything was going pretty well until the Climb up to Scorched Earth Gap.  On the climb up to this the wind was howling at 25-30mph.  The weather is always worse on the last half of this run.  The wind, leaves, and fallen trees were much worse from here on in and in some places the footing for running is worse on this section.  We contoured around McAfee's Knob on the fireroad and ran it in to the finish.  Felt pretty good.   The early pace hit me on the last 5 miles and I was toast at the end and my ankle took a beating today.
2/26/12 - Cleaned up the 10k section of the EYL course and then did a hard road ride to Green Hill Park and back at a 19.3mph ave.
Total for the week - 32.35 miles running and 50 miles biking.

Training Week of 2/13/12

My ankle is doing better.  For the last few weeks I've felt like doing a run in my five fingers would help my ankle.  It just helps me find the right gait and I feel helps put things back in order.  I haven't done this because of the race that was coming up and worried of what would happen if I was wrong.  I didn't want to go into the race with a bigger ankle issue or more inflammation.  So I tested my theory.
2/13/12 - Ran 2 miles in my Five Fingers on the treadmill.  Following the run my ankle felt better than it has felt for 2.5 weeks. 
2/14/12 - Ran my Tuesday morning 6 mile loop in 42:00 and did a .7 mile cooldown.  Felt good to be back running on Tuesday mornings.  Ankle is still doing well.  I think this reinforces my thoughts that I should be doing more training in my five fingers or similar low profile shoes.
2/15/12 - Ran 8 miles at the Cove - Hi Dee Ho, Fire Road, and back on 4 Gorge.  Felt Ok.  Ankle is still not up to par, but better.
2/17/12 - Ran 16 miles on the Apple Orchard Falls side of the Promise Land 50k course.  Ankle felt very good until the last 2 miles of Cornelius Creek when I rolled the crap out of it.  I really rolled it.  I put my ankle in the creek following the run for about 5 minutes. Up until this point I was almost back to 100%.
2/18/12 - Cleaned up the EYL 5k course.
2/19/12 - Ran 6 miles around Raleigh Court.  Ankle is sore.
41.8 miles of running