Well I'll I can say about this race is I was glad to finish and it was fun and I thought I did well once my titanium rod leg got warmed up. This was a special event because my daughter started with me. We've never started a race together. She was shooting for a 1:39. I didn't care I was going to either hang with her or just go out on my own. I've been fighting ankle soreness around the tendon and was actually limping this week on it for a 6 miles training run Wednesday. Thursday more of the same after the 4 mile taper run. Friday, I didn't run just to rest the ankle for Saturday. I wasn't feeling the best either Friday (it actually started Thursday not feeling well), and vomited liquid up at work. We've had a lot of sick people there the last few days. I had plenty of reasons not to run, but I really looked at what rehab I've done on my leg and this didn't compare to the extreme pain that I went through with my leg so I knew I wanted to run.
We got up at 7am (the start was 10:13), and we both ate a bowl of oatmeal to fill the belly a bit. I had a little bit of coffee but not much. We got all the bathroom stuff taken care of to be fully empty for the start :-). We headed to the race and arrived around 9am. The cold weather was a factor with my Titanium rod leg making it tight and ache. It felt swollen and like a brick to move. The same issues when we were walking off the bus to the start I could feel the tightness and my ankle had a little ache still, but not overwhelming. It was snowing and blowing at the top of the course. The race director warned us we had to be very careful the first 4 miles because of the ice. It was horribly slick and about one inch of snow at the top of the course. I knew because of my lack of agility still with my leg I needed to take it a little easier. I didn't know how I would do with the tightness and icy conditions... so here we go. (Windy... 20ish degrees ... Snowing)
7:17 - (Steep Downhill) Very tight and sore the leg was not responding well. My daughter pulled ahead of me. Very Slick
7:00 - (Steep Downhill) Same very tight and sore. Very Slick.
7:11 - (More Downhill) I almost considered at this point doing a DNF because the leg was just tight and cold and I just didn't feel in rythmn. My daughter was still ahead of me looking good. Very Slick
7:20 - More of the same, but I was getting warmer. Not Slick anymore.
6:57- Finally! something just clicked or my leg finally got going and I felt better and I passed my daughter at this point.
7:04 - Starting to feel better and thinking maybe I can put a good string of miles in the tougher half of the course. I blew doing well on the downhill.
7:00 - (flat) Starting catching runners who raced down the hill. I knew that something was getting better and my pace felt more at ease.
6:48 (flat rolling) Started running with a group of two other runners I caught, and we started passing runners has we went through the course. (First water Station that I took fluid at... wasn't warm enough to drink a lot of water).
6:51 (Flat Rolling) Again... stayed with the two other runners and we were passing more runners as we went through the mile. I was starting to feel that I could hang in there now. My ankle was a little achy but nothing bad.
6:55 (Flat) Still running with the other two runner's and feeling warmer and the leg seemed to respond better. The North Face jacket I had on was a good choice, but like I said I could probably have taken it off at this point.
7:02 (Flat and Rolling) - Took a gel to help the last few miles. I was still feeling good and running with the other two runners. But I was planning a strategy to make a move. I decided to make a move at the end of mile 11. I wanted to just pick
the pace up and leave the two other runners and either die at the end or
finish strong ahead. I didn't know what would happen. My running has just been for fun up to this point so it really didn't matter what happened to me.
6:53 (Rolling) - I started edging ahead and the other two runners responded but staying right behind me. Towards the end of the mile I had a 10 -20 meter gap.
6:43 (Uphill and flat with 100m downhill finish) This mile I gave what I had left and was way ahead of the other two runners (100 meters or less). They didn't respond to my even faster pace on this mile. I finished 14th at 1:31:37. After I finished they took my chip off and I ran back half mile on the course to push my daughter to get under a 1:39. She said she was glad to see me. I was able to push her hard the last bit of the mile and she finished at 1:39:08. We hugged and were so excited. I was so happy for her I had tears as we hugged and bonded together. What I learned and knew going into this race: 1. I knew going in I really didn't have a time goal and wanted something under a 1:35. 2. I know my titanium rod will be achy and tight in colder weather. 3. Know now I need to warm up better for the leg to respond. 4. Don't care about my time but excited for my daughter. 5. To be able to beat the other two runners when I thought they looked stronger was a blessing. I was excited to be a little competitive and aggressive and feel good about it.
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