After another week of diligently combining and applying elements of the comprehensive "recovery protocol" I cobbled together using input from the orthopedist and chiropractor (rest, ice, tape, stretches, NSAIDs), in a personalized mix-and-match format, I felt sufficiently safe to test the foot again with another run. Well...it wasn't like I really had a choice anyway, since I'd signed Riley and me up for a 5K, before all this nonsense started! Besides, it was to commemorate Global Running Day, and I wasn't about to back out of the opportunity to join my community in celebrating such an occasion.Adding to the appeal, the location was a new one for us--on the campus of a local Catholic church--and the course was described as a "cross-country type loop". Hmm...intriguing. Not surprisingly, when we arrived I quickly spotted folks from the Wednesday night group I sometimes train with, as well as a few bootcamp friends. As usual, Riley wished me a good race, then took his place in the front of the pack so he could set off at his usual speedy pace, unimpeded by the rest of us sloggers. (I mean, look at the picture--he doesn't even appear to be working very hard. Damn sporty teenager with his freakish energy and boundless aerobic capacity...)
Meanwhile, as for me...something about the combination of hills and humidity (this being an evening event, kicking off at 6:30 p.m.) combined to produce an effect like I was trying to plow through...I don't know...marshmallow fluff, maybe?...while also wearing a thick, wet blanket. Suffice it to say, after finishing the first lap, I heard alarm bells in my head, going "Oh, no....we have to do that whole thing AGAIN?" I'm not gonna lie...it was...not pretty, y'all. (Although it somehow doesn't appear that way in the "during" photo...I guess I was wearing my Game Face...otherwise known as "WOW, I'm tired; let's get this over with"!)
But, it eventually got done, and that's really all that counts, right? And although by the time I finally approached the blessed finish line I felt like....oh, let's say a soaked rag that had been wrung out, yet was somehow still dripping...it was all good when I was greeted--and handed my super-cool participation medal--by the familiar smiling face of a young lady from our neighborhood. (Hey, I certainly didn't WIN anything, but I toughed it out, and sometimes that's the best you can do...I'll humbly and gratefully accept the swanky hardware, thankyouverymuch!)
While my overall time was anything but...um..."sprightly"...I ended up almost exactly in the middle of the field. Riley, on the other hand, clocked in at 18:42 (a PR, he believes), for 4th place. As usual, he refused to stay for the awards, since my introverted mini-me shuns attention of all kinds. So he just had to settle for a private high-five from Mom--and a shout-out on her blog, of course! (Shhh! No one mention it to him, 'kay? He never needs to know...) Oh, and when I checked the nationwide stats the next day, he'd apparently come in 84th...out of 9,300 participants across the U.S. Yeeeahhh....not too shabby...So, our first Summer race is officially in the books. Now all we have to do is ramp up the warm weather workouts to increase our heat tolerance so we're ready for the next one we have our eyes on...in August. Sweat-sprints, here we come!
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