And we’re off!
Posted by z on January 12, 2011
On January 1st we ran the First Call Half Marathon. It’s one of our standard races and there’s one every holiday. They are essentially free but donations are accepted. The support for these runs are usually hit and miss but everyone comes prepared to be self sufficient. Normally there is a nice spread at the end because the race director is a Marathon Maniac and he’s got all kinds of ultra-running food for everyone. Cakes, candy, soda, chips. Yum.
It was very cold that day. So cold that the water in the hose of my hydration pack froze. I sipped on ice chunks the entire way. I decided to wear my microfleece jacket and boy, am I glad I did. I thought I’d warm up at some point and need to take it off but I never did take it off.
Somewhere around mile 5 my foot started to hurt. We had run 6 miles on Christmas day and afterward I had gone downstairs to do laundry and twisted a little funny, heard a pop and then had sharp pain in my foot. It had died down but now was starting to hurt. And it wasn’t going to get any better.
We hit the turnaround point and headed back. Just on the other side of the halfway point there was an aid station. It had bagels and cream cheese and hot chocolate. We hung out there for about 5 minutes, chatting with the volunteer and emptying rocks from my shoe. But then we had to start running again. And we had stopped just long enough for my muscles to stiffen up. Ow.
We hit the bathroom around mile 8. It was heated, which was surprising. And I didn’t want to leave it. It felt nice to be warm all around. But we did leave it and away we went. Around mile 9 or so is when my foot really began hurting. It was a sharp pain. So I altered my gait. And it still hurt. I managed to limp the remaining distance in an abysmal 3:10:10. One of my worst times ever. But there were cookies and chips and candy and other bad things to eat so I consoled myself that way.
We have decided to have a contest with another friend. Basically, we each pitched in $100 and it goes to the winner. We weighed ourselves, took photos, and measured certain points on our body. The contest ends on February 27, 2011. I can’t run (and refuse to swim!) so I’m not expecting to walk away with a wad of cash in my pocket.
Tomorrow we leave for the sunshine and warm temperatures of Phoenix. I needed a respite from the dreary Pacific Northwest so we made reservations a few months ago. We will also participate in the Phoenix Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Let’s see how my foot does.
