I am going to try to keep both of the Cherry Blossom and Nike reports pretty short. I have a lot of complains about both (because of me, not because of the races themselves) and I don’t really feel like dwelling on those, so short and sweet!
I can’t even begin to describe the nerves I felt going into
Cherry Blossom. I was TERRIFIED that I would not be able to “beat the bus.” Fun
news- I was not the only one. Being in the second to last corral, I was
surrounded by people who were nervous about not finishing quickly enough. That really did not help me. My nerves
combined with the fact that it was about -10⁰ (actually temp, feel free to check),
I was shaking! Luckily, Pasty was kind enough to start with me.
Note: My headband says "Run, Walk, or Crawl, Just Finish"- took that literally!
Note 2: I did NOT want to give up that jacket before the start due to the -10⁰ weather!
Our goal was to stick with the 11:30 pacer as long as possible.
This ended before we even crossed the start line because the pacers ditched
their sticks and blended into the crowd… not cool man. Not cool. Anyway, here
was a quick breakdown of the race:
Miles 1-4ish: Patsy and I ran together at about an 11:30 pace
(first two miles under and around 11). All was good, the bus could kick rocks.
A little after mile 4 my right foot reeeally started hurting. I had to take a
walking break and try to stretch it. Basically from that point forward my mantra
became “beat the damn bus.” I was doing walking/running intervals, but my foot
really hurt.
Mile 7- Shortly before mile 7, my right knee started hurting
(probably from over compensating for the knee pain... cool). When I passed the
mile 7 marker I actually contemplated sitting my tush on the curb and waiting
for the darn bus. Well, I don’t like attention and really didn't want to talk
to a race volunteer who would inevitably come and make sure I was ok. Also, I
was sure that I would wait long for the bus to reach me then it would take for
me to finish.
I finished the darn race cursing in my head at the people who were
lying about how close we were to the finish. I finished in 2:07:11… a 12:43
pace. Not exactly the 11:30 pace I was shooting for, but given the pain, I was
happy I finished. I called Sara when I was done to see if they were still
around, and I was so emotional and upset that I was in pain that I started crying
while talking to her. Yep, I’m so mature! Eventually I got ice, put my big girl
panties on and then was fine.
The PT that helped me with ice said it was probably just sore planter
fascia and it probably just needs to be stretched more on a regular basis. So that’s what I did between Cherry Blossom
and Nike and that seemed to help.
Overall, not thrilled with my time, but happy I beat the bus
(moreover, that I didn’t see the bus at all except on an out and back coming the
other way)! J
Up next- Nike Woman’s Half…
