This past weekend I ran in the Twin Cities 10 mile run, the precursor to the serious Marathon runners. We start at roughly the same place but, as the shirt says, the 10 mile is the "short cut to the capital" and is all I can handle at my current level. It may be all I ever handle. I was beat after only 10, I can't imagine running 26.
My wife dropped me off at about 6:45 for the 7:13 start. A slight mist but I left my jacket in the car. I get to the starting line and bend down to tighten my shoes and observe that, with less than 20 minutes to start, I have the wrong shoes on. Lovely. The one major piece of equipment for runners and I have the wrong shoes. Fortunately I can run in them its just not as good for my feet or my body. They're fairly new cross-trainer type shoes but lack the cushion my asics have. It's one of those "nothing I can do about it now" moments. Either I run in these or don't run at all.
I'm in the third corral cause I'm poky. Actually, I'm recovering from an injury and I knew I wasn't going to be very fast so it's fine with me. It just worries me that instead of starting in the first corral, I have fewer people behind me and the real possibility of finishing last crosses my mind.
But the calf doesn't bother me too much, I run a nice easy race actually finishing ahead of last year when I was sick the week before the race. The rain held off until I was in the chute after the finish line waiting for my banana and bread, water, a medal and tinfoil rap (to keep you warm), picking up my end-of-race goody bag that had all kinds of snacks in it, and most importantly, the finishers t-shirt.
And I realized that no, I didn't bring my bus card so I could get home, I brought my security card for the office. No bus fare! Fortunately the 21a driver was kind and let me on for the .50c that I had in reserve to call my wife in an emergency.
It's interesting to watch the various individuals running, some in incredible shape (to run that is) and some in incredible shape that still manage to run 10 miles. I saw Elvis! And a guy running holding the American flag. People holding in-depth conversations while passing me. Thousands of spectators standing in the rain cheering us on.
It was a good race. Not necessarily fun because with my leg injury I couldn't run as fast as I'd hoped for. And the recovery period for these things keeps getting longer. It's Tuesday after the race and I'm still hobbling around like an old man who forgot his arthritis medicine. But it's a good race. A beautiful race. I may run again next year.
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1 comment:
Cool! Wrong shoes. No bus pass. Ouch!
Regarding the soreness, I'd suggest that you are more sore this time because you tried harder, relative to your fitness level, than you did last year. Last year you were sick (decreasing your energy level) and you wore shoes that were more forgiving to your muscles.
Just a thought, from somebody who doesn't know you but loves these sorts of races. :)
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