Ankle was not ready, body in general wasn't ready either I don't think. My ankle started having problems after 7ish miles and after that it was pretty much over. I kept having to stop and let it calm down for a minute pretty much ever mile and I couldn't run too fast wherever there were rocks or it would start acting up bad (there are rocks everywhere) so yeah didn't go exactly as I'd hoped. But it was a really beautiful run and I enjoyed it, and a great mileage day with a run that will pay off big later. I started out in the top group of 4 and the first giant hill was rough so after that I let them get away a bit. One of them dropped off and I passed him. I sat in 3rd for a few miles and then a guy with an Indiana jersey passed me, it took him a few minutes cause I kept putting space between us on the flat sections and then he would make it up on the others. I stayed within sight of him until the summit but 2 more guys caught up and I kind of ran with them from 4th-6th until my ankle started hurting about half a mile from the summit. After that I had to let them go and then 2 or 3 other guys passes me before I got to the top. Before the ankle thing I was hoping to use the downhill to catch back up to 3rd and do whatever I could to close the gap on 2nd and 1st and even after it was hurting I was hoping the way back would be nice and smooth so I could fly without worrying about the ankle as much. It wasn't, at all, it was pretty bad and like I said I had to stop like once per mile to give my ankle a break and I couldn't really go too fast so I got passed by a like 4 more people before the end. I talked with a guy who ran at Stanford until last year for a few miles coming down cause his ankle was also not doing well, I think he dropped out though. So yeah not a very good race but an awesome run. Pros: Got a good mileage day in Ankle will probably be fine, I think I managed the injury pretty well. Still finished the race instead of having to wait at an aid station or something. Cons: Did pretty bad Ankle still not healed So not a bad day, one thing I don't like about this race is that the start/parking area is like a mile away from the finish. Additional note: I've always wondered why they give out coke at aid stations so the last 2 aid stations, since I wasn't really running for place or time anymore, I decided to give it a try.. And I threw up.. Both times. I don't know who can drink coke on race haha. On the other hand I don't know why I got it a 2nd time after it went so poorly the 1st, I guess it just tasted good. Also got 2 hours of sleep last night after laying in bed awake for many hours. I'm going to fight taking a nap before bed because I need to discipline my body and train it to sleep earlier. |