What a long strange week it has been. From a training perspective, one of the most discouraging weeks I can recall in a long, long time. Frankly, I am amazed I am writing about a race at all.
I have had no entries in the last few days because I simply had nothing to report. I basically had pain consistently in my lower back, upper hamstring, and glute all week. After a couple of massages that should have done something, but didn't, I started to get fairly discouraged. I started to think about the two words that no runner wants to think about . . . stress fracture. More specifically, pelvic stress fracture. I seemed to have the right ingredients, an increased training load over the last couple of weeks accompanied with an increasing in overall intensity. The fact that nothing was resolving with the body work contributed to my thinking.
So I didn't run. What I did do was get an appointment to see Dr. Jim Macintyre, who has received excellent reviews from other runners I know. He couldn't see me until Friday. Now, the thing was that the Canyonlands Half Marathon was the next day. That has been a goal race for me this season. I wanted to run well down there, something I have never really done. I have thought about it a lot and tried to tailor my training in preparation. By mid-week, however, I had essentially abandoned the hope of running the half marathon. How could I think of running 13 miles when I couldn't run 100 meters without pain?
Dr. Macintyre ran through some diagnostic tests with my legs and pelvis and concluded, quickly, that I didn' have a stress fracture. What I had was a pelvis that was torqued forward and up on the right side. He thought I might have had some acute issue; but I don't remember anything like that. He and his assistant then ran through a series of manipulations and exercises to try to get things back in order. It didn't take them long. Suddenly, I felt a whole lot better. Whereas I couldn't stand on one leg and lean forward without pain when I walked in, I could do that now. They also showed me the exercises to do to get things back in line. So I talked with him about my running and racing this weekend. He figured I was good to go for the half and that I should just stop and walk if I hurt. After explaining that I didn't really view that as an option, I told him that they do offer a consolation race--the five mile run. He thought that would be fine. I told him I was unsure about racing it fast; he said it should be fine to run how I felt.
Okay. Things were looking up. I went in hoping for the best and expecting the worst and I came out alright. However, since I had already mentally checked out of racing this weekend, I had basically logistically checked out of doing so as well. Even if I wanted to go, I still had a full day of work ahead of me and would then need to get to Moab by 9pm so that I could get to the race expo in time to change from the Half to the five mile option. I worked efficiently enough that by about 2:30 I made the game-day decision that we would head to Moab. I coordinated with Heather to get our stuff together. We would have to be on the road by 5pm if we had any hope of getting to Moab by 9pm. I got home at 5:10 and we were on the road by 5:20. That little time gap would prove significant.
We hurried toward Moab as swiftly as we could, stopping just once. It didn't look good for time, however. When we rolled into Moab at about 9:05, it became clear to me that all the effort could be for naught. We got to the expo at 9:10. There was a race worker out front waving people away and blocking the entrance to the parking lot. I persuaded him to let me pass, but he didn't think I stood much of a chance of getting in. He was right. The doors were locked. After standing out front for a minute or two hoping someone inside would notice me (knocking was futile), a more kind-spirited race worker came and unlocked the door and let me in. Everything was in shut down mode, but amazingly I managed to pick up my packet and get them to switch me from the half to the 5 miler. Whew.
I still had not had a chance to run after seeing the doc. I did that first thing in the morning. I went out and ran about .5 of a mile, just testing out various paces and forms. It felt ok. Not amazing, but decent. Good enough to race. Next thing I knew I was up the canyon hanging out at the starting area for the race waiting to go. They don't let you warm up on the road because of the bus traffic, but you can head up Negro Bill Canyon, which is the staging area for the 5 mile race. I had not been up there before and it was gorgeous on this morning. I went about 1.5 miles out and back total.
Now it was time to line up for the start. I didn't recognize any runners except Mike Evans. There was a large contingent of runners from Dine College in Shiprock, New Mexico. They appeared to be young and fast. I was correct. The race itself was a bit of a blur. I pushed through the first mile in 5:21. The pain in my glute came back almost immediately but didn't really get worse and the discomfort was manageable. I knew it was a short race. Although my first mile split seemed promising, I couldn't hold it. At mile 2 you have that big hill that comes at mile 9 in the half marathon. I decided this year to call it "the Dragon." It sounds adequately dramatic. After that, my miles were all slower. I just couldn't get my legs to turn over faster! Maybe it was a loss of sharpness from the lack of running all week.
The places shook out by mile 2 and didn't really change from my perspective. A few of the Shiprock runners, Mike Evans and a couple other youngsters were ahead. I was in 7th and stayed there. The last two miles; which are no fun in the half marathon, were no better in the 5 mile. That is to say, they are interminable. But I finally found the finish line. I was pretty spent, even though I don't feel that I ran very fast. My time was 28:46, a pace of 5:45 per mile. I was seventh, holding off at least one or two of those Shiprock kids. It's funny, if I ran this time at this race last year, I would have finished third.
I cooled down with one of the kids who beat me, a high school runner from Denver, Matt Bell.
It felt good to be running, but I have mixed feelings about the race. I would have preferred to do the half, but was not ready for it on race day. I am glad I got to do something, however. I look forward to finding my way through this hiccup and seeing what I can do on the other side. | 