El Burro Blanco

I ran the US Marathon Championships yesterday in crappy conditions.  I will not beat around the bush.  The weather was so much fun to run in.  Can you sense the sarcasm :)  Very disappointed but you can't change the elements.  The race started off with cool temperatures and then the rain and wind came a coming not even 4 miles into the race.  I wasn't worried about pace because I just wanted to run with a pack and see what would happen.

I felt good through mile 8 and then up to about mile 12 where I was running with Dennis Simonatis and Tracy Lokken (both top 3 masters winners) and a couple other guys in a group.  They picked up the pace and my legs didn't respond.  I hit the half at 1:11 something and felt okay.  I was cold and the legs felt alright but I was running solo at this point.  I ran the entire rest of the rest all by my lonesome self.

My legs were dead just after the half.  I couldn't feel my legs and hands.  Everything was numb.  I tried to stay relaxed and focus on keeping everything intact.  I hit 20 miles at 1:53ish and was quite surprised.  Now the real fun begins.  The last 10K was a living nightmare.  Crosswinds picked up and I was trying to drag my behind uphill for the last 6 or so miles of the race.  I had nothing left in the tank.  I was dragging.  I kept telling myself I needed to finish.  Every ounce of my body was like, "Is this really worth it?"  I got to the top of the hill just after 25 miles and knew I was almost done.  The last 3/4 at the end were downhill but I didn't feel that great.  I crossed the finish line and knew I was done.

I needed a wheelchair at this point.  I was fine but decided what the heck.  I got a free, first class ticket to the medical tent where I was fed bread, bananas and drank chicken broth with some powerade.  I had my vitals checked and they were low.  I am typing this up so don't worry.  I didn't die!  I had 3 nurses wrap warm towels around me in order to try and get my vitals back up.  My entire body is still numb.  Remember, I am fine but could care less what they want to help me out with.  One of the nurses started rolling me over with a huge thermometer in her hand.  She states, "We need to get a rectal thermometer reading."  I exclaim, "I am fine and you don't need to stick that thing anywhere!"  She was fine with that and then I slowly started to warm up.  They wrapped towels around me and wanted me to take my wet clothes off so I could put some dry clothes on.  I told them my wife would not approve of this!  They laughed and but it really did feel good to get some dry clothes on.  After a while, I was feeling okay and decided to get up and walk around.  I appreciate the help they gave me.

I staggered around and found Seth and Jeff to head back to the hotel.  What a day!

I look back at this race and this year and feel slightly disappointed.  I trained well this year and don't really have a decent race to show for any of it.  It was nice seeing Seth and Jeff run so well.  I enjoyed spending time with them this weekend (including Megan, Seth's wife).  Now it is time to take a little break and reevaluate why I run and set some goals for the next little while.  I know I want to go and get that Olympic Qualifer but I need to just vedge for a bit and then look and see what will work best for the next race.  I need to spend more time with Katey and do more things she wants to do.  She supports me through everything and I am so grateful to have her in my life.  She wants me to get back out there but I know I need to have a break.  I may retire from running and try and get into something else.  Rowing sounds like fun if anyone wants to join me.  Happy trails to all of you!

Planned rest day.  Quads are a little tight.  I ate lots of yummy food.

Another planned rest day.  Tightness moved from my quads down to my calves.  I ate more good food today.  Planning on taking the week off.

Another beautiful morning of not running.  No pain anywhere.  I am excited to see what my team can do at Pre-region today.  It should be a good indicator of where we will be next week for Region.  They have worked very hard.

I had quite an eventful evening last night.  I woke up with a huge cramp in my left calf and then the cramp transferred over to the right leg.  I was screaming and it scared Katey to death.  She thought I was a little over dramatic.  I jogged to go and get the paper and then jogged back into the house.  Legs feel good but I still need the rest. 

A good day to take off.  The legs are really thanking me once again.  I feel good enough to go out and run but I want to make sure everything is nice and rested.  Katey and I are going on a hike in Snow Canyon tomorrow morning with some family and friends so this will be the only "serious" exercise for me this week.

Katey, me, my dad, and one of our neighbors went on a really fun hike this morning up in Snow Canyon.  It was nice to have some exercise this week.  I did a lot of thinking about running and how much I enjoy it.  I forgot to have fun with running and it almost felt like a chore doing some of the workouts this year.  I felt like I had to get better and faster on each of my races.  That is not the right mind set.  I think I will do the Painter's Half in January and then a fun marathon some time early in the spring.  I want it to be low key and something really fun.  I will slowly work the mileage up next week and really enjoy the last 2 weeks of cross country with the team.  I am excited for what they can do at region this week.  I am also excited to get out there and run again next week.