I woke up to some fairly significant lower back pain. I literally could
not bend over to tie my shoes. The lady at the Walmart suggested I go
see a doc. "If it hurts to lay flat on your back on a hard floor or you
can't do the Downward Dog yoga pose, you should go see a doctor about
that!" Come heck or high water, despite what Walmart advice lady
suggested, I was at least going to show up to this race--and so I did.
The ibuprofen had kicked in, thankfully, by the time I got there.
Recollections
from last years experience, I think, helped me this year. My first lap
was 5+ minutes faster than last years. Fly describes the course
perfectly: up followed by some down and then some up and more down and
then repeat (not an exact quote). And then when you get back to the
start finish area, you really do repeat it all over again--all 16 miles.
About 9 miles in my Garmin starting warning me that the batteries were
low so at the turnaround I opted to leave it in my drop bag and save
myself from carrying dead weight around my wrist on the second lap.
I
struggled the second lap, but somehow picked up another 5 minutes over
last years time. My finish was 6:39:xx. I actually dropped 13 minutes
from last years time so I'm pretty pleased with that.
I saw Fly
at the start and then again on lap two--he was off watering some rocks.
He looked good and finished strong under 5 hours. I saw Dale and his
son just before finishing my first lap and then he walked with me a bit
as I began my second lap. He's excited to run this next year. He
should have stayed until I finished--I think that may have caused him to
rationally re-think that choice. Just kidding. It's really a fun race
and Jim Skaggs really puts on a nice event. The buffalo stew they
prepare and serve post-race was tasty, but I had two bites and decided
if I continued eating it it would come right back up.
My Finisher
Mug is displayed prominently here on my computer desk. I also had what
I'm calling a potential close call with two buffalo. I recorded
in on my camera. I'll try and post it somewhere where it can be viewed
as soon as I edit out the part where I wet my pants.
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